by Nancy Adams
“What a clear and succinct statement,” Marie said, smiling widely at me. She then turned to Libby, who stood there watching the conversation with a knowing look. “I think our Sarah is besotted.”
“I am not.”
“He’s Ash’s brother. Good genes run in the family. I don’t blame you, Sarah. Although, I have to say Ash is the better-looking brother.”
“If you believe that, then there’s something wrong with your eyesight,” I quipped.
Marie began to laugh and then she high-fived me. “Good one, kid. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Meow,” Libby said. “The kitten has claws.”
I laughed. “You were baiting me, weren’t you?”
“Of course. Admit it. You like him.”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t think I’ll see him again. If he’s too busy to take care of his daughter, I’m sure he’s too busy to see me.”
“Ouch, when did you become so judgmental?” Libby said.
My shoulders tensed. “I think I’m entitled to be a little judgmental about absentee dads, don’t you think?”
“Sarah—” Marie started, but I was done with the conversation.
“Listen, can we just drop it? Like I said, who knows if I’ll even see him again.”
They promptly changed the subject, but I was still stewing inside. I never snapped at my friends. I didn’t like how this whole Jay situation was making me feel. He was just a smart-mouthed stranger. That’s all he was to me. But if that was true, why couldn’t I stop thinking about him?
Chapter Four
“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost,” Eleanor said as she helped me arrange furniture around the poolside.
I thought I had, too. It was a few days after Libby’s engagement party and Eleanor was helping me set up the outdoor space for my newest kennel. I knew it was elaborate and probably ridiculous to most people, but I wanted something with a little wow factor for the dogs. Well actually, their owners. I’m pretty sure that the dogs didn’t care about an in-ground pool or the decor around it.
While we had been unloading the truck, I thought I glimpsed a figure that I hadn’t seen since I was about eighteen. I knew it couldn’t have been him, but I had still done a double take until I convinced myself that I was just mistaken. I could remember the day he left us like it was yesterday. I had been a painfully shy kid who had been mainly raised by a mother who suffered from some form of undiagnosed anxiety. I think it was a mixture of living in a new country and having to navigate a new language and culture alone that added to her anxiety. Not that she had arrived from Hungary alone. She’d had me, and for a while she had Dad.
But that had all changed one morning. I knew something was wrong when I found her still in bed. Mom always woke up early for work. She never missed a day. She had been a seamstress, and she constantly picked up extra hours. It was unheard of for her to not work overtime, let alone wake up late. Her work ethic was above reproach; hence, when I saw her figure in bed, I immediately went over to her side.
“Mom?” I said, switching to Hungarian. I only ever used it at home. My mom was still struggling with English. Hence, she only spoke to me in Hungarian.
“Go away,” she murmured, and I immediately stepped back. My mother was rarely home, but she was warm and loving when she was around. She never scolded me. She was never short with me. Something was terribly wrong.
“Mama? What’s wrong?” I asked, trying again.
From under the sheets, I heard her say, “He’s gone.”
My heart sank and tears filled my eyes. She didn’t need to explain further. There was only one “he” in our lives, and apparently he was gone. I held back a sob as I asked her, “Are you sure?”
She didn’t say a word, and the silence was my answer. Through my tears, I looked towards their closet and noticed then that the familiar boots were gone. His clothes were gone. Everything that had been his was gone. My father was gone.
Slowly, my mother pulled the sheet from over her face and sat up. She looked pale and sickly. Her eyes were red, I guessed from crying all night. I knew that she loved my father. Despite their differences and fights, I knew she cared deeply about him, and feeling a sense of dread, I knew that she hated to be alone. I prayed that day that it was just a mistake, that Dad would come back and Mom would go back to normal. But that wasn’t in store for us, unfortunately.
I hadn’t seen him in years, but I could have sworn I caught a glimpse of him as I was taking cushions out of the truck. But when I looked again, I confirmed it was just some stranger. So Eleanor was right, I did feel like I had seen a ghost.
