Home Is Where Your Bark Is

Chapter 4

Dozens of Jake’s favorite childhood memories were of times he’d shared with his family’s golden retriever—Ruby—who’d died when Jake was fifteen. Running on the beach with her or digging together in the sand. Playing fetch. Smoothing his hand down her silky golden fur as she dozed in front of the fireplace. But none of that was going to help him get through tonight. From what his parents had shared, Ruby hadn’t needed any formal training beyond her puppy phase. After a few hours with the high-energy border collie, Jake suspected his dog training skills were, in fact, pretty much nonexistent.

Clicking his tongue, he ran a finger down the mauled leg of his coffee table. “Guess I know what you were doing while I hopped in the shower earlier.” Maybe he shouldn’t be, but he was as impressed as he was frustrated by how much damage had been done in such a short time.

In the three hours that had passed since they’d walked in the door, the dog hadn’t stopped pacing. His nails clicked continuously on the hardwood, making Jake thankful Sheila, his downstairs neighbor who was in her midseventies, was a touch hard of hearing. Actually, the dog must’ve settled down at least for a little while. The mauled leg of the coffee table was proof enough of that. The mid-century-modern table had been a present from Alyssa this last Christmas, and he could only imagine how well she’d take it.

When the dog glanced in Jake’s direction as he passed by on another lap of Jake’s condo, Jake motioned to the table leg. “Not cool.” Since he hadn’t caught the dog in the act, there was no training to be done here.

At least all Jake needed to do was make it through one night.

Hoping to calm the dog down, Jake turned off all lights with the exception of a few lamps and pulled up the blinds of the Georgian windows in the living room so he could see out. To a degree, it seemed to help. The dog quickly fell into a pattern of pacing three circles around the thousand-square-foot condo, then pausing as he passed one of the windows, the occasional soft whine in his throat as he stared out into the night-darkened neighborhood lit by streetlamps.

Exhaustion in the aftermath of the accident gripped hold even faster in the dim light, and Jake’s eyelids grew heavy, but Alyssa was due any minute, and besides, Jake was determined to wait out the dog. Jake was under no misconceptions that if he fell asleep with the animal as wide-eyed and anxious as he was, half his place would be mauled by morning. Jake was counting on the fact that, even nervous as the dog was in a new setting, he had to get tired sometime.

At the window, the dog cocked his head sideways and his ears perked seconds before a car beeped softly as it locked. Alyssa.

Jake yawned loud enough that the dog glanced his way. “Isn’t it about your bedtime too?”

It didn’t appear so. Nor was it Alyssa’s. At eleven o’clock on a Thursday night, she’d typically still be up for another several hours. In law school, Jake had been a night owl, too, but he’d since forced himself into the habit of early starts at work and even earlier trips to the gym.

The exterior entry of his building opened and then shut. As Alyssa headed up the stairs, the dog trotted to the door, a soft growl/whine combo in his throat. Alyssa knew the code and would let herself in, so Jake jogged over to intercept the dog. While he’d sat at attention perfectly for the burger Jake had ordered for him, the poorly trained animal proved to have zero interest in sitting simply because he was told to and attempted to shove past him.

Just as Alyssa flung open the door, Jake’s fingers locked around the dog’s collar.

Her eyes widened as she took in the dog. “Oh my gosh, you didn’t say anything about him being breathtaking. Look at him!”

“Yeah, well, he goes back in the morning, so no getting attached.” Seeing that the border collie’s tail was wagging, Jake released him. The dog jumped up, boxing his front paws on Alyssa’s chest, and knocking her against the door before returning to all fours to circle her with a thorough sniffing.

Alyssa wiped imaginary paw prints off the front of the glittery black dress inside her open coat.

Jake was about to apologize on behalf of the dog when she spoke first. “No way I’ll be getting attached. No big dogs for us. But he’ll make a great post.” She leaned in to press a kiss against Jake’s cheek. “And so will your heroics tonight, baby. Thank God you’re okay, though you couldn’t have picked a worse night to stand me up.”

The hair on the back of Jake’s neck pricked. Lately, all she had to do was open her mouth, and he found something to object to. This no doubt was as much his fault as hers. In this case, objections were layered into damn near everything she’d just said. But it was the last bit about standing her up that really triggered him. “Alyssa, I’m sorry you had to wing it alone tonight, but I want to make it clear that I will always choose helping out in a situation like the one that presented itself tonight over attending a gala.”

A few years back, Alyssa had chosen one charity for each of the three causes she believed in most: making lives better for children in foster care, protecting the planet, and ending domestic violence. They’d met at a gala for one of them in January of last year; Jake’s firm had sponsored a table, and he’d gotten roped into going. There she’d been at the silent auction table, ready to outbid him on a pub tour he wanted to take his brother on.

