The Chihuahua Affair: Best in Show

by Amy Jarecki

  She pointed at Matt, “One!” then to the Standard Poodle, “Two!” then to the Tibetan Terrier, “Three!” and finally to Rebecca and her Bichon Frise, “Four!”

  Cameras flashed, TV cameras entered the ring while Matt shook the hands of the other contestants. Judge Parker approached him with a huge rosette ribbon and a trophy the size of a punch bowl. “Nice job.” She smiled and congratulated the next three winners.

  Rebecca graciously accepted her fourth-place ribbon and moved toward Matt, kissing him on the cheek. “You’re a natural. You sure you want to stay in lean manufacturing?”

  Matt laughed again. “Maybe not. The judge remembered me from when I showed Fifi in Bloomsburg.”

  Rebecca’s eyes popped. “That’s right. She told you that you needed work.”

  “Yep.” Matt grinned for the cameras that continued to flash incessantly, just like he remembered from his college days.

  “Well, you must have made a good impression, plus Maurice has outstanding conformation.”

  “Maurice? That’s his name?”

  Rebecca gave him a whack on the shoulder. “Good thing I mentioned it. You’re going to need to know his name in a minute when they interview you. And remember, you just qualified him for the Best in Show class tomorrow.”

  Matt did a double take. “Aren’t you going to take him into the B.I.S. class?”

  “You won group—you earned it. Anyway, the show’s not over yet.”

  “All right. At least his name’s not Fluffy. I’d feel really dumb being interviewed on national television with a dog named Fluffy.”

  “You’re funny. I’ve got to run and get Bruno ready for the Toy Group.”

  “Oh yeah, good luck. I’ll be watching.” Matt eyed the little girl who wanted to pet Maurice and slipped over to her. “I’m so glad you could come down and pet him.”

  She beamed. “Thank you. He was the prettiest one out there.” She let the dog smell her hand. “Hey Mr. Champion.” A happy giggle escaped as she scratched Maurice behind the ears.

  “Are you going to watch him in Best in Show tomorrow?” Matt asked.

  “Yes, and I’ll be rooting for you. Thanks for letting me pet him, mister.” The girl’s mother took a picture and Matt felt great that he was able to meet up with them, until he turned around to find three microphones shoved in his face. He looked for an out but the cameras surrounded him.

  The reporters all talked at once. “What did Rebecca say when you beat her? She’s listed as the handler, will you show the Lhasa in Best in Show or will Rebecca? Exactly how long have you been showing? What did you do after you tore your ACL in that last play of the Rose Bowl?”

  Matt waved his free hand to get them to stop. “Okay, Okay. I’ll say this. Rebecca is ecstatic that Maurice won. She trained this Lhasa Apso and won the breed class with him. I performed well because of her excellent dog handling skills.”

  A reporter wearing glasses stepped forward. “Will you be the handler tomorrow night?”

  “The show isn’t over yet, but it looks like I might get the chance to show him in the Best in Show ring. He’s a great dog.”

  “So, after all these years, what did you do after your U.C.L.A. success?”

  Matt grimaced. “I became a lean manufacturing success. I firmly believe that anything worth doing is worth doing well.” He held up his palm. “Thanks, folks. That’s all I have time for.”

  ***

  By the end of the day, Rebecca won the Toy Group with Bruno and every muscle in her body screamed for a break.

  Tomorrow the Beagle and the Cairn Terrier would make their Westminster debuts. Both she and Matt would be in the Best in Show class. She could hear her studio phone ringing already. She wanted to let her hair down and enjoy the ride, but there were dogs to groom.

  They hung the enormous ribbons over the crates for all to see. The crowd surrounded them wanting to pet and take pictures of the two dogs that were heading to Best in Show. Matt proved to be great at playing the social butterfly, patiently holding the dogs, posing for pictures, answering questions while Rebecca packed up.

  Thank goodness Matt is charming and so good with the crowd. I’m too tired to deal with them now.

  When the crowd thinned, Matt looked as tired as she felt. “Ready to go back to the hotel?”