“You okay, Sarah?” she asked, breaking me out of my stupor.
“Yeah, I’m fine. How about we take a break? I think I need to call my mom. Have you talked to her lately?”
Eleanor shook her head. “We haven’t talked in months.”
I walked towards the front area of the spa where I’d left my cellphone and stopped abruptly when I saw who was standing there.
“Hi, Ms. Sarah,” Kitty said happily. “We’re here to see Henrik.”
I opened my mouth and then closed it again. “Hi Kitty. Hi Jay.”
He nodded at me. “Hello Sarah. From what I understand, you and Kitty are acquainted. We’re here to see the mongrel she rescued.”
“Don’t call him a mongrel—dog lovers hate that word. Sarah hates that word. Don’t you, Sarah?”
Before I could answer, Jay spoke up. “By no means do I want to offend Sarah. Let’s see Henrik, the upstanding doggie citizen.” He then looked at Kitty directly and added, “How did that sound?”
Kitty placed two fingers on her chin as if thinking and said, “Much better. You’re improving, Dad. Good job.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Clearly, Kitty wears the pants in the house,” said Jay.
“Clearly,” I responded.
“Henrik’s in the back. He’ll be happy to see you.” I turned around and quickly walked in the direction of my private office. I could hear them following me and before I knew it, Jay had caught up with me.
“So are you having any car problems?”
I smiled nervously and said, “Nope. None.”
“Daddy said he met you the other night and he fixed your car.”
“So your dad’s been talking about me?” I said, looking down at Kitty.
“Nonstop,” Kitty said, and I heard Jay cough as if clearing his throat.
“The kid loves to exaggerate,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She looked up at him and laughed. The warmth between them was obvious. I had been wrong and judgmental. They were clearly close. The love between them was almost tangible. It made me sad, unexpectedly. And I knew it was because I’d never had such a relationship with my own father.
I plastered a smile on my face, hoping that my sudden change in mood wasn’t noticeable to my guests. Fortunately, Jay and Kitty were too busy cracking jokes with each other to notice. I opened my office door and Machiavelli came bouncing out. Kitty scooped him up and was rewarded by a million kisses from the exuberant pup.
“Is that Henrik?” Jay asked, taking the dog from his daughter and holding him in his arms. As he cradled Machiavelli, I couldn’t help but think that at that moment, Jay was the handsomest man in the world. Machiavelli looked so tiny in his arms, and instead of seeming silly holding a little dog, he looked quite sexy, protective and capable. I mentally shook myself, curious why my train of thought always led to how hot I thought Jay was.
I took Machiavelli back, carefully avoiding touching Jay in the process, and said, “No, this is my dog, Machiavelli. Henrik’s in the closet.”
“In the closet?” Jay said frowning, looking at me as if I owed him an explanation.
“Why would you put him in the closet, Sarah?” Kitty asked looking upset.
“Woah, whoa you guys. Henrik likes to sleep. A LOT. And so he crawls into my office closet for all his naps. I think he l
ikes it there because it’s dark and quiet. It’s completely voluntary. Trust me.”
And right on queue, the door to the closet creaked and Henrik stuck his nose out. He sniffed the air and then slowly stepped into our line of vision. He looked around for a second, stretched back on his back paws and then let out a great big yawn before walking happily, albeit lazily, towards Kitty. She bounced up in down in excitement.
“There he is Daddy! Isn’t he great?”
Jay seemed at a loss for words and said, scratching his chin, “Is he a senior citizen or something?”
I looked at Jay sharply and pointedly directed my eyes towards Kitty. Jay picked up on my point, but I could see he was struggling to hold back a laugh as Henrik lazily licked Kitty’s ear and then promptly fell asleep.
“You were right. Henrik sure loves to sleep a lot. Hi, boy! Want to go play? Come on boy! Come on!” She started to run in front of him and Henrik perked up and followed her out of the door, a little pep in his step.