Not only had she been the sexiest woman he’d laid eyes on in a while, but he’d also been moved by how passionate she was about making a difference for her chosen charities. He couldn’t say exactly when, but the rose-colored glasses had come off. They’d been different people from the start, and the longer they dated, the more he saw it.

At thirty-five, she was a little over a year older than him. She’d started her career as a freelance grant writer padded by occasional big gifts from her well-to-do parents. She still wrote a big grant or two every month, but mostly she was supporting herself—and raising money for her chosen charities—through her work as an influencer. She was damn good at it too; one of the city’s best known. The thing was, she never stepped back from that role, even when she woke up in the middle of the night. Her career took the front seat in everything, and while he didn’t fault her, it wasn’t a life he wanted.

With a roll of her eyes, Alyssa kicked out of her heels, threw her coat over a chair, and headed for the couch, beckoning him to join her by patting the cushion next to her.

“You look great, by the way,” he added as he opted to remain standing. This was no exaggeration. Alyssa could put herself together like no one he’d ever met.

The dog surprised them both by bounding onto the top of the couch from several feet away. In spite of the narrow back wall and soft cushions, he proved to have incredible balance as he stared her down, head cocked.

Alyssa’s eyes widened to spy him looming over her. “Should I be terrified right now?”

Jake tugged on an earlobe. “I wish I could say no more confidently than I can.” He clapped his thigh and whistled, and the dog shot off the couch, landing with an impressive litheness on the hardwood. “I think he’s just really high energy and untrained, maybe even untrainable. From what I heard on the phone, he’s been returned a handful of times already.”

Alyssa turned out her lip at the last part. “I can’t believe someone asked you to take their dog for them like this. Wasn’t there anyone they could call?”

“She didn’t have her phone, and it wasn’t like she was in the space to go anywhere except the hospital after an SUV rammed into her and left her with a nasty cut and, I’m betting, a pretty serious concussion.”

“She?” Alyssa shifted on the couch as the single word settled between them.

Jake still hadn’t joined her, even though he’d been sitting there before she came in. “I tell you that story, and that’s what you react to? That his owner is a woman?”

“Like how old?”

He shrugged. “Early thirties, maybe. She was bleeding, and it was dark and raining. Why?”

“Was she pretty?”

Jake dragged a hand through his hair. “What the actual hell, Alyssa? I’m not going to answer that.”

Her mouth fell open an inch as she stared at him. “Jake Stiles. Tell me this, at least. Did you know she was pretty before you ran out in the rain to help her?”

Jake was seeing red. He stalked off into the kitchen to claim some space for himself. Grabbing the teakettle off the gas stove, he filled it with water, then set it back and turned the gas burner on high. He’d started drinking tea three years ago when he finally got it together enough to quit vaping. Three years, and he still craved that smoky rush of nicotine like it was yesterday, especially in moments like right now.

“Well, I guess that answers that.” She shot up from the couch. The dog had planted himself in the middle of the room and was eyeing them in a way that suggested he believed that if he tried hard enough, he’d be able to understand what they were saying. “This was a really important event for me tonight, and now I can’t even post about why you stood me up.”

“I was in a car accident , Alyssa. My Jeep might very well be totaled. I ran out into the rain to help a stranger who could’ve been seriously injured. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“The problem is that you ran out into the rain to help a pretty stranger, and then you brought home her dog. Tonight, of all nights.”

Jake’s hands were clenched into fists. He wanted to pound something, but there was nothing to pound. Alyssa stood in the entryway, blocking his exit to the living room, her hands on her hips and her cheeks reddening. There was no way he’d admit it aloud, but maybe, just maybe, part of the anger turning his veins to acid had something to do with the fact that, while he’d have run out in the rain for anyone, his heart likely wouldn’t have sunk the way it did at fear of how she might be hurt had he not already found himself so intrigued by her for the space of two traffic lights, Jenna, with two N’s and no H. But none of this was anything he’d admit to Alyssa. “I’ve gone to like ten of these events with you this year. What is it that was so important about tonight?”

“There’re only three big galas I attend a year, Jake, and this one was the most important of the three.”

“Three, huh? What about all those other things you’re always dragging me to?”

“I’m not always dragging you to things, and you know very well those aren’t galas, Jake. Important people were there tonight.”

“And my not being there prevented you from talking to them?”

“You’re not being there prevented me from…” She stopped short and threw her hands up in the air.

Jake was buzzing with adrenaline. “My not being there prevented you from what?”

“Fine. From proposing, Jake! I was going to propose. It’s Leap Day, after all, a perfectly acceptable day to do that. I had everything planned out, and I’d called in favors from a dozen different people. But you didn’t show up, and it was all for nothing, and now there aren’t any more big galas till October.”

