by Nancy Krulik
Alana looked at the guy beneath the light. She hadn’t even noticed him. Even if she had, she certainly never would’ve thought of him in terms of a painting. To her he was just a weirdly dressed guy waiting for the light to change. There were probably a million anonymous people like him all over New York tonight. Well, anonymous to everyone but Connor, anyway.
“Do you see art in everything?” she asked incredulously.
Connor shrugged. “I guess. The thing about art is, it doesn’t always have to be traditionally attractive to be beautiful, you know? Sometimes there can be an inner beauty, something that’s really intense and speaks to people. Something they’d see too, if they would just take the time to look. I figure it’s my job to make them look.”
Alana stared at him for a moment, totally blown away. She’d never known anyone like Connor before. There was a certain irony in a guy who was so gorgeous on the outside spending his life looking for obscure inner beauty. But more amazing was the fact that Connor wasn’t embarrassed talking about it. Most of the guys Alana knew would never open up about things like art and beauty—if they even thought about them. And she doubted they did.
Alana sat back and snuggled against his arm, feeling incredibly lucky to be there. He curved his hand over her shoulder and rested his head on hers. They grew quiet again, sitting close together on the park bench, looking at the old hippies and enjoying the pulse of the city. After a few minutes, though, Connor began to fidget slightly with his fingers.
“So…um…you maybe want to do this again sometime?” he asked, suddenly sounding shy and slightly apprehensive. Very out of character.
“What? Eat hot dogs on a bench in the middle of Seventy-second Street?” Alana teased.
“Very funny,” Connor replied. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s not nice to kid around with a guy when he’s nervous?”
“Nervous about what?”
“Well, I had the most amazing time tonight,” Connor said. “You’re absolutely incredible. And I was kind of hoping you sort of felt the same way about me.”
Was he kidding? She’d sort of made that pretty clear on the boat, hadn’t she? Still, it was rather endearing to see him squirm a little. He was usually so sure of himself.
“Oh, yeah, I had a great time. And I think you’re pretty incredible too,” Alana assured him.
“So, you’d want to go out and do something again, then?” Connor asked.
“Sure.”
Connor’s whole body seemed to relax. “Cool. Um, you probably have plans for tomorrow, right?”
Alana nodded. “Yeah. I’m kind of busy.”
“Well, we could do something next weekend,” Connor said. “If you’re free, that is.”
“Next weekend?” Alana asked.
Connor tensed up again. “You’re busy, right?”
Alana shook her head. “No. I was just hoping maybe I could see you sooner.”
A big smile flashed across Connor’s face. “Oh. Well, yeah. I could walk the dogs with you on Monday. I could meet you at the apartment and then…”
“You mean at the Stanhopes’ apartment, right?” Alana asked.
“Yeah. Their place. And then we could take a walk in the Ramble,” Connor suggested. “Sit in the woods, maybe?”
“Sure,” Alana said. “I should be safe. I’ll have Nicolette for a chaperone.”
“You want a chaperone?” Connor wondered.
“Not really,” Alana admitted. And to prove it, she leaned over and kissed away the bit of mustard he had on the corner of his mouth.
Eleven
Alana was still glowing the next morning as she took the train down to the dog adoption center where she was supposed to meet Leo. Every time she even thought about Connor, a flush rose to her cheeks and a smile formed on her lips. She was sure the people on the subway must have thought she was insane. But what the hell. This was New York. Everyone there was a little insane. It was part of the charm.
Leo was waiting for her outside the Operation Dog Adoption shelter. His face broke into a big smile as she approached the large, gray building. “Hey, you made it,” he greeted Alana.
“Yep. Wouldn’t miss it,” she said. “I’m not late or anything, am I?”
Leo shook his head. “I actually got here early to sign us in.” He held out a green cord with a white card attached to it and slipped it around her neck. “This is your ID. You have to wear it whenever you take a dog out of the shelter for a walk.”
“So they know we’re not just walking off with a pup, right?” Alana asked.
