Puppy Love Read online

  After he’d done his business, I was feeling restless. I was used to spending most of my free time with Robert, and without him I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself.

  “Why don’t I have any other friends, Muckle?” I muttered.

  The puppy glanced up from sniffing a bug and let out a bark. I sighed.

  “Of course you wouldn’t understand,” I told him, bending down to run my fingers through his furry ruff. “To a puppy, the whole world is a friend, right?”

  I pulled out my phone and stared at it, tempted to call Robert and beg for forgiveness. Instead I got a better idea. Logging on to the Internet, I searched the name Rachel Kardos. The results popped up immediately.

  “Great—she’s listed,” I told Muckle. Then I dialed Rachel’s number.

  She answered on the second ring. “Lauren?” she said when I identified myself. “Hi! What’s up?”

  “I was thinking about taking Muckle to the dog park in Springdale this afternoon,” I said. “I was wondering if you and Gizi wanted to go?”

  “Sure! That sounds fun,” Rachel said. “I’m actually getting my hair cut in Springdale right now—I could meet you at the dog park in, like, half an hour if that’s okay?”

  “Cool. Let me see if my mom can give me a ride,” I said. “If she can’t, I’ll have to take the bus, so I definitely won’t make it in half an hour. But I’ll text you back either way.”

  “Great. See you soon!” Rachel actually sounded happy that we had plans. Take that, Robert.

  When I got back to the house, I found that I was in luck. Mom hadn’t left yet for her weekly Friday charity meeting in Madison. She agreed to drop me and Muckle off at the dog park and pick us up an hour and a half later on her way back home.

  Rachel was waiting by the gate when Muckle and I got out of the car. Gizi spotted us first and went crazy, barking and jumping around on the end of her leash. Muckle responded in the same way, and the two puppies enjoyed a happy reunion.

  “Think they’re glad to see each other?” Rachel asked with a laugh, blowing a strand of blond hair out of her eyes as Gizi dragged her around.

  “Hmm, hard to say,” I joked. “Come on, let’s go in.”

  This was Rachel’s first visit to the dog park, so I gave her a quick tour. Once again, there were lots of dogs running around the main lawn, and others playing in the smaller pens or lapping water from the fountains. Even though it was only my second time there, I recognized a few of the dogs and their people—the stout older man with the boxer, the blond girl with the Brittany, a tattooed guy with a burly Rottweiler. Oops—and even the lady with the papillon was back, though luckily, she was wandering in the opposite direction and didn’t see me and Muckle. A few other dogs looked kind of familiar too. Obviously Adam wasn’t the only regular at the dog park.

  “The agility courses are down here,” I told Rachel as we reached the first of the agility pens.

  Her eyes lit up with interest. “Adam keeps talking about agility, right? He thinks I should try it with Gizi.”

  I laughed. “I get the feeling Adam thinks every dog should try agility. He keeps telling me Muckle has natural talent.”

  “Yeah? That’s cool.” Rachel leaned on the fence and watched the dogs in the agility pen. A shepherd mix was practicing some jumps, barking joyfully every time it cleared one. Nearby, a young man was trying to convince a confused-looking Labrador retriever to go through the weave poles properly instead of just crashing through them.

  I was half expecting to see Adam in there with his dogs too. But he was nowhere in sight.

  “Come on,” I told Rachel. “I think I see a free play pen. We can let the pups off leash in there.”

  Soon Muckle and Gizi were romping together in the pen. I’d brought a rubber ball, which they were mostly ignoring in favor of chewing on each other’s ears and paws.

  There was a wooden bench built into the fence line, and Rachel and I wandered over and sat down. “This place is really amazing,” she said, glancing into the next pen, where an older couple was watching a pair of tiny lap dogs run around.

  “I know, right?” I agreed. “It’s like doggy nirvana.”

  “Yeah. I’m glad you called.” Rachel smiled shyly at me. “I’ve been wanting to check this place out ever since Adam first mentioned it, but I didn’t want to come alone.”

  Just then Gizi wiped out as she tried to chase Muckle around in a tight circle. I laughed as she sat up, looking surprised to find herself on the ground.