  “I never thought you’d ask. I’m beat.”

  “Me too. You up for room service?”

  Rebecca pulled a stocking cap over her head. “Best idea I’ve heard today.”

  A blast of cold night air assaulted them as they made their way to the Penn. Matt pulled his coat closed with one hand and pushed with the other. “I see why you stay in a hotel so close to the Garden. I’d hate to have to push this cart across town in this weather.”

  “It’s convenient.” Rebecca hurried to make it across the street with the light.

  Once they got the dogs settled, Rebecca studied the room service menu and ordered two ham sandwiches with cheesecake.

  “Why the dessert?”

  “You have to have Lindy’s New York cheesecake. It’s the best and part of the experience.”

  Matt kicked off his shoes and flopped onto the bed. “I kind of like seeing the city from your perspective. Most people head for the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. You show me the Westminster Dog Show and quirky New York food.”

  Rebecca plopped down on her bed and grabbed a pillow. “I hope you’re having a good time.”

  “Are you kidding? I never in my wildest dreams thought I’d be at Madison Square Garden showing a dog named Fluffy. A Knicks game, sure. Westminster? I never would’ve thought.”

  Rebecca rolled onto her side and looked at him. She smiled at his happy eyes that reflected the crazy day they just experienced. “How do you feel about going to the Best in Show tomorrow?”

  “It’s unbelievable—at least I don’t have to wear two left shoes.”

  Rebecca rolled on her back and howled.

  Matt tapped the Lhasa Apso’s crate. “Hey, Maurice, we’re a real team, aren’t we, buddy?”

  A loud rap on the door was followed by “room service.” Matt jumped up and took care of the waiter while Rebecca grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV. Before the picture came on she heard the boom of the announcer’s voice. “Former Rose Bowl star, Matt Johnson, is going to Best in Show with his Lhasa Apso where he’ll face off with his trainer, Rebecca Lee and her Long Coat Chihuahua. Will we see fireworks in the B.I.S. ring tomorrow night?”

  Rebecca’s head pounded as she clicked it off.

  Matt shrugged. “They’ll do anything to increase their numbers.”

  “Yeah? It’s not about us. It’s about the dogs and the media is screwing it up.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The next day, the crowd was even thicker, but the handlers all had their spaces staked out. With an earlier start, Rebecca had no problem leading Matt through the maze of dogs, crates and handlers.

  Rebecca only had two client dogs and both were scheduled for the early morning. That would allow her and Matt some time to watch some of the other classes.

  Matt combed out the Beagle while Rebecca worked with the Cairn. She had taken care of most of the grooming in the room that morning and the dogs just needed a bit of sprucing up. Matt carried the Cairn for Rebecca and watched her earn an award of merit. She smiled after her photograph. “This show is so competitive. An award of merit is a great honor. I know my client will be thrilled.”

  They headed back to the bench and Rebecca pulled the Beagle out of his crate. She whipped around when she heard a woman’s voice. “Well, Matt Johnson, imagine bumping into you here.” The evil blonde stood in a low cut red dress with a well-tailored man on her arm.

  Matt’s face turned dark, his jaw rigid. His eyes shot to Rebecca. With a look of anger, almost frightening, he folded his arms across his chest. “Monica. What are you doing here?”

  Rebecca sucked in a nervous breath. She’d never heard Matt be rude to a
nyone, but she perceived nothing pleasant in his tone.

  Monica seemed too aloof to notice and she smiled, her face lovely, almost too lovely. “This is Ben.”

  Ben held out his hand. Matt hesitated but shook it. “Hey.” Another curt, uncharacteristic response.

  Monica batted her eyelashes. “I live in New York now. With Ben.” She looked at Rebecca with a smug smile.

  Rebecca stared at her, on fire.

  What is she doing? Showing off her new beau in an attempt to make Matt jealous? Is she so insecure that she needs to show us her man-trophy?

  Matt smoothed his hand across the Beagle’s back. “What happened to Brad?”

  “He’s still in Malibu. What? Didn’t he tell you how well my lingerie line was doing out here?”