“Exactly. They’re really careful about who takes the dogs in and out,” Leo explained. “This is a tough adoption process. They ask about a million questions on their adoption forms. And I heard them call references for one couple.”
Alana nodded. “What kinds of dogs do they have in here?” she asked as she followed Leo inside and up to the front desk.
“It looks like mostly mixed breeds,” he told her. “They’re so sweet. I went in to feed a group of terrier-mix puppies, and they were jumping all over me. It was just supermarket dog food, but they were so incredibly grateful.”
Alana thought of the way her clients pampered their dogs with fine cuts of beef and hand-prepared dog stews. She wondered if the spoiled Upper West Side dogs could ever be as grateful for anything as these dogs were for Alpo. “They say rescued dogs are always the sweetest to their owners because they never really forget what it’s like to be abandoned,” she told Leo.
“I know,” he said. “I think I figured out what the hardest part of this job is going to be.”
“Cleaning the cages?” Alana asked.
Leo shook his head. “The hardest part is going to be leaving without taking a few of these guys home with me. I’m telling you, Alana, I’ve fallen in love at least three times this morning. Wait until you see this adorable cocker-beagle mix in the next room. She’s just the most beautiful dog.”
Leo wasn’t kidding. The dog had a brown and white, spotted beagle body, except her ears were all curly and furry like a cocker spaniel’s. Her face was pretty much cocker spaniel too, except her snout was longer. Alana bent down and put out her hand. The dog padded right up to her and snuggled against her thigh.
“They’re calling her Delancey because she was found digging through the garbage near Delancey Street,” Leo said.
“Oh, wow. I’m totally crazy about her,” Alana said, scratching Delancey under the chin.
“Tell me about it,” Leo agreed, looking intensely into Alana’s blue eyes. Then he added quickly, “Lucky for you, Delancey’s on our list for yard duty.”
“What’s yard duty?”
“It’s kind of like taking them to a dog run,” Leo explained, “except this yard is just for the shelter dogs. It’s to get them acclimated to being around other dogs and with people. Most of these dogs have been all by themselves for a long time. They can’t just be turned over to a family until the shelter thinks they’re really domesticated.”
“Delancey seems pretty mellow to me,” Alana told him.
“Don’t be fooled. You never know what will make a stray turn all of a sudden,” Leo warned.
“You sound pretty knowledgeable about all this,” Alana remarked, impressed.
“I came to a training meeting last night,” Leo said. “I wanted to call you, but I realized I didn’t have your cell number.”
Alana blushed slightly, remembering the night before. “I was busy last night, anyway,” she said.
“It’s okay. I can fill you in on all the details once we get out in the yard. Come on, we’ve gotta go get the leashes.”
“How far away is the dog run?” Alana asked him.
“It’s just out back,” Leo told her. “But we have to take the dogs for a walk on the street before they can go to the yard. That way they get used to being on a leash.”
“So we’re kind of trainers,” Alana mused.
“Not exactly,” Leo replied. “We’re just reinforcing
what the trainers have been working on with the dogs.”
“Wow. They’ve got their own trainers and their own yard. This place is some setup. I wonder if the dogs ever want to leave,” Alana said.
“Sure they do,” Leo assured her. “Everyone wants someone to belong to.”
“Good girl, Delancey,” Alana praised the beagle-cocker mix as she walked her down the block near the shelter. She waited patiently as Delancey sniffed every lamppost, mailbox, and hydrant before leaving her own scent in the mix. “It sure does take her a long time to sniff,” she told Leo.
“Think of it like she’s reading a chain letter,” Leo explained, watching as his shepherd-mix dog lifted his leg to go. “All different dogs have left their scent. She just wants to know exactly who was there and then add her own to the chain.”
“Wow, you learned a lot in that training class,” Alana complimented him.
“Actually, I’ve done a lot of reading about dogs,” Leo explained. “I figure if I’m going to walk them, I should probably understand them.”
Now Alana was really impressed. She’d done very little reading on dogs, except for books on their safety. Basically, she worked on instinct. But it probably wouldn’t hurt her to do some research like Leo had. It would make her a better dog walker. She made a silent vow to check a book or two about the psychology of dogs out of the library.