  “Gizi’s cool,” I said. “I never even heard of a vizsla before I met you guys. How’d you end up with her?”

  “Actually, it was my dad’s idea.” Rachel tugged on her hair, watching her puppy. “I wanted a dog, but I was thinking something smaller and a little, um, less active.” Her gaze wandered briefly to the lap dogs next door. “But my dad decided if we were going to get a dog, it should be a good Hungarian dog.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s really into that stuff.”

  “Oh.” I thought about telling her the real reason I’d chosen Muckle’s breed, but I held back. I liked Rachel—I didn’t want her to think I was a total ditz who based major life decisions on the nationality of her favorite rock stars.

  “Anyway,” Rachel went on, “I’m definitely thinking about trying the agility thing. Adam makes it sound like a lot of fun, and Gizi could definitely use more exercise.”

  “You could talk to Adam about some private lessons to start you off,” I suggested, smiling as Gizi jumped right over Muckle, barking gleefully. “He has lots of clients like that. And he definitely knows his stuff—I ran into him here last week and saw his dogs. They’re amazing.”

  “He does agility with them?” Rachel asked.

  I nodded and shot her a sidelong look. “Actually, I’m going to watch Adam’s dogs in a competition tomorrow after class,” I admitted. “It’s, you know, sort of, um, a date.”

  Rachel had been watching the puppies, but now her head swiveled quickly toward me. “A date? You mean—you and Adam?”

  “Uh-huh.” I ducked my head, suddenly feeling bashful. Was it too early in our friendship to share that type of thing? It had been so long since I’d hung out with a girl that I wasn’t sure. “I guess we kind of bonded, and you know . . .”

  “Oh, okay.” Rachel smiled uncertainly. “I hope you guys have fun.”

  “Thanks.” I hesitated. “Um, so you and Adam go to the same school, right? Does he—do you know if he dates a lot?”

  Rachel’s gaze had returned to the puppies. “I’m not sure,” she said. “I don’t really know him that well. I think he’s had a few girlfriends, but nothing too serious.” She stood up. “It looks like the puppies have run out some of their energy. Should we take them over to the agility place? I’d love to see how Gizi reacts. And I think I saw both those other dogs leaving, so it might be free now.”

  “Sure.” I stood too. “Let’s go.”

  We spent the next hour playing with the pups in the agility pen. Gizi took to the equipment just as quickly as Muckle had. Thanks to my private session with Adam, I was able to give Rachel a few tips about what to do. Before long, the vizsla was clearing the jumps and skittering across the dog walk like a pro.

  Finally I checked my watch. “Oops, I should go,” I said reluctantly. “My mom will be here to pick me up soon, and she’ll probably faint if she has to come into the dog park to look for me.” I smiled ruefully. “Actually, she’ll probably just leave without me and text me to take the bus.”

  Rachel laughed. “Not a dog person?”

  “Not even close.” I whistled and called Muckle. To my surprise, he actually stopped what he was doing—currently, sniffing around under the pause table—and ran over to me. “Good boy!” I told him as I snapped on his leash.

  Rachel grabbed Gizi, and we headed out to the gate. “I’ll wait with you until your mom gets here,” Rachel offered. “My dad won’t be back to get me for another twenty minutes anyway.”

  “Cool, than
ks.” I smiled at her, glad I’d decided to take a chance and call her. I’d had a great time—and best of all, I’d barely thought about Robert or our fight for the past hour. Or stressed about my date with Adam the next day either.

  “We should do this again soon,” Rachel said, leaning against the fence. Both puppies f lopped down at our feet, looking tired and content. “Maybe Jamal will come next time too. We should mention it to him tomorrow.”

  “Good idea.” I kept my voice bright, but Jamal’s name sent a pang of guilt through me. I knew how hard it was to ask someone out—after all, I’d just messed it up myself the previous week with Adam. Of course, it had been all Robert’s fault that I’d had to turn Jamal down, but Jamal himself had been the one who’d paid the price.

