Alanna Lu texted as Frank drove. “Tom says he’s already there with Rhoda.” She looked up from her phone. “Are you going to dress her there? Or does he have her dress already?”
“I’m dressing her there,” said the witch. “If anyone’s there early it’ll be a demo, so they can see how easy it is to put on. Is Tom staying for the whole party tonight?”
Alanna Lu glanced up at the heavens, but still smiled when she answered, “Yes, Auntie.”
“Good. Well, then, I have a present for you.”
Dogs can hear frequencies people can’t. In this moment, Leggo’s ears picked up a devious tone in the witch’s voice, one inaudible to Alanna Lu. Leggo glanced at his brother, but could only see the black of his tuxedo through the kennel’s ventilation holes.
Vivian handed back a box.
Alanna Lu set her phone on her lap and took it. She gasped with delight when she opened it. “A corsage! Did you make this? Are these your flowers?” She held the bracelet, topped with a bundle of small red and white camellias. Her aunt just nodded.
“But…Auntie, this isn’t prom.”
“I know. I just wanted you to look festive.”
Alanna Lu slipped it on. She clicked on the overhead lights to admire it. It went perfectly with her cherry-print dress and red duster. She clicked off the lights again.
“When I get out of the car, I’m hugging you.”
“Well, all right, dear. You just be sure you wear it the entire night. I was almost sorry to take those camellias, they’re so pretty. Promise me.”
“I will.”
They pulled in. True to her word, Alanna Lu jumped out as soon as they were parked and ran around to the other side of the car, hugging her aunt before helping unload the dogs.
Marty stepped out in his heart-emblazoned tux. Leggo had allowed a white bandana with red hearts to be tied around his neck, and Freckles wore a bandana whose intricate embroidery actually read Adorable and Adoptable! when the reader came up close.
They led the dogs towards the entrance.
Onlookers crowded around Marty outside the door.
“Oh my gosh, so cute!”
“That’s adorbs!”
“Hey, nice tux, fella. Who’s your tailor?”
Marty trotted towards each person who spoke. Great way to make friends!
Spotting Tom in the back, Vivian handed off the leashes to Frank, trading him for Rhoda’s outfit. She hurried to dress the Irish setter.
“Alanna, dear, will you help Frank load the Crock-Pots? Thanks, dear,” she said, and went to Tom and Rhoda’s side. “If anyone would like to see how you dress a dog, gather around!” she said to the crowd.
Alanna Lu craned her neck at the people surrounding Marty. Those’d make great shots for our Instagram! But Frank, holder of the leashes, had been surrounded on all sides by admirers who had begun to spot Leggo and Freckles. No way he could get to the slow cookers right now, and they really needed to be plugged in—especially the dip!
Lifting the wheezing tailgate, Alanna Lu tightened her abs and lifted the red slow cooker. Oof! What was in here? Sure smelled good, though, like perfume you could eat. She turned to the vintage burnt orange slow-cooker. “I’ll see you in a second,” she told it.
She lugged the love potion towards the entrance.
* * *
“Oh, wow!” said Tom, as Vivian stepped away from Rhoda.
The dog whined, but softly. She recognized every one of the five people who’d gathered around her while she was being dressed and could smell others—both her office pack and strangers alike—nearby.
Why did I agree to do this?
Tom squatted down, tickling her chin. “Good girl, Rhoda. Who looks like a little movie star, huh? You do! Yessoodoo!”
Well, she was getting quality head scratches. And even though everyone was taking pictures of her with their phones, they were saying nice things like, “My Mom’s gonna love this!” and, as she’d learned while growing up with Tom, if Mom was happy, things were bound to be all right. She let her tail wag. Once.
Tom led Rhoda inside.
“Lookin’ good, kid,” Marty said in Dog, joining her. Now that they were together, flashbulbs strobed in their faces.
“How do you stand this?” Rhoda asked, blinking.
“It’s fun! It gets me ‘likes’! It helps my family. Besides, once they get used to us, the pup-arazzi will die down.”
“How long does that take?”
“Eh, ‘bout twenty minutes.”
