Home Is Where Your Bark Is

Chapter 22

How humans could ignore food that was right in front of them was beyond the dog’s comprehension. Hungry for more of those mouthwatering treats, the dog wriggled in place in hopes of getting Jake’s attention, but his efforts were interrupted by the familiar sounds of Sam and Joseph calling out in play. They were here, running across the grass toward him. A rush of conflicting emotions sent shivers raking across the dog’s body and a fresh pant over his tongue. Did this mean he’d be leaving Jake? The dog’s whole body began to quiver at the thought.

Sam, the older boy, reached him first, smelling of sweat from the exertion of his run, his hands and mouth smelling of cheese crackers, and the salty dampness of recently shed tears clinging to his eyelashes. “Axel! You’re here! I didn’t know you’d be here!” His small hands worked their way into the dog’s fur, and the dog went still. He looked over at Jake to find that distress lined features that had so recently been relaxed and easy as he and Jenna talked.

The dog was so desperate to know what the boys’ arrival meant that panic disoriented him. If he went back to living with the boys, their father would most certainly lock him in a cage again.

When Joseph reached them, he hurled his small body against the dog. “I missed you, Toby!” His chubby fingers locked around the dog’s ear, and the dog skittered backward, accidentally pulling the toddler off-balance. He fell to the ground, and tears budded on his eyelids. The dog leaned in and licked the boy’s cheeks until a laugh erupted from him.

Jenna helped pull Joseph to his feet and then planted a kiss on the top of his head.

Sam pushed in. “Auntie Jenna, how come you have Axel?”

Kneeling at Joseph’s level, Jenna spoke to the boys, her tumble of words lost on the dog, but her calm tone and demeanor comforting. Even so, shivers continued to rake his body.

Picking up on his unease, Jake unhooked the leash from where Jenna had tied it to the table and wrapped the end around his wrist, offering his own calming words the dog’s way. “Good boy, Seven. Not a thing for you to be worried about, bud.”

While the dog didn’t fear the boys’ touch—not even Joseph’s, despite the way his small fingers sometimes tugged on his hair hard enough to pinch—he didn’t yearn to lean into it the way he had when Jenna had scratched along his neck and under his collar the day before. With the young boys, the dog had always given more than he’d received.

It was different than in his recent life with Jake. Jake had been offering the dog more than he’d been demanding from him, so unlike the people in the dog’s other homes.

Jake lifted the bag of treats off the table and sank down so that he was level with the boys but used his body as a buffer between them and the dog. “How’d you two like to give Seven a treat?”

“Me first! Me first!” Sam said, cutting off his little brother, and Joseph burst into full-fledged crying. Jenna lifted him into her arms, talking about sharing and taking turns and other things the dog didn’t understand.

Sam extended his small hand for a treat. “Why are you calling him Seven?”

“Because Seven’s a lucky number and a lucky name.” Jenna returned Joseph, who’d stopped crying again, to his feet.

Joseph shoved out his small hand too. “Is our doggie lucky?”

Jenna looked at Jake, a thin crease splitting her eyebrows. “I certainly think so.”

Jake had a treat in his hand, and the dog sank onto his haunches and licked his jowls even as his body continued to tremble. Nothing he was witnessing made it clear who’d be taking him home from here.

If it was Jake—if Jake gave him another chance—the dog would do better. He’d listen more; he’d stop chewing on the leg of that piece of furniture that tasted so divine. He’d do his best to stop swiping left-behind morsels off the kitchen counters when Jake wasn’t looking. Sometimes the dog did that even before he realized he was doing it, so quitting it wouldn’t be easy. He’d even go by Seven, if that’s what Jake wanted.

“I’m sure you’ve fed him treats before,” Jake said as he placed a small piece of the savory treats on each boy’s outstretched hand. “Just keep your hand flat while he takes it from you.”

To prove how good he could be, the dog waited at attention until Jake nodded that he could take the treats, then snatched them up with quick flicks of the tongue that made the boys erupt into laughter.

He was still munching when the boys’ mother walked up. His whole body started trembling even harder at the sight of her. Aside from a lot of angry words aimed in his direction and too much time trapped in that crate of theirs, nothing so bad had happened to the dog in that house to have his body trembling so heavily, but it was beyond his control. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that while there, the dog had constantly been bracing for something worse to happen, given the way the man and woman so often snapped at each other when the boys were asleep or in another room. The dog had been so tired there, so on edge. He didn’t ever want to feel that way again.

With Jake, the dog had been sleeping deeper and for longer stretches than he could remember. A few times, he’d even let down his guard enough that Jake had moved through the room without the dog so much as stirring.

“Mommy, Mommy, we want to take Seven home again! Did you know his name was Seven now? And can’t we take him home again, pleeeease?” Sam said as Joseph dug his small fingers deeper into his fur.

Their mother was too busy greeting Jake to listen, so Sam repeated his plea over and over until he had her attention.

There were two deep lines of worry above her eyes when she looked the dog’s way. “Well, this is perfect timing, isn’t it?” She hoisted Joseph onto her hip and pressed a kiss against his cheek. “Remember how Mommy’s doctor said having a dog with as much energy as Seven wasn’t a good idea for me right now? Remember how you and Sammy have your new train table now instead? Think of how much fun you’ve been having with it.”

“It’s not as much fun as Seven!” Sam crossed his arms, and his whole body tensed like wire.

His mom’s shoulders lifted, then fell as she heaved a big sigh. “Sammy, this is not how we show our best selves to Auntie’s new friend, is it?”

The dog looked from Jake to Jenna to the boys’ mom, desperate to understand what was happening. Were they arguing about him? Sidestepping directly in front of Jake, he barked and wagged his tail. When Jake looked his way, the dog whined.

“It’s okay, Seven. It’s alright, buddy.” Jake looked at Jenna. “He really seems worked up. Maybe I’ll take him for a quick loop around the park to see if he settles down.”

Jenna nodded. “Yeah, that’d be good. Boys, we’ll see Seven again in a few minutes, and maybe you two can play on the playground for a bit, huh?”

In a flurry of commotion as the food was packed away, Jake led the dog off toward the other edge of the park where there were more squirrels than people. Jake sank down next to him, and the dog didn’t even scramble away when Jake ran his hand down the fur along his side. “Seven, good buddy, no need to get so worked up. Nothing’s changing. You’re coming home with me.”

The dog didn’t understand Jake’s words, not most of them, but he trusted his tone and his gentle gaze and the reassuring touch of his hand. Jake wasn’t sending him away. The dog would get another chance. Another chance to run on the sand by the water. Another chance to play chase in Jenna’s big yard. Another chance to eat dinner out of Jake’s hands. Shoving forward, the dog swept his tongue across Jake’s face, from his chin to his nose, the thick stubble tickling the dog’s tongue.

“Aww, Seven,” Jake said, wiping his face. “I thought I’d never see the day.”

The dog pressed in again, dousing Jake in a few more licks. He was also getting another chance to get used to his newest given name. Seven. This time, the dog wanted to make it stick.