“Okay, I think they’re finished with their walk,” Leo said. “Why don’t we take them back to the shelter and give them a little free time in the dog run?”
“Good idea,” Alana agreed. “They’re cooped up all the time in the shelter cages. They need a little freedom.”
“Exactly,” Leo said. “Let ’em be themselves for a while.”
Alana followed Leo back into the shelter. They stopped at the desk and signed the dogs back. Then they followed the painted, orange paw prints on the floor back to the dog run behind the building.
There seemed to be a lot of volunteers and dogs in the small, chained-in yard behind the shelter. It wasn’t the nicest dog run Alana had ever seen—just some sand and gravel with one tree in the middle. A few folding chairs had been spread around for the volunteers to sit in. And unlike the park run in Riverside Park, which had a view of the trees and grass (and the Hudson River if you looked past the West Side Highway bordering the park), this dog run had a view of the backsides of the neighboring restaurants and apartments. Still, for these dogs it was better than being caged up in the shelter all the time.
“Okay, Duke, you’re free to run,” Leo said, patting the shepherd mix on his long, sleek, gray-black back before removing his leash.
Alana gave Delancey a little kiss on the head. “You too, sweetie. Have some fun.”
Delancey didn’t have to be told twice. She ran off like a flash, eager to run with the other dogs.
Alana smiled. “Nice of you to say good-bye,” she called after her jokingly. Then she and Leo pulled two chairs together and sat down.
“This is some place, huh?” Leo asked her.
“Yeah, really nice,” Alana agreed. “I like that they try and train the dogs a little bit before giving them to people.”
“It helps make sure the adoption will stick. They don’t want people taking a dog home for a few days and then returning him.”
Alana watched as Delancey jumped up and down, barking happily as she looked up toward the top of the tree. “I wish I could adopt her,” she admitted.
“Do you have a dog of your own?” Leo wondered.
Alana shook her head. “Our apartment is kind of small, and my folks work a lot. With me going to college next year, well, eventually I’ll move out, even if it’s not right away. And then we’d have to hire a dog walker for the dog walker’s dog. That doesn’t seem right.”
“I have a dog at my parents’ house in Philly,” Leo said. “Charlie. He’s a springer spaniel. Best dog in the world. My younger sister’s taking care of him while I’m at school.”
“I didn’t know you were from Philadelphia,” Alana told him. “I didn’t know you had a younger sister, either.”
Leo nodded. “Yeah. Her name’s Sarah. She’s in tenth grade now. Maybe you’ll meet her sometime. She’s supposed to come up and visit me this semester.”
“I’d love to meet her,” Alana told him.
“I think she’ll probably stay in Philly for school. She wants to go to Temple University. But I always wanted to live in New York. That’s why I applied to NYU. And you know the rest of the story. Here I am.”
“Yep,” Alana replied. “Here you are! Is the city everything you hoped for?”
Leo looked at her and smiled deeply. “And more,” he assured her in a deep, sincere voice. “Especially because…”
“DOG LOOSE!”
The sound of another volunteer’s shout stopped Leo midsentence. He looked up and saw a brown and white dog chasing a squirrel on the other side of the fence. “It’s Delancey,” he said. “She dug her way underneath the fence. She must have seen a squirrel or something!”
“Oh no! Delancey! Delancey come back!” Alana shouted, running toward the fence.
“She doesn’t know her name,” a volunteer told Alana.
Alana blushed. Of course she didn’t. She’d been at the shelter only a little while. Certainly not long enough to learn a name. Quickly Alana rushed toward the fence. “No! Stay!” she shouted at the dog. But Delancey had been on her own on the streets a long time. She wasn’t great with commands from humans. The dog ignored Alana completely.
“I’ll get her,” Leo told Alana. He began climbing the chain-link fence. “Stay calm.” In a moment he had dropped to the ground on the other side of the fence and was walking toward Delancey.