  Then again, maybe there was a way I could make it up to him. . . . I shot a sidelong, appraising glance toward Rachel. She was adorable and supersweet. Both she and Jamal were awesome people—down-to-earth, friendly, smart. Why not try to set them up? Who knew, maybe they’d end up double-dating with me and Adam sometime!

  “Yeah, we should definitely mention it to Jamal,” I went on brightly. “Although we won’t be able to come here after class tomorrow, and not only because I have plans with Adam. I think Jamal was wanting to see that new zombie flick that opens this weekend.”

  “Zombies?” Rachel echoed. “I think I heard about that one.”

  “It’s supposed to be awesome,” I said. “Like I said, I think Jamal really wants to see it tomorrow. Opening weekend and all that, you know? But I don’t think he’s found anyone to see it with yet.”

  “Hmm.” Rachel bent down to straighten Gizi’s collar, making it impossible for me to read her expression.

  Just then the blast of a car horn made me jump. Glancing over, I saw my mother’s car idling at the curb. Muckle barked and leaped to his feet.

  “There’s my ride,” I said. “I’d better go. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you tomorrow.” Rachel waved as I hurried over to the curb.

  “Who’s that girl?” my mother asked as I climbed into the car with Muckle.

  “Her name’s Rachel. She goes to MVHS.” I smiled. “She’s a new friend.”

  It felt good to say that. I still missed Robert, but at least I wasn’t sitting around like a pathetic loser, waiting for him to decide to start talking to me again. I was grateful to Rachel for making me feel like I had options, no matter how long it took Robert to come to his senses. And in return? Maybe I’d just done her—and Jamal, for that matter—a little favor in return.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Saturday

  Puppy class seemed to last forever. And not in a good way. I fidgeted through Adam’s talk about the value of socialization and rushed Muckle through the first few exercises. The giant countdown clock in my head just kept ticking down the seconds until my date with Adam—like a doomsday clock counting down the end of the world.

  When Muckle and I returned to our seat after taking our turn demonstrating a sit-stay, Jamal gave me a thumbs-up. “The Muckster’s really coming along,” he whispered as I sat down beside him.

  “You think so?” I glanced at my puppy, who was sitting alertly at my feet. Belatedly, I realized he’d been almost perfect all through class so far, even though I was more than a little distracted. “Yeah, I guess they’re all learning, right?”

  “Maybe not all.” Jamal smirked and nodded toward the center of the ring, where the lively retriever’s owner was attempting vainly to convince her puppy to remain seated for more than a millisecond at a time.

  I smiled weakly. Muckle’s skills aside, I was glad that Jamal didn’t seem to hold a grudge about being shot down. He truly was a great guy, which made me more determined than ever to make it up to him somehow. Preferably by hooking him up with Rachel. Had she taken my hint and talked to him about the zombie movie? I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t think so. Rachel had already been in the training ring when I’d arrived, and Jamal had rushed in just seconds before Adam called the class to order. Jamal and Rachel had said hi to each other, but they weren’t exchanging any meaningful looks or anything as far as I could tell.

  While Adam continued to work with the retriever and his owner, I leaned back in my seat, smoothing down my favorite print pants. I’d done my best to dress to impress that day. Without Robert there, I hadn’t had to convince anyone that a miniskirt or evening gown weren’t appropriate for a dog agility competition. That should have been a good thing, right? Weirdly, not so much. It just wasn’t as much fun choosing an outfit without my personal fashion consultant. Besides that, Robert had a much better touch with makeup than I did. I could only hope my ham-fisted attempts at blush and eyeliner hadn’t left me looking like a clown. Nobody was staring, so I figured it was probably okay.

  After the retriever finally managed to perform an adequate sit-stay, it was Rachel’s turn to give it a try. She headed to the center of the ring with Gizi. That meant it was time for step two of my plan.

  “Rachel’s mega cool, isn’t she?” I whispered to Jamal. “She and I hung out at the dog park for a while yesterday. Actually, we were talking about that zombie movie—I think she wants to see it.”

  “For real?” Jamal shot a surprised look in Rachel’s direction. “Funny. She doesn’t strike me as the zombie type.”

