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Liza tried to match the softness of his voice. “Does she ever come to visit?”
Miller’s head snapped in her direction, like her question suddenly alerted him to her presence. He gave Murphy one more pat and then stood, grabbing a bowl from her hand for Murphy, and then breezing past her out of the kennel.
“You’ve hit your question limit for the day.”
Liza rolled her eyes. “Fine.”
Miller opened his mouth, but before he could say the words, Liza mimicked, “We should get back to work.”
As Liza went from kennel to kennel, she found herself inspecting Miller. He was like an old briefcase that someone lost the key to. She was a crowbar, prying him open. Today, she had succeeded slightly. She thought she’d be happier about extracting personal information from him, but as she looked at Miller’s tense frame she felt guilty. There was a reason he walked around with all that armor. He was protecting himself.
As much as Liza was filled with heaviness from Miller’s revelation, it was impossible to stay low-spirited around the dogs. Never in a million years would she have expected working at a dog rescue to be a part of her life. No one was more surprised than her that she liked it so much —even the manual labor. It felt good to give the dogs a clean place to play, to wash out their bowls, to give them clean blankets to sleep on. They showed their gratitude with tail wags, kisses, and smiles. That’s right, smiles. Liza never realized it before, but dogs can smile and it made her heart incredibly happy. She didn’t even mind the array of bad smells or getting her clothes dirty. It was worth it.
After all the dogs had been fed and given fresh water, Miller asked, "Wanna take a couple of the dogs for a walk?”
“Yeah definitely,” Liza responded. She was shocked he invited her along.
“I’m gonna grab Ajax and you can walk Hunter. I think it’ll be good for his joints if we can ease him into a little exercise each day.”
"Perfect." Liza walked to Hunter’s kennel and the lab’s tail wagged as he gingerly stood.
“Hi cutie, wanna go for a walk?” His tail whipped back and forth faster. Liza clipped the leash on his collar and met Miller and Ajax by the front door.
“What kind of dog is Ajax?” Liza asked as they made their way outside.
“He’s an American Staffordshire mix. He looks intimidating, but he’s gentle as can be. He would love to find someone who wants a couch potato buddy.”
Liza smiled at the stout dog who’s butt wiggled as he walked. Hunter trotted along happily beside Ajax. “Seems like Hunter is doing well.”
“Yeah I think so. I made him a cocoon out of blankets and he acts like it’s the best thing ever.”
“They remind you to enjoy the simple things in life, don’t they?” Liza noted.
A light brightened in Miller’s eyes as he nodded. They walked along a trail that wove through some sparse trees.
“It’s beautiful out today,” Liza said as she noticed the sun sparkling on the frosty ground. “Look at us, hanging out all these years later. We need to document this.” Liza pulled out her phone and snapped a selfie of her smiling next to an irked Miller.He didn’t flat out say no to a selfie, so that’s a win.In fact, he wasn’t saying anything at all as they walked along the rough trail. The silence was killing Liza. She so badly wanted to ask him a million questions, but knew he’d shut her down.
Surprisingly, Miller spoke up. “So, I ran the numbers. You’ve been volunteering about two hours each morning. At that rate, you’ll need to come for twenty-five days. If you want to get done sooner, you could work longer hours.”
“Are you trying to get rid of me faster?” Liza smirked.
Miller cocked his head like he was thinking about it.
Liza continued before he could reply with a smart comment. “Because, I’m the only one I’ve seen volunteering here. Don’t you need more help?”
The path began a steady decline and Liza noticed a creek at the bottom of the slope.
“I have help. Captain Tate comes out a few times a week, and two high school students volunteer every afternoon from one to three as part of a service learning class at school.”
“That’s not—”
Before Liza could finish her sentence, a bird jutted out from a bush beside them. Hunter rushed after it. The leash pulled tight around Liza’s wrist. She focused on keeping her feet under her as Hunter sprinted down the path. Liza heard Miller yell, “Let go of the leash!” But she couldn’t free her arm and run at the same time. As the creek approached, Liza finally slid the strap down her fingers. She put her arms out to steady herself, but didn’t account for the mud.
The next thing she knew, the ground was thumping underneath her. She was in a covered wagon on a slightly rocky trail. Warmth enveloped her right side and she leaned into it, reaching her arms up and around the soft blanket next to her. A smile formed on her face as she inhaled forest and fresh laundry. “Mmm, blankie you smell soo good.” Liza rubbed her cheek against the smooth fabric. “Yummmmy.”
“Liza? Are you okay?”
She fought to open her eyes. The brightness brought pain. With one eye, she peered up toward the voice. Realization dawned that she was not, in fact, on a cozy Oregon Trail trip. She was in the arms of Miller Brooks. He was… carrying her.