  “No. He hasn’t mentioned it.”

  Ben leaned in toward Rebecca and offered his hand. “I’m Ben Bridge”

  Rebecca shook it. “Rebecca Lee, pleased to meet you.”

  “We saw you guys on TV last night and Monica told me about the dog show on Thanksgiving that you won.”

  Rebecca smiled politely but tapped her foot, wondering what the blonde had actually said. “How nice of you to come. Both Matt and I will be in the Best in Show competition. Will you be watching later?”

  “Ben got us tickets,” Monica said, pulling him along.

  Rebecca stared after them, unable to shut her gaping mouth. “What was that?”

  “Looks like Monica’s most recent conquest. Brad didn’t mention it.”

  “Brad? Your partner?”

  Matt glanced over at her. “Yeah. Didn’t I tell you?”

  “Tell me what?”

  “The main reason I moved out here was because I walked in on Brad and Monica.”

  Rebecca’s breath caught as she reflected back to their first meeting. She remembered seeing pain and sadness in his eyes. “Must be hard to work with a partner you can’t trust.”

  Matt shook his head. “Tell me about it. I’ve been thinking about severing ties but needed the reputation of the partnership to get the business going out here.”

  Rebecca picked up her comb. “I guess every cloud has a silver lining.”

  “Huh?”

  “If that hadn’t happened, we never would have met.”

  Matt smiled, his eyes meeting hers, this time with a look of love. “That’s exactly right.”

  “Let’s show Sport and then we can walk around. We should have an hour or so before we’ll need to groom Bruno and Maurice.”

  ***

  Rebecca practiced with Sport as much as any other dog, but she knew this Beagle didn’t have grand champion breeding and conformation. Sometimes the skill of the handler wasn’t enough to overshadow any flaws the dog might have and Sport did not place. Still, she was disappointed. Rebecca rarely had a client dog to take into the Sporting Group.

  If Matt joined her business, she could expand and handle larger dogs. She had the room in the shed to kennel them, but it would mean a lot more work. Shrugging it off as a silly idea, she met Matt by the crates.

  “Nice job out there.”

  “Thanks. His topline roaches. It’s hard to fix especially in a free stack.”

  “Like you said, you can’t win them all.”

  “I know.” She forced a smile. This was a new client and she would have liked to pull in a win for them.

  Matt led her to the stands where they watched the Golden class. “How does a judge make a decision with so many beautiful dogs?”

  “It’s very subjective. They use a point structure for each breed and take mental notes. The Chihuahua standard focuses a lot on head, bite, top-line and gait.”

  “I don’t think I could do it.”

  “Me neither. That’s why I concentrate on my business. Anyway, have you noticed that a lot of judges are retired? They don’t get paid much. They’re in it for the love of the sport.”

  “You love it.”

  “Yeah, but I have a family to support.”

  Matt turned and looked at her, his eyebrows scrunched together as if cooking up one of his ideas. “Why do you only show small breeds?”

  “They’re easier to handle and it’s my niche. I’d also have to hire extra help.”

  “You have the room if you wanted to expand.”

  “Funny, I was just thinking about that. Have you thought of showing a larger breed? It takes athleticism and you’re a natural.”

  “I have to admit larger breeds interest me. I could picture myself out there running around the ring with one of those Goldens.”

  Rebecca laughed. “They’re one of the most popular breeds, you know.”

  “Ah.” Matt ran his hand over his hair. “What about breeding rarer dogs like Komondor or the Lowchen?”

  “They’re more expensive but then you can charge top dollar for a champion’s get. I have a friend who sold an unproven Komondor puppy for ten-thousand dollars.”

  Matt whistled. “I’ll bet they have more puppies per litter than Chihuahuas too.”

  “Sure, bigger dogs do but you still need to make the upfront investment, build your clientele.”

  “I think that would be fun. Anyway, you’ve got the reputation. We could capitalize on my football background. The media seems to eat that up. I’ll bet we could make a go of it and really take the business to the next level.”