  I shrugged. “You never know about people, right? Anyway, I never knew Rachel had such an amazing sense of humor. She’s supercool, right?”

  “Sure.” Just then Ozzy noticed a Great Dane walking by outside the ring and tried to run over to say hi, which kept Jamal busy until Rachel returned to her seat. But I hoped I’d at least planted a seed in his head.

  Another million years passed with all the urgency of frozen molasses. But finally, finally, finally Adam dismissed the class.

  “Keep practicing, everyone,” he called out. “I’ll see you all next Tuesday.”

  It took another eon or two for the class to actually disperse. I was worried that Jamal might hang around wanting to chat or something, but I was pleased to notice that he and Rachel hurried off together after a quick good-bye to me. Two birds with one stone . . .

  Finally the last of my classmates was gone, and Adam walked over to where I was sitting with Muckle on my lap. He looked a little nervous, though I had no idea whether that was because of the competition or our date. I knew which it was in my case, though. Even though I’d spent much of the past two weeks dreaming of this moment, now that it was here, my palms were clammy and my legs felt numb.

  “Ready to go, then?” he asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I just need to swing by my house and pick up the girls.”

  “Sure.” Thankfully my numb legs still seemed to work, and I followed him out of the store and over to his minivan. He opened the passenger-side door for me. I thought he was just being a gentleman until he started brushing at the seat.

  “Sorry about the dog hair,” he said. “Jinx likes to ride up front and direct traffic.”

  “It’s okay.” I forced a smile, telling myself I’d been smart to wear printed pants. Maybe they wouldn’t show the hair as much. “I’m used to it. The Muckster isn’t exactly bald, you know.”

  Adam chuckled and stepped back, and I hoisted Muckle and myself into the van. There was an odd smell in there, but I tried not to notice. Muckle sniffed around with interest, though.

  “So this should be fun,” Adam said as he started the van. “Shasta is first in her division right now, so the pressure’s on. Lark’s only a few points behind her, with two dogs in between.”

  “That’s amazing,” I said. “Congratulations!”

  He shot me a surprised look. “Oh. Um, thanks. I’m actually hoping to move up with Lark soon. We should be able to beat the third-place dog today, no problem. The course designer for this event always throws in a lot of tight twists and turns, and Fred—that’s the dog’s name—tends to get moving so fast he gets ahead of his handler on that kind of course.”

&n
bsp; “Hmm,” I said, a little distracted by Muckle’s wiggling. I tightened my grip just in time to stop him from leaping out of my arms into Adam’s lap.

  Adam spun the wheel as he made the turn onto the highway. “The bitch in second place is going to be tough, though—she’s super experienced, and her owner’s taken a whole bunch of dogs to the top.”

  It took a lot of self-control to stop myself from giggling at his use of the word “bitch,” even though I knew it was a totally legit term for a female dog.

  “Wow,” I said, trying to sound mature and not at all giggly. “You sure know a lot about the competition.”

  Once again, he looked slightly surprised. “Of course. That’s the only way to do well, right? Anyway, I’ve been working really hard with Lark on the seesaw, which has always been her toughest element. I think she’s ready to surprise some people today.”

  We continued chatting about that day’s competition as he drove to his house. Well, mostly he continued chatting about it, while I nodded a lot and did my best to hold on to Muckle, who naturally would have preferred to go boinging around the van.

  Adam lived in an older neighborhood of large brick homes near MVHS. He left me in the van with the engine running while he dashed inside, returning moments later with Shasta and Lark at his heels. He opened the back door and the border collies jumped in. Muckle barked, the border collies barked back, and the whole van echoed like a giant tin can for a while. Adam didn’t seem to notice as he jumped back in and pulled away from the curb.

  “So Jinx isn’t coming along today?” I asked, raising my voice above the barking.

  “No, he’s not reliable off leash,” Adam replied. “I didn’t want you to have to keep track of another dog while I’m competing.”

  “Oh.” I couldn’t help feeling a little sorry for the lively terrier.

  Adam seemed to catch my tone. He glanced over at me. “Don’t worry,” he said with a smile. “Jinx will get his turn. We’ve got a flyball club meeting tonight.”