Head Over Paws

by Debbie Burns

  Olivia’s heart warmed at the easy declaration of days to come. She’d been so young when she started dating Trevor. Everything had been wrapped up in the world of high school and homecomings and football games and student council events. This…this was adulting and very, very real. And also not what she’d expected. She’d had so many friends talk about dating nowadays and how guys acted indifferent for so long. But Gabe seemed so confident in this new togetherness they were experiencing that she wasn’t entirely sure how to handle it. Not knowing what else to say, she went for the truth. “I’d like that. A lot.”

  When they neared the end of the sidewalk and the busy street separating them from the massive park, Gabe told Samson to heel, and with surprising ease, the dog trotted around to Gabe’s side without the slightest hesitation.

  “Wow. I see why you’re so forgiving of a leash with him.”

  “We did a lot of search-and-rescue work together. To pass the exam, he needed to be obedient off leash. He knows when he’s free to do his business and when he needs to listen.”

  “A lot of my grandpa’s dogs have been like that, though they’ve never been through any formal training, and he never really takes them places. I don’t think any of them were half as obedient as Samson.”

  “I suspect he’s the greatest dog I’ll ever have. I’ve been putting it off, but I realized yesterday I need to make a call in the next month as to whether I’m going to extend this lease. I’d like to stay here another year while I get more established, but the stairs are getting hard on him. Some days he’s fine; other days, I’m carrying him up.”

  After crossing the street, they trailed along a winding sidewalk deeper into the park. Olivia recognized the magnolias and redbuds with their bursts of purple and pink lighting the pathway, but not many of the other more exotic trees were beginning to bloom. The park was expansive enough that even with dozens of people walking, biking, and even playing soccer, their walk still felt intimate.

  “Will Yun know where to find us?”

  Gabe pointed to a group of picnic tables ahead of them. “We always eat in this general vicinity.” As they neared, he added, “Take your pick.”

  Some were out in the open, and others were under a covered pavilion. Olivia chose one out in the open at the end, three tables away from a family with three young kids. The evening sun was beginning to turn the western sky into a wash of warm, bright colors, and the breeze was soft and gentle.

  Olivia took a seat facing in, but Gabe straddled the bench, facing her, and leaned against the table. He cocked an eyebrow. “So, you’ve heard about my day. Tell me about yours.”

  At first it felt as if there’d be nothing to say except “I taught algebra to temperamental eighth graders who think they know everything already,” but no sooner had she started than the bits and pieces she loved most about her job came to mind. Like the little breakthroughs and aha moments as her kids figured out patterns they could solve confidently over and over again if they took the care they needed and trusted themselves, and the more personal parts, like when they dropped their guard and showed the real, intrinsic parts of themselves and gave Olivia hope for the world of tomorrow.

  She was finishing up telling Gabe about her last-hour kids’ big plans for a supply drive for the shelter when she spotted Yun heading up the path, carrying a loaded-down canvas bag.

  “That’d be a really cool thing to do for the shelter—and for the kids,” Gabe said when she was done and as Yun arched around them to the open other side of the table. “That looks heavier than just appetizers.”

  “You know my mom. You’ll have appetizers all weekend long.” Yun shot a glance Olivia’s direction as she unpacked the bag, setting a few containers and three mismatched plates on the table. “So how do you feel about ginger?”

  “Um, do you mean as opposed to being called a redhead?” As soon as she saw the look of confusion washing over Yun’s face, she realized her mistake. “You mean the spice, don’t you?”

  “I do.” Yun laughed. “And I’m direct, but not that direct. Korean ground beef is spiced with ginger and hot pepper paste, as are most other traditional dishes. When it comes to ginger, it’s my experience that some people love it, while others, not so much.”

  Olivia tilted her head in consideration. “You know, it’s growing on me, as are a lot of other things I didn’t grow up with. I come from a meat-and-potatoes-and-whatever-grows-in-the-garden family. The most exotic thing in my grandma’s spice rack is a jar of bay leaves, and my mom’s not much of a cook at all. There’s just not the same variety of food in southern Missouri as there is up here.”