“What are you doing?” Alana shouted at him. “Don’t walk, run. She’s going to get away!”
“Running will scare her,” Leo replied, in a voice as calm and relaxed as he could muster. He followed behind Delancey for a few feet, until the dog stopped and began sniffing a nearby fire hydrant.
That was when Leo made his move. He reached over and grabbed Delancey from behind. She struggled for a moment, letting out a few strong barks. But eventually she surrendered, laying her head helplessly on Leo’s shoulder as he brought her back to the shelter.
It wasn’t until Leo arrived back in the yard a few minutes later, after leaving Delancey inside with a shelter employee, that Alana realized she had barely been breathing. But the moment she saw Leo, she let out a huge sigh of relief. He was a hero. Without him, Delancey could’ve been lost again, or worse.
Alana raced over and grabbed Leo. “Thank you, thank you,” she whispered, hugging him tightly. Leo didn’t say a word. He just wrapped his arms around Alana and kissed her. Alana kissed him back, relaying all the gratitude she had inside her. They stood there for a moment, in the middle of the dog run, their lips joined.
But Alana felt nothing. No tingle, no pounding heart. Just mouth on mouth. “Okay, that was weird,” Leo said, jumping away from her.
From the disappointed look on Leo’s face, Alana could tell he hadn’t gotten much more out of the kiss than she had. “Gee, thanks,” she said, trying to joke them both out of an extremely embarrassing situation.
“No, I just mean…”
“I know what you mean,” Alana said kindly.
“I thought it would be different,” Leo told her.
“You had actually thought about us kissing?” Alana asked incredulously.
Now it was Leo’s turn to blush. “Yeah, I guess. Sometimes. Maybe. Didn’t you?”
Alana kicked at the ground. Actually she never had. But saying that would just embarrass Leo even more. And frankly, she didn’t think either of them could take any more discomfort. “Once in a while,” she lied. “But at least now we know that we’re better off being friends.”
“We are still friends, right?” Leo asked her.
“Of course,” Alana said. “Dog walkers united!”
Leo smiled. “Wow, who’d h
ave thought the two of us would have absolutely no chemistry at all?”
Alana shrugged. “There’s no explaining chemistry.”
Twelve
Certainly, there was no explaining Alana’s chemistry with Connor. She’d barely known him two weeks, and already their relationship had advanced to the same level as her three-year relationship with Sammy. And not just physically—although she blushed just thinking about the way Connor’s strong arms had felt around her waist and how the touch of his lips on hers had practically burned right through her. It was more the way they spoke to each other, laughing and joking as though they’d known each other for a hundred years.
They even had private jokes. “Now, you’re sure you bought that bottle of water?” he had asked her teasingly during a walk through the Ramble with Nicolette on Monday afternoon. “You wouldn’t want to get into the dog’s stash or anything. The Stanhopes would flip if doggie dearest here had to drink from the tap!”
Alana giggled. “No, the water’s mine. I only steal Nicolette’s peanut butter–flavored bones,” she assured him. “They’re good for my teeth.”
“Let me see,” Connor said, pulling her close and examining her smile. “Yes, they’re very white,” he added before placing his mouth on hers and covering them completely.
“Arrffff!” Nicolette barked as she jumped up and down, trying to get between them as they kissed.
“I think she’s jealous,” Alana told him.
Connor pulled her closer and kissed her again, blatantly ignoring Nicolette’s barking. “You have nothing to worry about,” he assured Alana. “I’m completely smitten.”
Smitten. Mmm. Alana loved the sound of that word. There was something so old-fashioned and elegant about it. As though she and Connor were some sort of lovers in a Jane Austen novel. The ones where the right people always wind up together in the end.
Nicolette pulled harder on the leash, and Alana acquiesced, allowing the dog to pull her farther into the Ramble. She watched as a bright orange leaf fell from a tree ahead and landed in the lake nearby. “God, it’s gorgeous out here,” she murmured, looking out at the rainbow of green-, orange-, yellow-, and red-leaved trees that surrounded the lake.