I called after her, “There’s a playroom two doors down! Check it out!”
“Will do!” she yelled back, and I smiled at her simple response.
Jay stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels.
“He’s ancient. Isn’t he?”
I nodded. “At least twelve.”
“Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with a puppy? Henrik looks like he has one foot in the grave.”
“Hey! He’s not that old.”
“If you say so…” He looked around. “Do you mind showing me around? I’m curious about your operation and facilities, especially since you’re fostering my dog and all.”
I led him out of the office and said, “So now he’s your dog?”
Jay nodded. “Yep, you’re just borrowing him.”
“Really?” I said fighting back a smile.
“Yep. Technically we’re co-parenting.”
“Then you’re a terrible parent, considering that you just met the little guy and he’s already over ten years old.”
“Touché, Sarah. And to think, I thought you were all cuteness with not a lick of sarcasm in you.”
“I have plenty of sarcasm; I just save it for different circumstances.”
He was about to continue taking when he spotted the pool and gave a bark of laughter. “Is that pool shaped like a bone?”
“Yep.”
“Ok. So I’m not seeing things?”
“Nope.”
“This place is great. It’s a freaking puppy paradise.”
I smiled, feeling flattered by his praise. “Thanks, that’s pretty much exactly what I was going for.”
“Do you get a lot of clients?” he said, leaning against the doggy gate that prevented the animals from getting into the pool without supervision.
“For this facility, no. We just opened. But for my other facilities, yes.”
“What made you get into this business?”
“I just always had a place in my heart for animals.”
“Let me guess: You were the first to always bring a stray animal home?”
“Guilty as charged.”
He smiled. “Must have driven your parents crazy.”
“They were both at work so much they didn’t really notice, and when they did, they told me we didn’t have time for pets.”
“Workaholics?”
“More like we were so poor that they struggled to make ends meet so they took whatever jobs they could to keep us afloat.” I found myself wanting to open up to Jay. Besides Marie and Libby, no one knew how much my parents’ absence affected me. I missed who my parents had been back in Hungary. I missed the childhood that had once upon a time been so simple.
“It must have been tough.” I could tell by the sympathetic look on his face that he actually meant every word. He wasn’t just saying something to fill the silence.
“My parents were recent immigrants from Hungary. We came over when I was young. I barely remember Hungary now. It feels like a lifetime ago, but the memories I do have of it are happy ones.”
“Aww. So that explains the barely perceptible accent?”
“Yep. And pretty much my only ties to my home country. The U.S. is home now.”
“What are your parents up to now? Are they retired?”
“You ask a lot of questions,” I said, avoiding looking at him. This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have with him. In fact, my parents’ whereabouts wasn’t even a conversation I wanted to have with my best friends.
Nevertheless, I found myself wanting to share more, and so I did. “I haven’t seen my father since my late teens. So he could be retired and I wouldn’t know. Not that I care to know, since he abandoned us.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring up a painful memory.”
“It’s okay.” But it wasn’t. But I wasn’t going to tell Jay that. He didn’t need to know any of my baggage.
“So you still have your mom, right?”
“Yes…”
“Does she live in town?”
“No. She, uhhh, lives in Arizona.”
He didn’t pry. He just studied me as I leaned my arms against the top of the short fence. He came to stand by me and we just stared at the pool in silence.
“So about this whole foster arrangement: I honestly have no time to take care of him, and although Kitty is super responsible, she is still a kid.”
“I get that, but it’s no bother.”
“Can I compensate you for your time?”
I laughed before I realized that he wasn’t laughing back. He was serious.
“That’s completely unnecessary. Taking care of dogs is what I do.”
“But normally you’re compensated for it.”
I nodded. “Yes, but I see this more as a favor than a business opportunity. Besides, I wouldn’t have agreed if I thought it would have been that much of an inconvenience.”