  Yun paused in pulling the lids off the containers to point a finger her way. Standing beside her as if he were ready for a show, Samson wagged his tail, his mouth agape in an eager smile. “I hear you on being deprived of different types of foods growing up, and it’s not like I grew up in the middle of nowhere. My family lives in the suburbs in the county. The food and restaurant selection out there isn’t exactly as diverse as it is around here, but there was a lot more variety than I was exposed to. We ate out once a year on everyone’s birthdays. The rest of the time, we ate my mom’s cooking. Her family is all Korean, while my dad’s a mix of pretty much every European country there is, but my mom only cooks what she knows, which is Korean. Except she loves fettuccine Alfredo and figured out how to make it, but it never tastes quite right.”

  Olivia noticed the magnificent colors inside the gimbap rolls—from the bright white of the rice to the brown of the ground meat to the yellows and oranges of the thinly sliced vegetables. The rolls were remarkably different from anything she’d grown up with, but her mouth watered in anticipation. The second container was filled with a variety of kimchi, the spicy pickled veggies Ava was always telling her were good for gut health. The third container was filled with pale, puffy dinner rolls that looked to be the homemade sort.

  Gabe voiced Olivia’s thoughts. “Yeah, Yun, somehow this spread isn’t making it seem like you led a deprived childhood.”

  “Says the guy who got to hang out at a family-run pizza parlor every Friday and Saturday night of his life,” Yun said with a playful roll of her eyes. “I can count the number of times on one hand that I had pizza before turning eighteen and getting my first job.”

  Gabe swung his leg around to face the table and pulled plates in front of him and Olivia. “My dad is best friends with the owner of a pizza joint,” he said in explanation with a wink in Olivia’s direction. “I told you he runs a collision center. They were right across the street from each other, and they were always throwing freebies each other’s way. When I wasn’t fixing cars, I was eating pizza.”

  “Yet somehow he’s still got that body.” Yun hiked a thumb toward Gabe’s abs. “With all the burgers he eats, I kept waiting for him to get a potbelly when we were in school. I’ve since given up. I’m convinced he’s just one of those genetic anomalies who functions perfectly on being lethargic five days a week and busting his ass the other two.”

  Gabe’s look was pure exasperation. “Shouldn’t you be trying to talk me up? Because I’m pretty sure I’m coming across like a slug with intermittent ADHD and a cholesterol problem.”

  Olivia laughed and held out her plate as Gabe dropped a couple of rolls onto it.

  Finished unpacking everything, Yun plopped onto the bench opposite them. When Samson seemed to have given up on freebies from her, he trotted around to Olivia’s side. “Fine. I’ll behave myself.” Yun smiled at Olivia, showing mismatched, deep dimples on both cheeks. “Gabe’s pretty much the big brother I never had. But enough about me. I was so psyched when he told me about you.”

  “I can’t remember if I told you or not, Olivia,” Gabe said, “but Yun’s pretty much the reason I ended up meeting you, more proof that a few good things have come out of her attempts at micromanagement.”

  “Yeah, you said she was the one who
encouraged you to drive down to volunteer. And you won’t hear me complaining,” Olivia said, burying the fingers of one hand in the silky fur just below Samson’s ear as he planted his head on her lap.

  “For a while there, I thought it might take an intervention to get him to do something outside of work that didn’t involve camping trips with Samson.”

  “You’re forgetting how many times a week I hang out with my brother and my nieces.”

  Still soaking in their easy conversation, Olivia popped one of the rolls in her mouth. An explosion of flavor burst across her tongue, and her stomach cramped in anticipation. No wonder these were Gabe’s favorite.

  “Family not included,” Yun added at his declaration. “Oh, guess what I got to scrub in on today.”

  “Torn ACL?”

  “I wish. A total hip replacement on a six-year-old Rott.” She looked at Olivia and added, “The dog had severe hip dysplasia in his left hip. And it’s super-tricky surgery.”

