Page 45 of Small-Town Secrets
"You're going back to the tattoo studio?"
"Yeah, Raph told me there's some cool things we can do to cover up that scar I got last year."
"Hey, as long as you're not doing it to impress Conner."
"Nope." Jake actually sounded a little bit amused. "I know he can't be impressed with silly things like that. If I told him I was getting a tattoo he'd be shaking his head at me and telling me to stop being silly."
"And then you'd go and do it anyway."
"Yup."
I laughed. "Okay, but I want to see pictures later."
"Sure thing. I'll call you when I'm back." With that, he ended the call and I could focus on my dog again. For Jake's sake, I really hoped he could get back together with Conner someday. For my own sake, I hoped I could make this thing with Laurence work.
I wished us both good luck.
* * *
"Stay." I held the flat of my palm up just an inch from the puppy's face. He looked at me curiously, but didn't move. "Good boy," I praised him and gave him a treat. The puppy—his name was Casanova—accepted it joyfully.
"Why is he getting treats?" Chris asked, watching us from a corner of the family room. "He didn't do anything."
"Which is exactly what he was supposed to do." While I was talking, the puppy scooted closer to me and licked my hand, not happy that attention had been diverted from him. He was a six-month-old English bulldog puppy and this was only my second session with the little guy but his name was spot-on because I'd already fallen in love with him.
"You're teaching him not to do anything?" Chris shot me a bored look. Obviously my training plan was not exciting enough for him.
"It's an important lesson. You don't want your dog to chase after everything, do you?"
"I don't know. I don't have a dog."
Which was a shame. Every little boy should have a dog. "You get along well with Sarge, though."
In fact, Sarge was watching me and Casanova from a very comfortable spot by Chris' legs. My buddy knew he couldn't stop me from teaching other dogs, but he bestowed upon me a look that told me that if I was wasting my attention on strange dogs, he would get his pets from other humans. Sarge could be ridiculous like that. I'd have to take him out on the motorcycle again soon. He always forgave me after that.
"It's not the same," Chris said after a moment of contemplation.
"I guess you're right. But you can borrow him for now. I think he likes you."
"Okay."
I focused my attention back on the puppy in front of me, repeating the same command I'd given him before. It would take a while before it would stick. We had to take baby steps here, and not only because my student was a puppy. This time, I made him hold for a second longer, though, before giving him his reward. "Such a good boy," I murmured, feeding him.
"Do you train dogs a lot?" Chris asked.
"It's my job."
"Do you like it?"
"I like it a lot." I paused. "Would you like to come here and help me?"
Chris abandoned his chair in the corner and came to sit next to me on the floor. The puppy eyed him expectantly, while Sarge stayed exactly where he had been—I could feel his eyes on my back.
"What do I do?"
I reached into my pocket and gave the boy a handful of treats. "You can give him these, one at a time, when I tell you to. He's going to love you in no time."
Splitting the work wasn't actually the most effective way to puppy train, but I wasn't in a rush with Casanova. He learned quickly, and I enjoyed this chance to spend some quality time getting to know Chris. When we were in the gym doing karate, there were too many other kids for me to focus solely on the twins, and when we got home, his brother was so boisterous that it was easy for him to slink away in the shadows when he wanted to, and he'd been doing that around me a lot, keeping his distance. This was my chance to show him that he had nothing to fear from me.
