From Ashes To Flames

by A. M. Hargrove

  Good thing I was running late and hadn’t thought to introduce myself. At least I knew which apartment was hers. Or did I? Come to think of it, she’d dropped her things in the hall so it could’ve been any number of them. That had worked in my favor too. Apparently the love gods had been watching over me today.

  Pulling my thoughts back to the present, I watched my son as he skipped along with the dogs. At least that conniving bitch hadn’t taken him when she’d left me. God knows she took everything else. How had I been so fucking stupid not to notice the missing money in our accounts? She burned every last ounce of trust I’d ever have for the opposite sex.

  My son, Wiley, and I were just coming back in from walking our dogs, Scooter, Roscoe, and Flimsy, when the elevator door opened and out pranced an English Mastiff … alone.

  Thinking fast, I grabbed the dog’s leash, because it wasn’t just any day you saw a lone dog bound off of an elevator, and a gigantic mastiff at that. He was quite proud of himself, too, as he looked and sniffed around the lobby of the building.

  “Daddy, why’d that dog take the ewevator all by itself?” Wiley asked.

  “I don’t know kiddo. It’s kind of weird.”

  “Is he wost?”

  “Probably so.” Wiley had difficulty pronouncing his L’s. They were all W’s to him.

  The huge fellow started barking at my dogs, and in turn, mine started barking back. It was hard not to react to the deep baritone of a mastiff. I wasn’t concerned though, because his tail was wagging fifty miles an hour.

  “Daddy, why’s he got so much spit?”

  Laughing, I said, “That’s the nature of the breed.”

  “Ew.”

  Suddenly, someone burst out the other elevator, yelling, “Dick! Dick, where are you? Where’s my Dick?”

  She came to a screeching halt when she saw me standing there with her pooch.

  “I take it this is yours?” I asked.

  “Oh, thank God, you found my Dick.” She was panting like she’d just run a marathon and didn’t have any idea of what she’d just said. I wanted to howl but didn’t dare. “I was leaving and realized I’d forgotten his baggie thingies so I turned round to grab them when he bolted down the hall. He went straight into the elevator and the doors closed before I could hop on with him.”

  Handing her his leash, I said, “He’s safe and sound.” Then I took a good look at her and realized she was the same woman in the hall I’d seen earlier.

  “Hey, aren’t you—”

  “Yeah, jumbo tampon box.” Then her eyes bulged as she clamped her hand over her mouth. “Shit. I mean, shoot.” Her eyes darted to Wiley.

  I shrugged. “He’s heard worse. I’m Hudson West and this is my son, Wiley.”

  “Hi, I’m …” she blinked, then stared.

  “Yeah?” I prompted.

  “Right. I’m Milly. Milly Fremont.”

  I held out my hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Yes, yes it is.” She shook her head, and added, “Oh, this is Dick.”

  My brows lifted and I said, “Yes, I already surmised that. Interesting name. And he’s quite a large one at that.”

  Her cheeks bloomed bright pink. “He is indeed. And robust too. My ex named him. I wanted to call him Chester. But I was outvoted.”

  “Oh? Who was voting?”

  “My ex and me.”

  “Hmm. Doesn’t seem fair, does it?”

  “No, and that’s what I said.”

  Suddenly, the object of our attention began to bark again, which started a bark fest in the lobby.

  “Ooops. Dick’s somewhat of a hell raiser.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “It is. You wouldn’t believe what he does.”

  My son became impatient to get upstairs and said, “Daddy, can I pway with Dick?”

  “Oh. I’m sorry I’ve taken up too much of your time. And Dick needs a walk. He’s not one to be denied.”

  “I’d imagine not.”

  “Come on, Dick.” She glanced over her shoulder and gave me a slight wiggle of her fingers as she left. I chuckled to myself over our conversation. A dog named Dick. And a mastiff no less. I wonder if he behaved. The thing had to weigh at least one twenty. God, I hope it was well trained. If not, she was going to have a time of it.

  “Daddy, that was the biggest dog in the world, wasn’t it?”