  “Impressive, Yun.” Gabe cocked an eyebrow and popped a roll into his mouth before stabbing his fork at a hunk of pepper on his plate. “Damn, these are good. So, how’d you do?”

  “Good enough to know I’m officially ready for a change.” With a floret of cauliflower paused an inch from her mouth, she added in Olivia’s direction, “I let my parents talk me into accepting a position at an emergency vet hospital and surgical center that’s big enough to take up one wing of a mall. ‘For the insurance and the benefits and the stability,’” she said, making air quotes with the last part. “While Gabe took a risk and got hired on with a single owner. And he’s gotten ten times the experience I have since we finished our internships.”

  “I can see how doing something stable like that would be tempting, especially considering the loans that I bet came with vet school,” Olivia said.

  Yun let out a little groan as she munched her kimchi. “You’re not kidding. It’s going to be like paying on a brand-new Jaguar for the next fifteen years while I try to breathe life into my ten-year-old Corolla.”

  “I hear you there,” Gabe said. “So, you’re serious? You’re going to look for something else?”

  “My wheels are officially spinning. Any chance Dr. Washington will let you out of buying that crappy old building? That place of yours is too small to bring in another vet. If you weren’t working alone, I bet you could more than double your business.”

  “What’re you saying?” Gabe asked before popping another roll into his mouth.

  “I don’t know for sure. Just keep your eye out for vacant buildings before you sign your life away on any dotted lines.”

  Gabe sat up straight, tapping the fingers of one hand on the tabletop. “You know, the longer Dr. Washington is away, the more I find myself wishing I had another vet working with me to take some of the calls we end up not being able to fit into the schedule. I hate having to refer people out.”

  “My sister’s a real estate agent,” Olivia piped up. “She’s mostly residential, but she does a bit of commercial too. If you’d like, you can let me know what sort of thing you’re looking for, and I can ask her to keep an eye open.”

  Yun’s warm, brown eyes widened as she looked between Olivia and Gabe. When Gabe shrugged and said it couldn’t hurt, Yun flattened her hands on the table. “That’d be great, Olivia, as long as she understands it’s just exploratory right now.”

  Olivia shrugged. “Sure. She won’t care. And it never hurts to look. You never know what might come of it.”

  * * *

  From where Gabe sat, he was fairly certain he’d never had a more stunning view in all his life. And some of the most incredible ambiance in St. Louis was only partly to do with it. The rest was all Olivia, and it wasn’t just her looks, even though he couldn’t remember ever being as drawn to someone physically as he was to her.

  After they’d eaten a hefty share of appetizers and Yun had taken off, Gabe had thrown out half-a-dozen dining options only to confirm that neither of them were that hungry any longer. With the weather about as perfect as a spring day in the Midwest could get—having dropped to the low sixties now that the sun had set and with no humidity—Olivia had liked the idea of going for a walk through Tower Grove Park first as they talked.

  Later, after a bit of debate—there were so many places she had yet to discover as a new resident to the city—they’d opted for the Boathouse at Forest Park, and Gabe couldn’t think of a more perfect place to get to know her better tonight. Now they were seated at a table on the outdoor patio, facing Post-Dispatch Lake. The big, sprawling lake was quiet and serene tonight, and reflections from the lanterns in the beer garden set Olivia’s hair aglow in the dark and reflected off the pair of lips Gabe found more enticing than any he’d ever known. The sun had set more than an hour ago, and only a hint of lighter blue remained in the far western sky.

  They were slowly finishing off a bottle of Australian Shiraz and savoring a few of the lighter appetizers from the Boathouse’s selection. Olivia was halfway through her second glass of wine, and Gabe smiled at the way she settled back in her chair and let her eyes fall closed for a moment, a happy smile lingering on her face. He wondered what it would be like to fall asleep to that smile. Or even better, to wake up in the morning and have it be the first thing he saw.