I was lying. I would pretty much do anything for an animal. And Jay quickly called me on it.
He tilted up a brow and said, “I find that hard to believe.”
“What do you mean?” I said, playing coy.
“You come across as the type to do anything for anyone, human or animal.”
“Maybe you’re wrong.”
“A woman with two best friends who think the world of her and who rescues dogs is definitely the caring type, and you can’t convince me otherwise.”
“Fine. You’re right.”
“I know.”
His words were cocky, but his expression was anything but. He studied me then, quietly looking at me as if trying to decipher what I was all about. It made me feel vulnerable, and I found myself becoming nervous again in his presence. The tongue-tied feeling returned and along with it, a feeling of being absolutely ridiculous. I felt like I was in high school again. Although I hadn’t ever dated in high school, I’d had a crush on one particular boy. Of course, he hadn’t really been interested in me. I had just been the poor, foreign scholarship kid. No one ever noticed me, not even long enough to pick on me. I’m not sure what hurt more, being picked on or being so unimportant that my existence was simply ignored.
But I wasn’t being ignored now. I had Jay’s full attention, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. I wasn’t opposed to dating, but Jay was out of my league. I’d tried with Hugo, who was also from a moneyed background, but that hadn’t worked out. I didn’t see how it would be any different with Jay. That initial attraction I had felt towards Hugo had been just a short-fledged attraction. But when I first saw Jay, nothing about how I felt was fleeting. He was in my thoughts, and his very presence seemed to electrify my nerve endings. It was as if they stood to attention when he entered the room. Jay definitely wasn’t going to be a passing, short-fledged attraction. But what was I thinking? I didn’t even want to be in a relationship now, right? And who was to say that Jay was even interested?
I pulled my thoughts back to present. Jay was no longer staring at me; instead, he was staring behi
nd me.
“It looks like you have some visitors.” He gestured to the front of the building. I turned around and smiled.
“That’s my manager and her fiancé.”
I walked towards Hugo and Eleanor. “What are you doing here?” I asked, giving Hugo a hug.
“I invited him for lunch,” Eleanor said, wrapping her arm around Hugo’s. Looking at Jay, she asked, “Who’s this?”
“Oh, this is the father of the little girl I was telling you about.”
“Nice to meet you,” Eleanor said, giving him a broad smile, and Jay reached forward and shook her hand. Hugo did the same, but quietly studied Jay as he did. He then looked back at me and I tried my best not to let on that Jay was anything to me besides an acquaintance.
Hugo was quiet as he studied me and then he said, “So you’re a friend of Sarah’s?”
“Sort of—” I started before Jay cut me off.
“We’re friends by marriage, or at least we will be.” He sent me a sexy, mocking smile that I was sure Hugo noticed.
I laughed at his description. “He’s Ash’s brother.”
“Ohhh…” Hugo responded. He now seemed amused. “So another Jefferson brother is stealing my girl away from me.”
Jay looked at me and then at Eleanor in confusion. “Ash is a Jefferson. I’m actually a Wilkins, and as to the rest, I have no idea how to respond.” He looked to me and then Eleanor for an answer. I didn’t know how to explain a rather complicated situation, but then Jay laughed.
“Hold on! I’ve heard of you. You’re the rich French dude. Right?”
Hugo smiled. “Guilty as charged. I see my reputation precedes me.”
“You tried to steal my brother’s girl.”
“True, but to be fair, I met her first.”
“No, you didn’t,” I corrected.
“Well, I went on a date with her first.”
“Ok, that’s true.”
At one point, Libby had dated Hugo before she fell head over heels in love with Ash. That was actually how I met Hugo. He had flown down to Texas to Marie’s wedding. He had intended to offer some emotional support to Libby when things between her and Ash had seemed to be going sour. Libby hadn’t actually needed Hugo’s support, and then she had introduced Hugo to me and the rest was history.