  “Just about, son.”

  “Was it as big as a pony?”

  “Some ponies, I imagine.”

  “I want a pony dog Daddy.” Wiley’s eyes were about as big as a pony.

  “We have three dogs already and we’re helping Aunt Marin with her therapy dog too.”

  “Yeah, but I wiked Dick’s face. It was kinda funny.”

  “I know. He was cute.”

  “Too bad he spits so much.”

  I wondered if Milly had a large apartment. I couldn’t imagine having a mastiff in one of the smaller ones. Wiley and I had a three bedroom. I got the large apartment because at one point, we’d had an au pair that lived with us. But she’d moved back to Norway and now we had a nanny that sometimes spent the night.

  Wiley chattered non-stop in the elevator about Dick. Dick this and Dick that. I bet Dick can do this. I bet Dick is big enough to eat his dinner at the dining room table. Blah, blah, blah.

  “Wiley, do you remember we have dogs of our own?”

  “Yeah, but they’re wittle. I want a big Dick of my own.”

  I had a bad feeling about the new Dick in town.

  And then I switched gears to the new Dick’s owner. She was quite attractive and I would’ve loved to have seen her without the bulky coat she had on. She was covered in a Canada goose coat and looked like she was going on an expedition in Antarctica. It was still winter and chilly here, but not that chilly. She had been dressed for sub-zero weather. Maybe she’d been naked underneath. I was going to have to find a way to get to know her a little. But only as a friend with benefits. Anything more than that was out of the question.

  “Daddy, do you think Dick can come over for a pway date?” I really needed to work on those L’s.

  “We’ll have to see.” I was thinking more of his owner coming over for a play date myself, but I couldn’t share that with my son. “But not today because we’re supposed to meet Aunt Marin and Kinsley in a while at the therapy dog training place. Remember?”

  “Oh yeah.”

  Marin was my brother, Grey’s, wife and Kinsley was their seven, soon to be eight-year-old, daughter.

  “Is Aaron coming too?”

  Aaron was their son twenty-month-old son.

  “No, buddy. He’s staying home with Uncle Grey.”

  “Is Kinswey gonna make me dance with her?”

  My niece had this obsession with Irish step dancing and was always forcing the boys to dance.

  “I think today she’ll be more interested in the dog.” I ruffled the top of his head, which reminded me of how much the boy needed a hair cut. He looked like one of our dogs. “Bud, we need to take you to get a hair cut soon. You remind me of Scooter.”

  A burst of giggles bubbled out of him. “No, I don’t. Scooter dwags his butt on the fwoor.”

  Shit, I was supposed to get him groomed today. “Wiley, we were supposed to take him to Miss Kitty today.”

  “Oh no. She’s gonna be real mad at you, Daddy. Maybe Miss Kitty can give me a hair cut.”

  A loud laugh left me. “Wylie, do you want to look like Scooter?”

  He scrunched his mouth to the side as he pondered my question. “I wike Scooter.”

  “Yeah, but do you want to look like him?”

  His head batted back and forth. “Nah. That’s siwwy.”

  “I’d have to give you flea medicine and a heart worm pill.”

  “Yucky.” And then a giggle bubbled out of him.

  “Come on, pal, let’s go.” I stretched out my free arm and he latched onto my hand. We walked off the elevator, three dogs and a four-year-old. Wh
en we entered our apartment, a cacophony of barking ensued, as the canines were ready for their treats.

  “Guys, guys, stop that.” I used my deep voice to get their attention. They immediately looked at me and I said, “Sit.” Three dog butts hit the deck. “Good boys. Now let me get your treats.” I gathered up their usual dog cookies and handed them out.

  “Wiley, make sure you haven’t left any pillows laying around. You know how Flimsy likes to eat them.”

  He ran toward the living room and did a quick check. Of course, I followed him to be sure. The last thing I wanted was to deal with that. Flimsy was a great dog but had an affinity for pillows and blankets.

  All the pillows were up and I closed all the bedroom doors. Then I called Kitty and did some major sucking up. She rescheduled Scooter as we got ready to meet Marin.

