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“Stay.” Peyton’s voice was strong. Even I wanted to listen to her.
Bebe definitely did, automatically putting his butt to the ground as he kept his gaze on her hand. “Good boy.” She reached into it and gave him a treat.
“Here.” She put a handful of treats into my hand. “This is actually good that you’re here. I’ll be able to test him better.”
“Are you a dog trainer?” I asked.
“More of a hobby, but one I’m passionate about. I trained Bebe when Seth adopted him. Trained my own dogs.” She snorted. “My husbands like to tease me that I trained them too. They certainly like to act like dogs sometimes.”
“Husbands?” I latched on to that word.
Peyton’s smile stayed, but it seemed to have tightened. Her head tilted to the side slightly. “Yes. I have two husbands. For nearly twenty years now.” She continued to watch me, waiting for my reaction.
“That makes sense,” I finally said, not sure what else to say.
“What do you mean?” She was still focused on me.
“Seth’s response.” I wanted to hide my face, I felt so embarrassed. It’d be easier to talk to her hidden behind something like the car. Could I crouch down and use Bebe’s body to disappear? I was too tempted to try. “He’s always telling me that he cares about me and that he’d be happy no matter how I want to be with him.” My voice dropped down. “Even if that meant dating him and dating others.”
“Ah, I see.” Peyton’s lips pursed. “I may have influenced him a lot while he was growing up. Seth’s very intuitive. He had to be since not all the men his mother dated were upstanding people. And he definitely grew attached to me once we met. Come on, let’s see what tricks we can make Bebe do. And maybe get more insight into how Seth thinks.”
Peyton had me move about ten feet away from them. Bebe looked like he wanted to run over to me, but Peyton instructed him to stay. It seemed he barely did that, but he did, being rewarded with a treat.
“Okay, call him over,” she said.
“Bebe, come,” I said.
Bebe got to his feet and took off, running right for me. Once he was there, he walked around me.
“Good, reward him. Give him a treat and assurances.”
“Good job,” I said, feeding him a treat. “You’re such a good boy.”
“Tell him to stay.”
“Stay.”
Bebe put his butt to the ground and stared back at me.
“Reward him again,” Peyton said.
So I did.
For the next fifteen minutes or so, we did more of the same, going through the commands, testing his patience. Bebe was absolutely amazing, listening, getting his rewards, and overall just being a watchful, patient dog.
“Seth’s good with him,” Peyton said. We were now sitting on the cool grass, Bebe’s head in my lap while I ran my hand through his fur. His eyes were half closed, his tail flopping around every now and again. “And so are you. He’s completely comfortable with you.”
“We bonded pretty well,” I said. “Bebe introduced me to Seth.”
“Did he now?”
“Kind of. I met Seth briefly at the Tri-Town’s event, but officially when Bebe wanted me to play with him the next day.”
“Bebe approached you?” Peyton seemed interested by that tidbit.
“Yeah.”
“Dogs are fascinating, don’t you think?” she asked. “They’re so intuitive that they know, despite their fears and own trauma, they know when someone else needs them.”
