He wagged his tail and lightly butted his head against her leg, hinting for her to rub his ears.
“I can’t take a dog,” she told him firmly. “I live in an apartment complex that only allows cats. I know that’s rather discriminatory, but that’s the way it is. So Casey’s going to find you a home, okay? With a nice family who’ll feed you and make sure you have a warm, dry place to stay when the weather turns bad.”
Curling up on the ground beside the stairs, he rested his head on her leg and closed his eyes.
Suddenly feeling a bit foolish for engaging in a conversation with a dog, Natalie stood and went back to work.
She finished the windows by mid-afternoon. Tired and a little sore, she stood back to admire her work. She prepared to roll the hose back onto the wheeled metal reel, squeezing the spray nozzle first to empty any remaining water from the hose. To her amusement, the dog dashed forward to play in the spray. He’d seemed fascinated all afternoon by the water that had shot from the hose and splashed from the windows.
She let up on the nozzle and the spray stopped. Buddy turned to look at her expectantly, almost bouncing with eagerness.
“You want to play in the water?” she asked him.
He barked.
She turned on the spigot again and squeezed the nozzle, aiming a little lower this time. Buddy leaped into the spray, biting at the water as if trying to catch it. Natalie laughed, squeezing and releasing the nozzle to add to the game.
Inspiration suddenly struck and she set down the hose. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
The dog sat and watched as she dashed into the cabin. She was back only minutes later, this time carrying a bottle of baby shampoo and some more towels. Because she was prone to sties, she cleaned her eyelashes with baby shampoo every morning during her shower. She figured if it was gentle enough for her eyes, it would
be the same for Buddy.
He was sitting right where she’d left him. She set the bath supplies near him and though he looked at them curiously, he didn’t seem bothered by the sight of them. She pushed the sleeves of her sweater higher on her arms and picked up the hose. Buddy jumped to his feet, barking excitedly again.
She couldn’t help laughing at his antics. Who’d have imagined that the skittish, elusive mutt Casey had first spotted only days earlier would turn into such a clown after a few good meals and a little attention?
The bath got her almost as wet as the dog, but he didn’t try to resist her when she sprayed him down and rubbed shampoo into his medium-length hair. He actually seemed to enjoy the process, and she decided that he must have been someone’s pet at one time. The bath process seemed familiar to him.
She should call the local animal shelter and ask if anyone had reported a lost pet matching Buddy’s description. She should have done that already, she thought with a shake of her head. She blamed her distraction with her personal problems and her growing fascination with Casey for keeping her from thinking clearly about the stray dog.
She toweled him dry briskly, and he seemed to like that, too. He emerged from the towel grinning and panting. The bath must have made him hungry. As soon as he was reasonably dry, he trotted to his food bowl and began to munch on kibble.
Natalie stood back and watched him in amazement. He looked almost like a different dog. He was mostly reddish-brown with scattered white patches that were quite visible now that he was clean. Though she knew little about dog breeds, her stepfather owned a springer spaniel he called Monty. Buddy reminded her a little of Monty, though his coat wasn’t quite as long. Maybe there was some springer spaniel in his mixed genetic makeup.
“Wait until Casey sees you,” she said as she began to gather her supplies. “He’s going to be so impressed.”
Buddy wagged his tail, which was feathery now that it was clean. He could still use a good brushing, but she didn’t own a dog brush and she had no intention of using her own good hair brushes on him. Her doggie altruism went only so far.
After stashing the window washing supplies where Casey had left them and making two trips inside to put away the things she’d brought out, she settled in a rocker again with a cup of hot tea. She needed to rest. She’d changed into dry clothes and donned a light jacket because the temperatures were falling as the sun set.
It would be dark within half an hour, she mused, looking at the purpling sky. It got dark so much earlier as winter approached. As he watched the light fade, her mood darkened as well. The mild euphoria left over from a day of productive hard work and playing with the dog leeched into a gloominess that matched the shadows creeping over the mountaintops toward the cabin.
As if sensing the change, Buddy rested his head on her knee and gazed sympathetically up at her. She hadn’t even realized he’d come up onto the deck. She set her hand on his head, ruffling his soft, but still slightly matted ears.
Maybe there was something to the adage that pet owners were less prone to stress and depression, because having him there did make her feel a little better. Not that she intended to keep him, of course. It was just nice to have his company for now. Sort of like Casey, she thought with an attempt at humor that didn’t particularly amuse her.
It must have been the thought of Casey’s name that conjured him. “Wow,” he said from where he stood at the bottom of the deck steps. “Where’d you get that handsome dog?”
Both Natalie and Buddy turned to look at him. Natalie, for one, certainly appreciated the view. Casey’s hair was wind-tousled around his face and his bright eyes glittered in the sensor-activated security lighting that had just come on around the cabin. He wore an open-throated white shirt beneath his denim jacket, and dark, bootcut jeans with brown-and-tan, bowling-styled shoes. He looked like he’d just stepped out of a celebrity magazine, she thought with a slight sigh. One of those “most beautiful people” issues.
“Hi, Casey,” she said, feeling her mood lighten even more.
Casey had been standing there for several minutes before he’d made his presence known. He suspected the dog had known he was there, but Buddy seemed totally focused on being petted by Natalie. Casey couldn’t blame him for that.“You gave him a bath?” he asked, amazed by how clean and soft the dog’s formerly filthy coat looked now.
“Yes. I was washing windows and he loved playing in the water coming from the hose. One thing led to another, and now he’s clean. He still needs to be brushed, but I didn’t have anything to brush him with.”
“I’ll bring a dog brush tomorrow.” Slowly climbing the stairs, he paused to glance at the shiny windows that now reflected the security lighting. “You washed the windows?”