  I had found a puppy for her that was getting trained to be a therapy dog. Marin wanted to volunteer at the hospital using the new puppy in the pediatric and geriatric departments. It had taken several months to find the best dog, because she didn’t want one that was too large and she wanted one that didn’t shed much. We finally settled on a miniature golden doodle. But this one was a third generation so the shedding characteristics of the golden retriever had been bred out.

  When we arrived at the training center, Marin and Kinsley were already there playing with their new puppy, Marshmallow. Kinsley saw us and called out Wiley’s name.

  Puppies have short attention spans and the session lasted only thirty minutes with ten of them dedicated to training. The other twenty was working on leashing her and walking. Marshmallow was smart and great with the kids. She was going to be the perfect addition to their household. I could see how this dog would make the kids in the hospital smile and I thought maybe I could get Flimsy trained as well.

  After we were done, the trainer wanted the kids to play with Marshmallow so Marin and I sat and talked.

  “So what’s new in your life? We’ve been kind of crazy and you haven’t been out to see us lately,” she said.

  “Yeah, I need to get out there. Mom and Dad have been on me about that. And how’re you and the old man doing?” I was referring to my brother. There was about a fifteen year age difference between them and when they first met, she called him an old geezer. I had joked about it and given him a hard time over that.

  “Aw, come on. You know he’s not anywhere close to being an old man.”

  “That’s not what you used to think.”

  “Yeah, well, that was when he acted like an asshole too.”

  “We don’t need to go into that, do we?” she asked.

  “No, we don’t.”

  My sister-in-law had done a great deal for my brother and I would forever be grateful to her. She had helped him get through a difficult time in his life after his first wife died and put up with his bullshit. In the end, it had all worked out, but for a while, I’d had my doubts.

  My son suddenly yelled, “Hey Daddy, can Kinswey and Aunt Marwin come over so we can play with that lady’s big Dick?”

  Marin tilted her head and her brows shot to the ceiling. “This should be good.”

  “I don’t know if she’s home today, son.”

  “But can we go and see.”

  “Maybe some other time.”

  “Care to explain this?” Marin asked as she bit down on the corner of her lip.

  “Uh, he’s talking about one of the women who lives in our building.”

  “Yeah, and she has a big dick?”

  “Dick is her dog.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m not sure you do. Dick is an English mastiff that weighs at least a hundred and twenty pounds. Hence, big Dick. She even calls him her big Dick.”

  “Hmm. And tell me more about her.”

  “It’s sort of funny, actually. I first met her in the hall right outside of my apartment. Her groceries had spilled all over the place so I helped her. And I didn’t think anything of it. But Wiley and I were coming in from walking the dogs and as we got to the lobby, the elevator doors opened and out walked this giant mastiff … alone.”

  “Wait. The dog was by itself?”

  “Yes! It was pretty damn funny. Then the other elevator opened and the woman comes tearing out yelling, ‘Have you seen my big Dick?’”

  “Hudson, are you making this up?”

  “I swear, it’s the truth.”

  “Oh, God. Were there any other people around?”

  “Yes, and they all looked at her like she was batshit crazy.”

  “She sounds like she is. Who runs around staying stuff like that?”

  “Someone with a mastiff on the loose.”

  Marin glanced toward the kids and then back at me. “What does she look like?”

  “Attractive, dark brown reddish hair. Tall, sort of curvy. Large brownish hazel eyes.”

  She leaned back and said, “Wow. You really paid attention to her.”

  “Of course I did. I pay attention to most women. Don’t you remember that day I met you.”

  She squinted. “Oh, yeah. When I came back after I changed my hair color. And Grey kissed me.”

  “That’s right. I practically had to pour a bucket of water on you two.”

  Her cheeks turned pink, as they usually did when this subject popped up. Marin always did embarrass easily.

  “I want to hear about the girl.”

  “Honestly, there’s not much to tell other than Wiley wants a big Dick now too.”

  Marin cracked up. “Oh, God, I can’t wait to tell Grey. He’ll die.”

