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“You sure he’s not a hound?” Donnie joked.
In reply, Wyatt sat back on his haunches, tapped his front paws and howled again, this time like he was facing down a full moon on a smoggy night.
“What the...?” Delaney crossed over to him, knelt down and rubbed his shoulders. “What’s up, Wyatt? Don’t be sad. You can’t go to Nonni’s, but we’ll be back quick.”
“He sees that Trinity gets to go,” Tabitha suggested.
Sal tapped his temple and pointed at Tabitha. “She’s right. You’re a smart girl.”
“He tears up the place when I leave,” Delaney said. “He’s a wild spirit and hates to be left behind. That’s why I worry about him here. I don’t have as much space to offer as other people.”
“Yeah, he might need a big place to run,” Zip agreed.
“Bunch of kids,” Sal added.
“You’re just fostering him, right? He’ll find a family,” Boom chimed in.
Delaney’s face, which had been plastered with a smile that just seemed a little too big since Tabitha had arrived, crumpled as the uncles fired their suggestions. Tabitha felt the dark cloud to her core. Delaney’s soul had been on fire all night, her insides coming alive inside this group of men she obviously loved and trusted with her life. Now she was drying up inside. Something was eating away at her. Maybe it was just Wyatt, but Tabitha sensed it was more.
“You should get him a sidecar,” Tabitha said, her small voice just an undercurrent to the cacophony of male opinions. She was pretty sure nobody heard her, except maybe Trinity, and she wasn’t going to repeat herself. It hadn’t been Tabitha’s place to speak in the first place.
“What was that?” Delaney held up her hand to the men and closed it in a fist. The men went silent.
“Nothing.” Tabitha shook her head. “It was—” she eyed the restless pit bull who had calmed a little bit since nobody had actually walked out the front door “—stupid.”
“Stop doubting yourself, Steele.” Delaney’s words were strong, but her voice was soft, encouraging. “What’d you say?”
Tabitha shrugged. “Well, it’s just that...well, it’s pretty obvious to me that you and Wyatt are the same. You just said he’s a wild spirit. He loves motorcycles. And he’s always running off. Why would he belong with anyone but you? You’re perfect for each other. So, my suggestion was...get a sidecar. For Wyatt.” The room got even quieter, if that was possible. “That’s a thing, right? I’ve seen it on TV. Dogs who ride with their people. They get them some goggles and a sidecar. I’ve seen little ones ride inside people’s jackets, but,” she said, stifling a giggle, “that wouldn’t work for Wyatt, obviously. But if he had a sidecar, he could go with you lots of places.”
The men cast glances between Wyatt and Delaney and Tabitha, each of them raising their eyebrows or murmuring approval. “That’d be easy for you,” Sal finally said. “You could put a sidecar on your Rebel, no sweat.”
“There’s no question he loves motorcycles,” Boom added. “I’ve only been here a few days and have never seen a dog act like that. When she takes him out—” he turned to Tabitha “—he runs circles around all our bikes out there, lined up in a row. Poor Pippie tries to keep up with him, flying behind with the leash in her hand.” He loosed a belly laugh that filled the whole store.
Everybody laughed now, except Delaney. She wasn’t quite smiling, but Tabitha could tell that her spirit had filled her back up, at least a little bit.
“You know what, Steele? That’s not half-bad. I think I might actually do it.” Delaney’s eyes held Tabitha’s for a long moment. “Thanks, girl.”
Tabitha shrugged, her cheeks suddenly warm. “No problem.”
Their strategy when departing, to avoid another howling incident, was to leave in stages. Tabitha and Trinity left first, followed by the uncles in pairs, and finally, Delaney, who handed Wyatt a chew stick before she locked up behind her.
It seemed to work, and everybody settled into the soft lighting and garlicky smells of Nonni’s in high spirits. Once the food was underway, Delaney turned to Tabitha, a forkful of eggplant parmesan poised in front of her lips, and said, “Thanks for that, back at the shop.”
Tabitha poked her fork around her salad and shrugged. “It was nothing.”
“That’s not what I’m thanking you for.” Delaney gave her a knowing look. “You were the only one who saw how I was feeling. About Wyatt. All these lunkheads were trying to make things easy for me.” She tilted her head toward the four men down the length of the table, but they were deep into a debate about the greatest basketball player of all time. “Only you saw what I really needed to hear, which was a solution to keeping him, not giving him away.”
Tabitha sighed and looked down at Trinity, who was settled on the floor next to her chair. Just looking at the dog made her feel better sometimes. “I could feel it,” she admitted. “You don’t want to give up on him, like everyone else has. More than that, you don’t want to be someone who takes the easy way out. Bails when things get hard. That’s not who you are.”
Delaney’s chewing slowed. Her eyes misted up. She looked away. Tabitha got the sense once again that there was more going on here than the issue with Wyatt. “You’re good at what you do,” Delaney said, after some time had passed. “You still in the spiritual guidance field?”
Tabitha’s pulse picked up a little. “Not since the navy. I don’t do anything. I’m...nothing right now.”
“Don’t say that. You’re not nothing. You’re just...re-becoming.”
Tabitha smiled. “I like that.” She nibbled at her garlic bread. “I do have an interview tomorrow. It’s with Clementine, from the gym. To work at her running store.”
“Well, there you go. Good next step. And if you don’t want to work there, I’m going to need someone to run my register soon, if business keeps up.”
