“Maverick,” he said in a firm voice. The dog lifted his head and stared at him. “Time to get up.” He headed off to the bathroom, stretching stiff muscles as he walked down the hall.
Maverick stood wagging his tail when Rob returned to slide into yesterday’s jeans and a clean T-shirt. “Ready to go for a walk? Porta a spasso?” It almost looked like the dog nodded. “C’mon.” He gave Maverick the “come” gesture and led him down the outside stairwell into the fenced backyard.
As the dog sniffed and marked his territory, Rob thought back to dinner with Mary Jane. She’d seemed on board about doing what was necessary to help Maverick’s PTSD, if that’s what he had. They’d learn more this morning from the vet. Mary Jane had never experienced the bone-chilling howl during an episode. Would it scare her away completely? Or maybe remind her of Trevor’s death? He sighed. All they could do was take things one day at a time.
As Maverick explored, Rob went back upstairs to get several dog toys. They might as well experiment with doing some exercise in the backyard. He hadn’t met his downstairs neighbor yet and didn’t want to make a lot of noise. For some people, zero-seven-thirty on a Saturday morning was the crack of dawn. As an ex-military man, sleeping past sunrise was an anamoly that happened only when he was exhausted from being in the field for days, or was in the hospital, heavily sedated.
He got Maverick’s attention with a hand gesture and held up the ball for him to see. The Malinois sat, tongue lolling, his increased body tension telling Rob he was ready. He released the ball and Maverick dashed after it, leaping high into the air to catch it before it could drop to the ground. The dog trotted over and dropped it at his feet, and Rob leaned down to pick it up and throw it again. An hour later, they were both exhausted.
He gestured for Maverick to follow him upstairs, and the dog headed immediately to his water dish. As Maverick lapped up most of the water and started on some kibble, Rob stripped off his clothes and headed for the shower.
Maverick was asleep on the kitchen floor when Rob got out, hair wet and smelling better. He dressed in fresh jeans and a clean T-shirt and fixed a cup of coffee and scrambled a few eggs. As he ate, his thoughts turned to Mary Jane.
She’d done well with Maverick last night. At first she’d been tentative, no doubt because she worried about Maverick’s mental state. Once he’d coached her into being assertive and portraying confidence, she’d led the dog around the block several times, the last few on her own. It was difficult to let her out of his sight, but he needed to let her develop her own relationship with the dog who was to become her partner. Lost in thought about what the future would bring, he finally looked down to see Maverick sitting at his knee, smiling. It was the craziest thing to see his doggy grin. He’d shown it a lot when he’d been around the base with Trevor, but not much since then. Was he was healing?
“Who knows, Maverick? Maybe Mary Jane can heal us both. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the head? I meet someone I could fall for, and she belongs to my best friend.” He snorted in disgust. The world was full of irony. He startled as a wet tongue licked his hand to comfort him. “Thanks, buddy.”
He rinsed his dishes and tried to ready himself to see Mary Jane again.
***
Mary Jane had tossed and turned for most of the night. She’d felt relaxed and safe in Rob’s arms—at least until guilt had assailed her. They’d comforted each other, and yet…for her, she worried it had been more. Rob was a nice guy, and frankly, a bit of a hunk. He’d been Trevor’s best friend. How could she have moved beyond that friend zone into feeling attracted to him? Wasn’t that a betrayal of her love for Trevor?
She heard Trevor’s voice in her head, telling her he’d sent Rob to help her move on, to love again. “I’m not sure I can do that, Trevor,” she answered out loud. “I’ve never loved anyone but you.”
“Move on,” the voice in her head told her.
She’d just buried her face in her hands when she heard a knock on the front door. Rob and Maverick. Pull yourself together, MJ.
She wiped a few errant tears off her face and squared her shoulders. She needed to be confident and assertive. She needed to prove that she had what it took to care for a troubled warrior dog.
“Hey, come on in,” she said as she opened the door. Rob searched her face as if he could spot the streaks of tears or the telltale muscle movements that would reveal how much she struggled. She squatted down in the hallway to pet Maverick. “How’s my boy? Did you have a good night, Maverick?” She peeked up at Rob. “How’d he do last night?”
“We both had a great night. Solid sleep. In fact, I woke up before he did this morning, which is unheard of. We slept until after seven.”
“Did you go to the park?” She turned her attention back to Maverick, as if she was asking him.
“No, we played ball this morning in the backyard. He wore me out. Can’t believe how energetic he is, especially after being so severely injured. He leaped into the air as if he could jump small buildings in a single bound.”
“Oh, Superdog, huh?”
“Not quite, but he tried to act like it. Are