  “He’ll be glad Aaron wasn’t here.”

  Marin was still laughing when the kids walked over. “Whatcha laughing at Uncle Hudson.”

  “Nothing, sweets. You two done playing with Marshmallow?”

  “Yep. Can we go play with the lady’s big Dick now?”

  “Wiley, we can’t just barge into her home and do that. We have to arrange that in advance.”

  “Can you call her and ask?” His big blue eyes begged me to call.

  “Maybe some other time, son.”

  Marin stepped in to save the day. “I have an idea. How about we head to Serendipity 3 for a frozen hot chocolate?”

  Both kids clapped their hands. “Can we Daddy?” Wiley asked.

  “I don’t see why not. Let me talk to the trainer first, though.”

  Marin and I scheduled our next visit and then the four of us went to get our frozen hot chocolates. While we sat there, Marin tried to pull information out of me. I had no intention of sharing much more with her as there wasn’t much else to add.

  “You should invite her out for a family dinner.”

  “Are you crazy?” I asked. “I don’t even know her and you know how Mom is. She’ll assume we’re engaged already. That would be a gigantic shit show.”

  “Uncle Hudson said a bad word,” Kinsley reminded me.

  “Daddy, what’s a shit show.”

  “It’s nothing. Forget you heard that.” God, I needed to do a better job of controlling my vocabulary around the little ears.

  Marin tried to hold back her laugh by covering up her mouth with a hand. Her body shook anyway. I tried to give her an angry stare, but it was a miserable fail.

  “Hey, did I ever tell you about the time the dishwasher broke and I couldn’t shut it off?” Marin asked.

  “No, but my brother did. He thought it was quite humorous that you didn’t know what a breaker box was.”

  “Oh, did he?”

  “Yeah. And he thought it was also funny that he was scolded by you-know-who for his language.”

  “That was funny. But she had repeated my use of the f-bomb several times.”

  It was a funny story. Grey got reprimanded by Kinsley for saying shit, but she had parroted Marin’s use of fuck. We both laughed at that.

  “You two trouble-makers about finished?” I asked.

  “I’m not a trouble-maker, Uncle Hudson. I got two gold stars and a Coco sticker today in
school.”

  “Oh, I didn’t really mean you were a trouble-maker.”

  “Then why’d you say that?”

  “I was only kidding.”

  Kinsley stared at me and for a second, she looked exactly like her dad, with two tiny creases between her eyes as she thought about what I said. “Oh. Okay.” Then she went back to chatting with Wiley.

  “Man, she’s intense like Grey.”

  “Tell me about it. And I can only imagine the two of them tangling when she gets older.”

  “We’d better get going,” I suggested. As we neared the garage where Marin had parked her car, she cornered me.

  “I have an assignment for you.”

  “An assignment?”

  “Yes. I want you to get to know big Dick’s owner. Anyone with a dog like that has to have a good sense of humor and I believe that’s exactly the type of woman you need in your life.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “It’s not an option, Hudson. If you don’t, I’m going to tell your mother.”

  “What?”

  “Yep, I’m going to tell Paige you’re dating someone and you need to bring her to Sunday dinner.”

  “Marin, are you blackmailing me?”

  “Not at all. I just want my lonely brother-in-law to go out with the woman. That’s it.”

  “Who said anything about me being lonely?”

  “I did. I’m a woman and can sense these things.”

  I was saved by the dinging of her phone. “That’s my hubby. He’s wrapping up at the hospital and should be home in forty-five. I guess that’s my cue.”

  Thank God. I didn’t want to say it, but she was getting a bit intrusive on my love life. “How is the cardiology business these days?” My brothers was one of those kinds of doctors.

  “Robust. They need another doctor in his practice and he’s been on the hunt. If you know anyone?”

  “Sorry, I’m in the furry patient end of the business.”

  “Well, if you hear of anyone, let him know. And remember, ask big Dick’s owner out. Or else.” She wagged a finger at me. I only laughed. I loved my sister-in-law. I truly did.