He looked over at Mary Jane and saw her expression of dismay. She shook her head. “I’m a librarian. I have a master’s degree in Library Science. It isn’t like Maverick can shelve books for me or read to the kiddie group. The only bombs in the library are in books, thank heavens. Could I loan him out to the police department or something?”
“It doesn’t work that way. Maverick and his handler need to be together. They live together and work together.”
“What was Trevor thinking? How could he ever have imagined me taking his dog? Sure, maybe after he was done with the service. When he came back to Ridgeview, and we got together. It was supposed to be the three of us. That makes sense. But this doesn’t!” She slipped out of her chair and ran. Shortly after that, he heard a door slam.
“I’m sorry, Rob. She’s having a difficult time. I think I’ll go talk with her.” Mrs. Van Buren got up and followed her daughter out of the room.
“Welcome to the house of tears,” cracked Nick. “Jeez, I would have thought she’d have moved on by now. Maybe it’s this dog thing. It’s too big a reminder. I’ll try to talk her into letting you keep him.”
“I’m willing to take him. Maybe I can turn him into a cattle dog. Have him protect the herd. I doubt if I’ll be able to pass the requirements to be a cop, but maybe he could be a bomb-sniffing dog at an airport. If I kept him, I’d need to get permission from the Marines. They’ve approved him to go to Mary Jane.”
Mary Jane came back into the room, followed by her mother. “I’m sorry. I’ve got to get a handle on myself. I’m overwhelmed, I guess.”
Rob felt like a jerk. This was his fault. Was he secretly trying to sabotage Mary Jane as Maverick’s new owner? He needed to make this right.
“I’m sorry that I overwhelmed you with too much to think about right now. We’ll take one step at a time. There’s a lot to learn. It took me a while, and I’d been around Maverick 24/7. You’ve got a lot to get used to and so does he. I’ll teach you what I know, and we’ll figure it out as we go along.”
She nodded, but didn’t say a word. Her face was pale, her complexion splotchy from her most recent bout of tears.
“Tell you what. Let’s start right now. I’ll teach you how to walk Maverick around the block. Okay?”
Her voice was soft and sounded insecure. “I guess so.”
“No, Mary Jane. You have to be in charge. You’ve got to be confident and sure of yourself. Now, let’s try it again. Do you want to take Maverick for a walk around the block?”
She took in a deep breath. “Yes,” she said more strongly, more steadily. “Let’s take Maverick around the block. Right, Maverick?”
She jerked back when Maverick responded by letting out a single bark.
“That’s right, boy. Mary Jane and I are going to take you out.” The dog climbed to his feet and looked back and forth between them.
“I hope you’ll excuse us,” Rob said to Mrs. Van Buren. “This was a great dinner. It reminded me of the Sunday dinners my mother used to make. With a last name like Michelini, she had to learn to cook Italian food.”
He turned and helped Mary Jane up, then reached down to slip his hands around the handle of Maverick’s harness. “C’mon. I’ll show you how to hold him when we get outside.”
Once he’d guided Maverick off the front porch, he gestured for Mary Jane to join them.
“Does it matter which side I stand on?” She looked uncertain again.
“Not with him. Most dogs walk on the left when they heel, but he’s been taught to walk on whichever side you’re using to hold the harness. I want to have you walk behind me initially so you can see what I’m doing. Then I’ll have you do it.”
She moved behind them, and he picked up the bridge handle and gave the command, “Andiamo, Maverick.” The dog had waited until his command, and then they started off at exactly the same instant. He held the handle firmly as he explained his approach to Mary Jane. “Hold the handle in a relaxed way because tension or nervousness is relayed through it to the dog. He’ll sense your uncertainty, and that will make him uneasy. Remember, he expects you to be the leader. You’re in charge, so before you even pick up the handle for the harness, or any other leash, you need to get yourself into a confident state of mind. You’ll hold it firmly enough that you’re in control, but not tense or tight. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah. It sounds like there’s a lot of internal preparation for me. Being strong and confident. Not really what I do well. What did your command mean?”
“It translates to ‘let’s go’ as in ‘let’s go together.’ If you wanted to say ‘Let’s go home’ it would be a different phrase. I can tell you another time. If I say it now, he’ll get confused.”
“Wow. I not only need to transform my personality, I have to learn Italian.”
“And don’t forget that you have to speak it with an East Tennessee accent. That’s what Maverick has learned to recognize. Believe me. It wasn’t the easiest thing for this boy from Colorado to learn.”
She giggled. “I’ll bet. But from what I can