  “We? Are you thinking of a partnership or something?”

  Matt’s eyebrows arched. “It’s crossed my mind. I’ve been toying with ideas for alternatives to my current line of work.”

  Rebecca shrugged. “Something to think about anyway. I’m not sure I’d be ready to make the change to my kennel right now.”

  Matt nodded. “Yep. You’d need a business plan. I could help with that.”

  “Maybe we should discuss it after the show.”

  They applauded as the winners of the Golden class were announced. Jack and Alan walked past and Matt waved. “Hey guys, congratulations on your group third.”

  Alan bowed. “Thank you, sir, but it’s only a pittance compared to Rebecca’s first.”

  “Any placement at Westminster is phenomenal and you know it,” Rebecca said.

  Jack shook his head. “So you both will be showing dogs in the B.I.S. competition tonight? Matt, you’ve got to be the fastest learner I’ve ever seen in the ring.”

  Rebecca patted Matt’s shoulder. “He’s a natural, but of course I can’t tell him he’s my star pupil, it would go to his head.”

  Matt guffawed. “I probably practice more than anyone else.”

  After watching the Curly Coated Retrievers, they strolled through the vendor’s shops on their way back to the grooming area. Rebecca sprayed down the Lhasa and blew him dry, ensuring his long coat would cascade in feathery ripples when he walked. Matt watched her intently as she combed out his long beard and inspected the even part down the center of his spine. “How does he look?” she asked.

  “He really is a beautiful dog. I like his personality too. When is he going to go back to your client?”

  “They want him back after Westminster. Not to worry. Show season is on the horizon and I have a list of puppies that need to earn their championships. I’m going to be showing nearly every weekend from now through the fall.”

  “Wow that’s a lot.”

  “Yep, but that’s where the money is.”

  “Can I go with you?”

  “In the motor home?”

  “Yeah. Unless you want me to get my own R.V.”

  “Amanda will be working for me.”

  Matt rolled his eyes. “Just think about it. If we go into larger dogs you’re going to need me.”

  “True.”

  Rebecca had a lot to think about as she went to change into her black suit with sequined lapels. She chose it to coordinate with Bruno’s coat—white with a black spot on his back and black tips on his ears.

  ***

  In the men’s room, Matt stared at his reflection, tying his light blue tie
with pin-sized white polka dots. He’d only worn this suit once before he started showing dogs but now considered buying a couple more so that he would have options. Riccardo, who Becky pointed out as the top handler in the United States, wore black suits in group classes but a sports jacket with slacks and loafers in the breed ring. Maybe he’d make a trip to the men’s store and explore his options. Hooked on showing, Matt figured if Rebecca’s time was going to be consumed with show season, his would be too.

  He met Rebecca by the crates. “Jack and Alan are going to meet us here right after B.I.S. and they’ll have the limo waiting.”

  “Great. I can’t believe things are wrapping up already. It’s been a frenzy of activity.”

  “You ready?”

  “Let’s rock and roll, girlfriend.”

  Rebecca smiled, handing him a brown show lead for Maurice, then fastening a slender white one on Bruno. Though he’d walked through the corridor to the arena several times in the past two days, this time, the nerves of heading to the Best in Show competition in the most famous dog show on earth even topped his Rose Bowl experience.

  He took Rebecca’s hand and led her through the sprawling crowd. “Excuse me. Pardon me,” he repeated as he pushed his way past reporters and spectators alike. As soon as they were recognized, cameras flashed and reporters shot questions as they made their way to the central ring, adorned with thousands of dollars of floral arrangements and only seven yellow boxes listing the seven lucky breeds, the winners of their respective groups.

  A reporter jumped in front of him. “Matt, what will you do if Rebecca wins?”

  He grinned, sliding past. “Maybe I’ll kiss her again.”

  She tried to keep up with them, pushing through the crowd. “What’s it like, the two of you showing together?”

  Matt grimaced as Rebecca’s hand squeezed. “I’d really like to talk, but we’ve got a show to prepare for.”

  “Unbelievable.” Rebecca growled behind him.