34. Jack
TEDDY WOULDN’T HAVE ANY REASON TO STAY HOME TODAY . No Pickles. No work. He found the perfect day to drive her to Pets Alive in Austin and get a new dog. After the hurricane, Austin rescued dogs from the flooded areas of Houston and the Gulf. They begged for people to adopt dogs. Though replacing Pickles wouldn’t be easy, Jack knew they’d find the perfect dog.
Jack tapped on her front door. Without Pickles around, Teddy didn’t have a dog to bark a warning. She answered his knock still in her pajamas. Overnight, her hair had turned into a wild mass of tangles, though she still looked amazing.
Teddy pushed her hair from her cheeks. “What’re you doing here?”
“We’re going to Austin. Here’s your coffee.” He handed Teddy a cup of coffee—cream, no sugar.
“Now?”
“You want a dog, don’t you?”
“Let me get this straight. We’re going to Austin today to get a dog?”
“Austin Pets Alive is overflowing with dogs. They need adopters. Let’s go get us a dog.” He missed Pickles almost as much as Teddy did.
“I don’t know if I’m ready.” Teddy gave Jack a tender smile.
“You weren’t ready for Pickles.”
“You’re going to help me with her?” Teddy asked.
He knew she would soften up. Wait until she witnessed the dogs at the shelter. He’d heard that something like three thousand animals had been rescued by Austin Pets Alive. The number of dogs in the facility had tripled.
In Austin by noon, they walked down the rows of kennels at Pets Alive hand-in-hand and attempted to talk over the sound of dogs barking.
Teddy crouched down to examine a kennel with four dogs in it. Normally, the kennel only held two. “We want a female.”
Jack liked the sound of “we.” “I’m always looking for females.”
“You better not be.”
“You’re the only one for me.” Jack squatted beside her. “There’re so many dogs. We need to narrow the search.”
They returned to the waiting area and checked the website for available dogs under five years, female, short hair, and a medium energy level. This narrowed the search to a manageable number.
He and Teddy wandered the kennels again every single dog barked at them, until they reached a kennel with a black dog sitting quietly on her bed. Teddy called out to her. The dog smiled, revealing a lower jaw of pretty white teeth.
“She’s smiling,” Teddy squealed.
“I believe she is.”
“I’ll name her Pepper,” Teddy said. “If that’s okay with you.”
They talked with a volunteer at the shelter and took the dog outside to play with them. The shelter required that potential adopters spend thirty minutes with a pet before they would approve an adoption. Teddy tossed a ball. Pepper caught the ball in mid-air and ran around the yard.
“Okay, a catcher not a fetcher,” Jack said.
Teddy chased after her and pulled the ball from Pepper’s mouth.
“You’re trusting. You hardly know the dog.”
“She’s the one,” Teddy said, holding the slobbery ball between thumb and index finger.
He checked his watch. “You’ve got twenty more minutes to decide.”
“Do you believe in synchronicity?”
Jack remembered Pops using the word. The man practically set up an arranged marriage for Teddy.
“I think so, you’ll have to give me more context.” No need to bring up Pops right now.
“It’s when events happen that are meaningful coincidences. I met Pickles because of you. A little boy writes a letter to Facebook that goes viral. Pickles happens to be the subject of the letter. I give up Pickles. I walk into a shelter in Austin and a dog smiles at me. Dogs don’t smile like this.” She stroked her new dog on the back. “Do you know that, Pepper? Dogs don’t smile.”
Pepper smiled, baring her teeth. She rolled on her back and exposed her stomach for a good scratching. Jack rubbed Pepper’s belly, thankful that Teddy hadn’t launched into a story about how her Pops believed in synchronicity.
“Ever since the hurricane, it’s like God sent an army of angels to Bird Isle. Even when I’m all alone on the beach or in my house, I feel like someone is close by watching me. Not in a creepy way. Do you ever feel like that?” Teddy turned to face him.
He did know how she felt. He just didn’t know how to talk about the feeling without sounding crazy. Ever since Angela died, he knew her spirit hovered close by. He wanted to take things slow with Teddy. He couldn’t tell Teddy that Angela still hung around. How would Teddy take it? What did that mean for their future?
“Do you?” Teddy asked again.
“I do.” No point ruining the day by bringing up Angela’s ghost. His mother once told him that even in a good marriage couples had secrets. “Around you I feel magic all the time.”
“Oh, brother.” Teddy laughed.
“You don’t believe me?” He reached behind his ear and pulled out a silver dollar.
“How’d you do that?”
“Magic. Now, shall we go adopt a dog?” Jack pulled Teddy to standing. “Congratulations, mom.”