  “I’m so glad spring is here,” she said. “Ava’s always telling me I need to do things like this, but I came up here in January, and honestly I pretty much gave everything I could to making the best start in Westbury Middle.”

  “I can see why you would. I’ve done that with work for nearly a year now. But you’re just getting started. Now that the weather’s better and you’ve got the routine down there, you’ll probably have more time than before.”

  Eyes still closed, Olivia raised a hand and crossed her fingers. “Let’s hope.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She opened her eyes and sat up again, giving a little shake as if it was an attempt to step out of her buzz. “If it weren’t for the fact that I just finished my second glass of wine, I might not have the nerve to tell you what I mean.”

  Gabe didn’t want her telling him anything she’d regret later. “There’s nothing you have to tell me before you’re a hundred percent ready.”

  Olivia sucked in a long breath, her shoulders rising and falling with it. “I want to tell you. I need to tell you, because there’s a chance it could affect things.”

  Tension knotted his stomach in anticipation. “Okay.”

  “The thing is…I hate endings. Always have. When I see them coming, I go into survival mode. I’m not talking about you. I’m talking about my job,” she said, probably picking up on his anticipation.

  He nodded, relaxing a bit, and took a swig of wine.

  “Finding a well-rated school around here willing to hire a Teach for America–trained teacher with only a couple years’ experience in a rural school district wasn’t the easiest thing to do. And don’t get me wrong; I loved teaching those kids down there. I just wanted something totally different, and when it came to moving across the state and into a city, I wanted something I was confident I could handle.”

  “I can understand that.”

  “I lucked out with the position I’m in, but it’s temporary. There’s no guarantee it’ll turn into anything permanent. If I knew for sure it would, I’d go adopt that amazing dog like this,” she said, snapping her fingers, “and rent a place of my own closer to the city. I love the town of Elsah, but it’s a commute, and most of the residents are over sixty-five.” She paused and took a sip of wine. “And then there’s you.”

  Gabe considered his reply before speaking. “There is me, isn’t there? I’m glad you said that, because as far as I’m concerned, there’s no denying there’s you now either.” He tapped his fingers on his thigh. “As to the rest, I don’t know what to say except I have faith everything’s going to fall i
nto place. From everything I’ve seen, you’re the sort of teacher that principals would want teaching in their schools.”

  “Thanks. But—what if they don’t?” She motioned back and forth between them. “With everything in my world so undefined, this is just…scary.”

  He leaned forward and closed one hand over hers. “It’s been my experience that the important things are always scary. If it helps, I like you, Olivia. A lot. I did from day one, and I like you even more as I get to know you better.”

  “I like you too.” Suddenly, she shook her head, suppressing a laugh. “Let’s be real. I think me crawling onto your lap gave that away already.”

  “Yeah, full disclosure, you’ve got my permission to do that anytime you want. Day or night.”

  She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Good to know.”

  “So, when will you know? About your job?”

  “Soon. One of the tenured teachers keeps insisting it’s a good sign that they haven’t announced who’s coming back next year. She heard a rumor they’re trying to add a class, and if they do, the math department is maxed out in its student-teacher ratio already.”

  He nodded slowly. “Then let’s trust that.”

  After he let go of her hand, she dipped a wedge of pita bread into the hummus. “Okay. And thanks. I feel better having told you.”

  “It’s my experience that things tend to have a way of working out.” He shifted in his chair. “I, uh, also want to thank you for how good you were with Yun earlier.”

  “She’s great,” Olivia said after swallowing a bite of food.

  Out on the lake, just visible in the glow from the lanterns, a couple of long-necked swans were slowly making their way across the still water. “Do you ever feel like your life’s a couple of completely different stories roughly sewn together in the same binding?”

  Olivia’s lips pressed together a second before she shook her head. “I think of some people’s lives like that. Like my sister’s. Mine has always seemed like this slowly crescendoing song where nothing much is happening and maybe once or twice it’s been playing the entirely wrong melody, but there’s always been a promise it’s building into something worth hearing. But from what you’ve shared about your life already, I can see why you would describe yours that way.”