Jake shot one hand up in the air. “Wait. Propose what ?” Obviously, he knew, but at the same time, none of this added up.

Alyssa’s jaw dropped. “You really have to ask?”

He’d certainly not seen this coming. He leaned back against the counter. “Wow.”

She nodded, misunderstanding him. “Yeah, you have no idea how perfect it would’ve been. How much planning I’ve been doing.”

“I’m sorry, Alyssa.” He held up his hand again when she took a conciliatory step toward him. “I’m sorry your night was ruined. I really am, but it’s a good thing tonight played out as it did.”

Her bare shoulders squared off again. “Don’t tell me you’re secretly a chauvinist, Jake, because I thought you were bigger than that.”

Seriously? Now she was calling him a chauvinist? “The only thing I’m going to tell is that I find it difficult to understand how two people could be in such very different places in their relationship.”

Behind her, the dog had stretched out on the floor and was chewing on something. It took Jake a solid second to process that it was the spike of one of her striking five-inch heels, and the dog had done enough damage already that it was undoubtedly beyond repair. Jake wouldn’t have chosen this way to do it, but it seemed as if Alyssa had two disappointments about to hit her at once.

With her gaze still fixed on Jake, Alyssa’s face drained of color so fast it was as if a light switch had been turned off. “What are you talking about?”

You know you need to do it. Now is as good of a time as any. He did his best to layer his tone with compassion. “That you’re wanting to get married, while I’m wanting to break things off.”

She cocked her head. “What are you actually saying right now?”

He was already standing on the edge of the high dive. “That this relationship isn’t working for me.” When her mouth fell open, but she didn’t interject, he continued. “I’m sorry, Alyssa, but it hasn’t been for a while. When the disappointment settles, I’m hoping you’ll agree.”

“You’re wanting a break ? Is that what you’re saying?”

No doubt his clarity was triggered by tonight’s earlier events. Had Jenna driven ahead five feet further before the impact, tonight could’ve had a very different ending for her. Being there, witnessing it, had him more in tune with the frailty of the human experience than he’d ever been in his life. Right now, the only thing to do was be honest. “No. That’s not what I’m saying. You may not see it yet, but there’s a silver lining here. Had things gone differently tonight, had I been at your gala, I wouldn’t have given you the answer you’d have been looking for, which would’ve ruined your night anyway. And now that it’s out there, there’s no going back. Not the way I see it.”

Mouth still open, Alyssa shook her head. “So, you’re breaking up with me?”

Jake swallowed. “I’m sorry. I really am, but yeah. I’m breaking up with you.”

Turning on her heel, Alyssa spotted the shoe that was in the process of being destroyed and lunged for it with a screech. “Stupid dog!” Jake’s heart went out to her before she turned and hurled it in Jake’s direction. “Stupider Jake!”

He ducked just in time, and it crashed into the cabinet behind him, the spike of the heel leaving a dent in the wood. “What the hell!”

“I’m a good person, Jake, a keeper. Everybody sees it but you! My followers, they see me. You don’t. You used to, but not anymore.”

Even though a five-inch spike was just thrown at his head, he needed to be the bigger person and let it go. “You’re a good person who’s doing good, but that doesn’t mean we fit.”

“This is ridiculous.” She was trying hard not to cry. As often as she talked to her followers about the importance of letting emotions flow, Alyssa hated to cry. She could get angry with the best of them, but tears were avoided at all costs. She looked between him and the dog, who’d escaped to the far side of the couch and was watching them with wide-eyed interest. “I can’t believe I thought that animal was good-looking. He looks like a rat, and you can’t break up with me, Jake. I’m breaking up with you! You chose somebody else’s dog—a nobody dog who destroys pretty shoes—over me, and I won’t stand for it.”

Jake covered his mouth to hide a smile that threatened to pop up at the most inopportune time. The once-snotty kid still inside him wanted to spout off that there could be no take-backs, but he bit the words back. “Fine. You can be the one to break up with me, so long as it means you’re out of here.”

Alyssa looked between him and the dog and shook her head. “You two both belong in the pound.” Grabbing her coat, she stalked toward the door barefoot. “And one of you is paying for those shoes, and I mean it!” she yelled before stepping out and slamming the door.

On the stove, the kettle had begun to whistle. Jake turned off the burner and stood there a moment, processing the surprise turn of events as the releasing steam wound down to a soft whine.

The dog trotted to the door in the abruptly silent condo, gave it a thorough sniffing, then beelined for the second heel nearest him, sank down, and began to gnaw it right in plain sight. That was when Jake started to laugh. “You and me both, buddy. You and me both.”