“I’d like to meet with him regularly to assess his progress. Monthly if possible. I think you two can handle a lot of the physical therapy he’ll need, and he seems calm around you both, so that’s good. If anything changes, I’m only a phone call away. Call me if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll plan to meet with you mid-July. We’ll keep monitoring him and that will help guide the plan.”
They nodded in agreement. Rob gave a signal and a nudge, and Maverick raised his paw to shake.
“Way to go, Maverick! Good boy.” Dr. Waring’s face broke into a wide smile as she reached over to take his paw. She looked over her shoulder at both of them. “That’s some special dog you have there. Good luck.”
They stopped at the front desk to settle their bill and to schedule a followup appointment. “I’ll get this,” Rob told her.
She shook her head. “That’s not right. Maverick will be my dog, so I need to be responsible for him.” She watched his face fall before he got his emotions under control.
“Let me do this for him, MJ. I wasn’t around for him when I should have been.” He seemed to struggle to hold back emotion.
“Rob. You can’t blame yourself for not being with him during his recovery.” She shook her head and drew herself up to her full height before putting her hands on her hips. “That wasn’t your choice. I don’t know a lot about the military, but I know that nobody in the service owns their own life while they’re in. I understand that you wanted to be with him. That you would have been with him if you could have. But don’t for a minute blame yourself for not being there to support him.” She huffed a breath, exasperated. Who could ever understand how men thought?
He gave her a sheepish grin. “I guess I need to remember never to make you mad. Given the way you’re able to tell me off, you should be fine taking charge of Maverick.”
His words shouldn’t make her feel so good, but they did. She hadn’t really been telling Rob off, but she liked that he recognized her ability to be assertive and speak her opinions. Because of her petite size and shyness, people underestimated her. Well, big changes were coming, thanks to Maverick—and Rob.
Chapter Eight
“What did you think?” MJ asked as they headed back to her place.
“I liked her. She seemed thorough, and I think she understands military service dogs and PTSD. We’ll have our work cut out for us.” Rob glanced over at MJ, who stared into the backseat at Maverick. He glanced into the rearview mirror and positioned it so he could see.
“He looks so sad. Like he knows we’re talking about him.”
He could see what she meant. Maverick’s head was lowered onto his paws, and his brown eyes jerked from side to side as the truck moved. Usually when he was in the truck, he sat upright, staring through the front windshield or turning his head from side to side so as not to miss anything.
“It’ll be okay, Maverick,” MJ’s soft voiced crooned. “We’ll make sure of it.” She turned to face Rob, and he caught the worried expression on her face.
He reached over and patted her leg. “We’ll make this work. Maverick deserves it, Trevor deserves it, and we both deserve it, too.”
MJ gave him a sad smile. “I know. I’m nervous about whether I’ll be good enough, but I’ll do everything I can to give him the life he deserves.”
“I know you will. Probably one of the biggest challenges will be how to make his life consistent. I’m not sure how to transition from him staying with me to being with you. I’ll take care of him during the day while you’re working, and then I can bring him over in the evening and show you how to work with him. I’m not sure you’re ready yet to take care of him overnight.”
“I don’t feel ready to do that. Especially if he has flashbacks when he’s sleeping.”
“We’ll figure it out. Let’s focus on getting you and Maverick comfortable together. We’ll know when it’s time for you to take him for overnights.” He swallowed a lump of sorrow in the back of his throat at the thought of losing his last tangible connection to Trevor. He needed to get used to the idea. As long as Maverick and MJ were good, he’d live with the inevitable loss.
Silence filled the air as they drove toward MJ’s house. “I need to do my grocery shopping, so you and Maverick can stay here while I do that,” MJ finally said.
“Why don’t we go to the store now? It’s not that hot today, and Maverick should be fine in the truck with the windows down.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to put you out.”
“It’s okay. I’ll pick up a couple things, too. Where do you go?”
“The IGA. Remember, my mom works there during the week as a cashier. I figure I’ll give them business and keep her employed.”
He cocked an eyebrow. “Really? You must buy a lot of groceries if you keep them in business.”
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. I don’t single-handedly keep them in business, but every bit helps. They compete with the big food chains, including Walmart.”
He smirked and gave her a wink. Yanking MJ’s chain was fun. She was so reactive.
“Point the way,” he said, not sure exactly where the store was located.
MJ gave him directions and ten minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot. He parked under a tree and away from the other cars in the lot, not wanting to stress Maverick. He made sure the windows were down
