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Delaney was suddenly at her side. “Hobbs, right?” She squared off with the guy, who appeared to shrink a little.
“Delaney,” he said, his smile fading. “Right?”
“Right.” Delaney’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe now’s not the time for your usual thing. All the—” she flexed and posed and brushed across her chin with her thumb “—if you know what I mean.”
Hobbs’s grin vanished completely. Something silent passed between them, and despite the guy being pretty muscular Tabitha honestly wasn’t sure which way things would go if a fight went down.
“Hobbs.” Constance was suddenly there, like a guardian angel, lurking in the shadows. “This is Tabitha. She’s trying us out today. That’s her service dog, over there with Humphrey.”
Hobbs tore his gaze from Delaney, went briefly to Constance and finally rested on Trinity, who was lying right on the dog bed next to Humphrey. “Oh,” he said. His party-time energy died like a balloon that had leaked out all the air. “Look at that. I’ve never seen old Humphrey share his bed.”
“Me, either.” Constance sounded genuinely shocked. “Aren’t they cute.” She turned to Tabitha. “Humphrey really only likes Rhett. He tolerates me. And he does seem to have a thing for Delaney.”
“Trinity usually keeps her distance,” Tabitha admitted. “But it looks like she knows how to relax here.”
“She knows you’re doing good,” Constance said with a shrug.
“Sorry.” Hobbs turned back to Tabitha. His whole face had softened, the chummy persona gone. “Nice to meet you, Tabitha. I’m one of the coaches here. Hope you come on board.”
“Thank you.” Tabitha was relaxed enough now to study him. His personality hadn’t retreated so much as it had matured, shushing whatever it was inside that made him dance around like a clown. Tabitha was reminded of her time as a youth counselor in school and in church. There was always that kid who acted the clown because he didn’t want anyone to see the sadness inside.
Hobbs cleared his throat. “Till next time.” He gave a nod and melted into the dispersing crowd, his jubilant voice returning as he said goodbye to someone he was obviously familiar with.
“Well, how about that.” Constance lowered her voice and gave a small grin. “First time I’ve ever seen Hobbs back down.”
“Guess he’s not as dumb as he looks,” Delaney said.
Tabitha suppressed a laugh. “Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t think he’s dumb at all. I think it’s an act.”
Delaney’s eyebrows raised, then she shrugged. “I need to go, Steele.” She had her phone in her hand. “But you did great today. Now you just need to come back tomorrow. Right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tabitha said as they headed over to the dogs. Only a few inches of space existed between Trinity and Humphrey. Trinity sat up as Tabitha approached. Tabitha was almost sad to split them up. “All set, girl? You like it here, huh?”
Trinity flapped her tail so hard it smacked Humphrey’s side. Humphrey didn’t even flinch.
“I guess that’s a yes,” Tabitha said with a laugh. “And look. There are signs all over about the fundraiser at Pete’s place.” Tabitha pointed at a poster on the wall behind Trinity’s head. “Isn’t that cool?”
Trinity didn’t look at the poster, obviously, but she did appear to smile. Tabitha smiled back. “C’mon, girl, let’s get home.”
Normally, Tabitha pressed the speed limit just a little in her rush to get back to the house. Today, she rolled the windows down and enjoyed the breeze. She was physically tired from the workout and mentally tired from meeting new people, but there was something else there, too. A positive sort of anxiousness to get back into the gym and do it all over again, with all those same people. Constance was soothing, Zoe was motivating, Delaney was a confidence builder and that guy Hobbs—Tabitha wasn’t sure what he was. But something about him made her smile. The whole morning made her smile.
“Fist bump.” Tabitha held out her hand. Trinity, sitting up in the passenger seat inside her harness, raised her left paw. It was one of the last commands Pete had taught her, but—Tabitha decided, as her skin met Trinity’s furry foot—one of the best.
