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Yes,of course, he was handsome—the odds of him not being in this veryinstance werelow.He had scruffy hair and green eyes. It looked like he just came from work. He was wearing scrub pants and a V-neck. I tried not to look him up and down, but I did home in on his hands and noticed a lack of a wedding ring. I let out a sigh, having a complete argument inside my mind. There was no wayhewas single. All the cute guys I’d met in the last decade were either taken, committed (both asylums and priesthood), or identified as male witches. He must’ve just forgotten to put his wedding ring back on after the gym where his personal trainer wife was giving dance classes in her time off from being a supermodel.
But the biggest shock of all was when a small boy around ten years old walked over with what could have been Dolly’s twin. I noticed this the whole time the man was looking at Dolly—I was looking at this dog—and we both looked quizzingly at each other.
The little boy piped up. “Woah! You have the same dog as my uncle!”
The resemblance wasuncanny.My mind drifted off to the note in Dolly’s intake:1 other dog on site.
“It appears we do, buddy.” He patted his nephew on the head. “What are the chances of that?” He let out another small laugh, reaching down to pick up the dog from his nephew's arms.
“Hi, I’m Eli, and this is Carter.” He held out his ringless hand, meeting my free one that wasn’t holding Dolly. I robotically shook his hand but still hadn’t said anything in reply. He turned to Dolly and reached out his hand for her paw, which, just like at the pet store, she accepted the shake, daintily putting her paw in his palm.
“And what’s your name?” His voice got a little higher, appropriate for dog-speak but still manly—all while revealing a dazzling smile.
“Um…this is Dolly.” Finally, the attention was off me, and I could stumble through my words again. But hearing me speak, he tilted his head and stared back. “And you are?”
Now I was getting weirded out. Why was a married man interested in my first name? Of course—unless hewasn’tmarried—but how could that be?
Katie’s Words of Law
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Give the man a chance to finish introducing himself before the wild suspicions begin.
“Katie.”
He smiled and nodded his head. “Hi, Katie.” He just stood there, smiling at me, and considering me with some sort ofwonder.He straightened his body, crossing his arms as if he was waiting formeto make conversation about our matching dogs. He ran his fingers through Carter’s fuzzy curls. Carter let out a small yawn as he looked around us. No, Eli wasn’t about to budge. He was making thishardfor me. The ball was in my court.
“I adopted Dolly yesterday from Newtown.” It worked.
“You did?” Those green eyes widened.
I was used to smiles and joy whenever I said this, so I was a little caught off guard by his reaction.
“Yes—I did.” Now questions pressed on my mind. “Where did you get Carter?”
“Newtown.”
Okay, well, I realized itwasa big animal shelter in our neighborhood so—that didn’t mean this was Dolly’s sibling, right? Or…?
He let out a laugh. “I got Carter a few years ago when he was just a baby.” He paused. “Should we see if they know each other?”
Now that was a great idea. I nodded, and we leaned down to set them on the grass. Carter closed the distance between them immediately, and they sniffed each other. He bounded around Dolly in a quick loop, looked at her, crouched down on his front legs, and let out the smallest but mightiest-for-his-size bark. We both laughed.
“It appears they do.” I closed my eyes as I uttered another lame comment. Must I only speak when I must painfully point out the obvious? Could I be alittlemore mysterious?
“Well, Katie, since our dogs are acquaintances, and it’s likely they are probably litter mates…that means it would be an injustice to them for us not to have play dates.” He smiled, looking like he felt pleased with himself for such a smooth response.
I was elated to hear him basically askingmeout and was halfway into a nod, ready to reply something witty about being a paralegal and taking a stand against injustice, when a beautiful woman in pink running shorts jogged over to us. Her perfectly tanned legs made me look nuclear with how pale I was in comparison.
“Eli, there you are! Are you ready to go?” She held up her hands, flashing ahugediamond ring.
So, he wasn’t married, butclearly,he was spoken for. It was all in my head, after all.
Feeling a shiver from Dolly, as if she was reacting to the situation, I said, “I’m sure we will see you around. Bye-bye, Carter,” so the woman would know I wasn’t hitting onhim.
I turned to walk away and heard the woman say something about the dogs beingidentical.“Wowzers—twin doggies!” She seemed kind as if she wanted me to reply so she could hear about the dogs, but I had no energy left.
I was halfway through awkwardly stepping out of the small dog pen when I remembered what my shoe was covered in—the exact shoe I was leading with and had in their perfect line of vision as I lifted my leg over the short fence. But the most embarrassing part about this afternoon was happening live: the squish from my shoe loudly echoing with each step for everyone on the Pawrents benches, and now Eli and his presumed fiancé to hear. I wondered if Dolly was as ashamed of me as I was.