“Whew.”
“Per human.”
She barked, taken aback. The humans laughed.
“Well, it’s like, per group, see? These are the early birds.”
“The what? They’re humans, not birds!”
“No, no, I mean, they’re the first group—the early adopters!”
“Oh.” Rhoda knew that term.
“Here comes Frecks, make room. That’s it, buddy,” he said to the spaniel as he padded up. “We’ll get you your forever home in no time!”
Marty moved up to sit right next to Freckles. The partiers cooed and re-aimed their phones at the boys.
Rhoda glanced up at Tom. He saw the whites at the edges of her eyes and helped her step out from the snap-happy crowd.
“Want some water, girl?”
She barked once. He took her over to the table where Frank was setting up the portable bowls for the dogs. The tablecloth hanging from the table acted like a privacy curtain, hiding the kennels from view. Leggo was already in his kennel, chewing on a squeaky heart, but froze when he saw Rhoda.
Rhoda didn’t notice. She dove into the first bowl of water she saw, relieved to be out of the hustle and bustle. Frank hovered over Rhoda, poised to fill her bowl with the tall bottle of water in his hand, but when Rhoda kept slurping, he sat back down in his chair.
“If you need me, I’ll be here all night. Me and Leggo aren’t much for the spotlight.”
“Good man. I think all the commotion was getting to Rhoda. I’m glad you’ve got this set up. Thank you.”
“Hey, I’m here for the cake.”
“I can go grab you some.”
“Well, thank you very much, young man! I accept your offer!”
Tom left for the dessert table. Various cakes and pies were set out, pre-cut and ready to be put on cherub-patterned paper plates. He grabbed a lemon square, then a chocolate cake slice, not knowing which Frank preferred.
Alanna Lu had just finished stirring the love punch at the drink table across the way when she spotted Tom with his hand poised over the brownie plate. It was nice to see a familiar face. She walked up to him. Seeing her, he grinned.
“Alanna Lu, hi!” said Tom.
Hi there! she meant to say.
“How are you doing?” is what came out.
“Great, super! So, you like the party so far?”
It’s great! I love the quilts.
“Who wouldn’t like this party?” she heard herself say.
“Well, some of the guys and gals in accounting think the money ought to be spent differently. Want a brownie?”
“Why not?”
He hurried to grab her a plate of her own and tipped a fudge brownie onto it. Alanna Lu’s grin stretched. What was going on? Why couldn’t she say the things she wanted?
“Will you excuse me a moment?” except that. That had come out right!
“Sure thing. Gotta take these back to Frank. Later.”
Tom lifted the plate in a salute and left. Alanna Lu stopped nodding and raced out to the SUV, dodging the foot traffic left in the wake of Aunt Vivian and Marty’s red carpet entrance.
“Whatever’s going on, it’s all in your head, Alanna Lu. Just bring in the dip and everything’ll be fine.”
There. That pep talk came out without any weirdness! Problem solved!
She hauled the burnt orange slow-cooker inside. Yum. Dip. Everyone would be clamoring for the recipe before the night was over.
>
The place was starting to fill up. Families with kids had joined, and she thought she spotted their fabrics guy, Joel, and his dog Wonder, along with other dogs and their owners from around town.
She set the ancient slow-cooker next to Auntie’s red cooker. She took a second to move a bag of chips next to Auntie’s dip with a tower of bowls in between. There. That looked nice.
Someone tapped her on the shoulder. His nametag read Arjun; he was with Tom’s company.
“Hey, nice setup!” he said.
Thanks!
“Do you think so?”
He grinned and gave her a thumbs up. “Looks better than the cake walk I’m in charge of.” Someone called him from across the noisy room.
“Gotta go!” he said.
She started to reply, but felt the intended word slipping apart between her tongue and her teeth. She smiled instead, screaming on the inside.
Stay calm, Alanna Lu. She didn’t feel dizzy, and her head wasn’t hurting. She raised her left hand into the air, then the right. They went up smoothly, evenly. She turned and picked up the metal spoon next to Auntie’s love punch. She held it up to her face, convex side towards her, using it like a mirror. Through a thin coating of pink punch, she watched herself smile. Neither side listed.
