“No. We’re just going to look around. I have the flyer.”
“Great. Well, I hope we’ll see you back around here with your dog one day.”
“Maybe you will.”
He darted off into a jog.
“He was nice, wasn’t he?” Amanda said.
Hailey and Jesse nodded. They seemed mesmerized by the number of dogs.
The three of them followed the road signs and entered the large-dog area of the facility. They stopped and stood on the visitors’ side of the big-dog park. The pace there was slower, but the breeds were huge. A Great Dane walked to the low fence that separated the walkway from the park and hung his head over the railing in front of Jesse.
He tentatively lifted his hand. “Horsey?”
“No, Jesse. That’s a dog. A very big dog.”
A woman wearing a Paws Town shirt came over. “This is Duke. He’s very friendly.” The shiny black dog lifted his chin in the air and tucked his nose under her armpit.
The woman wiggled away. “That tickles.” She brushed him aside. “He knows it tickles. He does it all the time.”
“Can I pet him?” Hailey asked.
“Sure. Call his name. He’ll come right to you.”
“Hi, Duke.” She waved her hand, and the dog walked over for some attention. “Nice doggy.” Hailey’s fingers swooped across the top of Duke’s head and down his ears.
“He’s here on vacation with his family,” the woman explained. “They drove all the way from New Jersey with this guy.”
Hailey’s nose wrinkled. “Is that far away?”
“It is a very long drive, but they didn’t want to vacation without him, so they checked him in here since no pets are allowed at Plantations Resort. They come visit him every day.”
“I bet he really likes that,” Hailey said. “He’s sweet.”
“Yeah, he’s part of their family. They said they’d had him since he was just six weeks old.”
Amanda reached over and petted the dog too. “I thought our English bulldog was big. This makes him look like a Chihuahua.”
At that moment a beautiful tricolor shepherd ran the perimeter of the fence and then lay down on a boat-shaped bench next to a small water feature.
Amanda was captivated by the dog’s grace. “He’s beautiful.”
“That’s Gunner. He’s a retired officer.” The woman swung around and whistled. The dog stood and ran to her side. “Sedni.”
He sat, ready for another command.
She placed her hand out flat and said, “Lehni.”
“What language is that?” Hailey’s head cocked to the side. “Is it dog language?”
“It’s this dog’s language. He’s a military working dog. Or was. He knows all the same commands as the other dogs, but in Czech.” She leaned over the fence and whispered, “That way the bad guys don’t know the commands. Pretty sneaky, huh?”
Hailey nodded. “Gunner must be smart.”
“He’ll be with us until his owner gets out of the hospital.”
“He looks like he has some age on him. I should give him the name of my hairdresser. She does wonders,” Amanda teased.
“Yeah, he’s a good old boy.”
“Well, this is quite a place. We’ve had a lot of fun just visiting.”
“You should stop at the front desk and get a week pass. Next time bring your dog with you. We offer a free trial for Whelk’s Island residents, and honestly, the price of the day passes are ridiculously cheap. I bet you and your dog would enjoy a day here. The outside areas are a lot of fun too.”
“Thanks. We’ll check that out.” They waved to the handler, then followed the walking path back to the main entrance.
Amanda stopped at the front desk to get a pass. It would give her and the kids another thing to break up their routine, and it would be good for Denali.
With the pass in her hand, she and the kids walked back out to the car.
“Climb on in.” She helped Jesse into his seat and then went to the other side to double-check Hailey’s seat.
“Can we come back?” Jesse asked.
“And bring Maeve?” Hailey added.
“We sure can.” Amanda wished her children held the same kind of regard for her parents. They’d taken so quickly to Maeve. Amanda’s parents had been around so seldom since she married Jack that they didn’t play a big role as grandparents. They sent the obligatory gifts at the holidays, but she was pretty sure that if Mom and Dad showed up right now, neither of her children would recognize them.
16
Monday morning rolled around and Maeve dreaded going to the doctor, but the appointment had been set a month ago, and it was too late to cancel. Same-day cancellations were downright rude. The only excuse was death, and she wasn’t there yet.
It was a dreary Monday on top of it. The rain spit and spattered against the deck, and of course here she was, dressed and ready to go an hour early.
She pulled on her red rain jacket and stepped outside. The rhythm of the waves soothed her as she leaned against the railing. The wood had long ago weathered to a silvery gray, smooth from decades of nature’s sandblasting from the beach below. She tied her hood around her face to keep her hair, almost as silvered as the deck now, from getting tangled in the weather. A gust of wind slapped her skirt against her matching red rain boots.
She gathered the skirt’s fabric in her hand, holding it tight to keep it from blowing as she watched the ocean’s dance, delighted the waves were at work pushing new treasures from its depths during these storms. Shells from the creatures who’d outgrown them, and sea glass that had tumbled so long that every sharp edge was polished smooth. Occasionally, remnants of shipwrecks off the coast of North Carolina would wash ashore—at least she liked to believe the shipwreck part. She’d been known to make up a splendid story or two about the things she found along the shore, even if she kept most of those stories to herself.
Rainy days left her eager to get out on