“And I know who the president is,” she said to her reflection. The words came out clearly. “So I’m not having a stroke!”
“WHAT?” said a voice behind her. Alanna Lu jumped. The spoon clanged to the ground.
“DIP!” cried Marty in Dog. He and Freckles dove for it. They each got a few licks in before Vivian swiped it up, crossing her arms with it still in her hand. Marty and Freckles hurried away, licking their chops.
“Alanna Lu, what are you going on about? Having a stroke?”
“Auntie!” Alanna Lu laughed in relief. “The weirdest thing is happening.”
“Oh? Do tell, dear!”
“My words aren’t coming out right—and it’s not a stroke, see?” Alanna Lu grinned with just her teeth three times in one second.
“Mmhmm…” said Aunt Vivian. “Is it happening now?”
“No! I noticed it when I was talking to Tom and some other guy. But it’s gone now! I think my words, but when they come out of my mouth, they’re different than what I meant to say!”
Aunt Vivian put her hand on Alanna Lu’s forehead. “Do you feel poorly otherwise?”
“No.”
“Dizzy?”
“No.”
“Migraine aura?”
“No.”
“Runny tummy?”
“No.”
“Do you want to go home?”
Alanna Lu stomped her foot, face turning as red as the cherries on her dress. “No! We’ve got photos to shoot! I’ve been blogging a countdown about this party since the day after we rescued Freckles. And Rhoda! This is supposed to be the debut of her line! I can’t let our customers down!”
“Then enjoy the party, dear. If you start feeling worse, though, come and find me.”
Alanna Lu nodded to herself. “I’m a professional. I can do this.”
“I know you can, dear.”
Alanna Lu took out her phone. The witch’s eyes followed the corsage on her great-niece’s wrist as she readied it for photo-taking.
“Now, where are those dogs?” she said.
Chapter 16
Freckles had wanted to hide from the witch under the cakewalk table, but Marty vetoed him, reminding the spaniel that the more people that saw him, the better his chances were of walking out of the party with a forever home.
“Besides,” said Marty, “humans don’t like it when dogs hang out around quote unquote their food.”
So instead they took refuge in the far corner opposite where Vivian and Alanna Lu were talking.
Soon a mother with her brood of children had surrounded the dogs, screening them from view of the witch.
“Stay cute!” Marty reminded him in an undertone.
“Gentle hands, gentle hands!” the mother reminded her son as he ran his palm down Freckles’ back.
“Mom, it says he’s adoptable!”
The mother smiled, confused. “It does? Where does it say that, honey?”
“On his napkin,” said her four-year-old daughter, patting the back of her own neck in demonstration.
“Oh! You mean his bandana,” said the mother, pronouncing the word slowly.
“His banana?” said the girl. Her brother was overcome with giggles.
The mother hefted the two-year-old on her hip up a little higher, then squatted down so the toddler could see better. Freckles wagged his tail at the bright-eyed baby. The mother carefully lifted Freckles’ bandana.
“That’s not a banana, silly billy goo goo! It’s a ban-DAN-a, like what cowboys wear!”
The toddler reached a hand towards Freckles’ face. The dog scrunched his eyes shut and only got poked in the brow.
“Duck-ie,” said the toddler.
“Can we get this doggie, Mommy?” asked the little girl.
“We can’t pick out a doggie without daddy’s help, remember?” said the mother.
The girl sighed dramatically. “OH-KAY.”
The little boy side-skipped a ways, finding Marty. “This dog’s wearing a suit like daddy’s!”
“He is!” agreed the mother. “Be careful with it! It looks expensive!” She found herself laughing at what she was saying. A dog wearing clothes! She’d seen a ton on Facebook, but she didn’t think she’d ever seen one as pleased as this bat-eared, smush-faced dog before her. She had to admit, though, it gave the so-ugly-it-was-cute animal a debonair aura.
The dog winked at her.
The mother chortled, shaking her head. Dogs might blink funny, but they certainly didn’t wink!
She watched it waddle away.
“Let’s go, Frecks,” said Marty.
Freckles looked between Marty and the little girl now petting him. Should he leave when this was going so well?
“Leave ’em wanting more—it’s a trade secret!”
Freckles slurped the little girl’s hand goodbye. She squealed with delight. Freckles caught up with Marty.
“Human puppies are kind of fun!” he said.
“They can be. You did a good job back there. Of course, the kids did a good job too, not pullin’ your ears or nothin’. Some kinds need to go back to obedience school. Oh…!” Marty spotted something behind Freckles. His tail began to wag.
Freckles turned to look. “What? Oh! She’s taaall,” said Freckles. A brown and white Boxer with a galaxy-patterned collar had entered the room. “I’ve seen taller,” said Marty. Then he bounded up to her, Freckles hot on his heels.
The Boxer smiled as they approached. “Hey, boo! Haven’t seen you at the shop lately. You busy taking pictures at home, or are you finally on the catwalk in Paris with zee other Fren-cheez?”
“Wonder, you’re ten paws prettier than any poodle in Pair-ree!”
The Boxer skipped with her front paws, laughing. “Ha! Who’s your friend, another foster?”
“Yeah, but enough about him, let’s talk about you, Wonder.”
“Hey,” said Freckles.
“Pff, whatever!” said Wonder. “Let me say hi first, boo.” She crouched down to Freckles’ level. “Hey, baby, how you doin’?”
“Fine, thanks. What’s your sign?”
Wonder’s eyes bulged. Then she burst out laughing so hard she rolled over on her side, panting.
“Ha-HA! My boo’s been wearin’ people clothes for years, and now his li’l friend’s asking people questions!” Wonder rolled left and right, tongue spilling out onto the floor. This is like a human laughing so hard tears come to their eyes.
Freckles began licking her face. Wonder was too overcome to stop him. “You GUYS! I can’t! Oh-heehee! You’re killing me!”
Marty pounced on Freckles. “Dude, I was talking to her first!”
Wonder’s owner had left for the punch table.
Wonder rolled back onto her feet. “Oooh, I needed that! Great party, guys! I’mma catch you later,” she said, before following her owner.
“Hmph!” Marty grumped. His front paws were still on Freckles’ chest, pinning the spaniel down.
“Aw, come on!” said Freckles.
“OK,” said Marty, letting Freckles up. “You’re right. No going after the same girl. If one’s here, there’s gonna be more.”
“Sure thing, Marty. I’m sorry. She was a lotta fun!”
“Yeah, she’s been my pal at the fabric boutique for years, so if she comes ‘round again, tongues off!”
“Sorry,” said Freckles. “Hey, look! I think they’re sisters!” Freckles hopped up, nose towards the door.
In walked two golden retrievers.
“I’ll take the one on the left,” said Marty.
“Okay,” said Freckles.
Flashbulbs went off as Marty and Freckles greeted them.
“Hey ladies, welcome to the party! What’s your names?” asked Marty.
“I’m Allie, and this is my sister, Lacey.”
“Lovely names for lovely ladies,” said Marty. The sisters glanced at each other and giggled.
“Lacey, your coat is so shiny!”
“Thank you, it’s true! Our mom and dad get us groomed every other week.”
“What’s it like?” asked Freckles.
“He ain’t never been groomed before. Still lookin’ for his forever home,” said Marty.
“Awwww,” went both sisters sympathetically. You and I couldn’t have seen it, but Freckles blushed.
“Would you ladies like something to drink? C’mon, I’ll show ya…it’s in a secluded spot.”
The girls giggled again.
Marty led them over to Frank’s corner. Seeing them approach, Frank brushed the brownie crumbs off his hands and grabbed a bottled water.
“Bring friends, didja boy?” said Frank. He began filling bowls.
“Great service!” said Allie.
Leggo looked up from his chew toy, sizing up the retrievers. Rhoda was still prettier. She’d been lying next to Frank’s chair for a while now, but he still hadn’t figured out a way to talk to her.
Marty’s face lit up at the sight of Rhoda.
Love Potion Commotion! Page 6
