24. Darcy
Darcy
Before heading outside for the dog training session, I ran upstairs to Wills in the bedroom. “Wills, let’s talk again about Jane.” I set his coffee on his bedside table, as he’d slept through breakfast. “Are you feeling calmer this morning?”
He sat up and stretched. “We don’t have to talk anymore, Darcy. I feel a lot more peaceful.”
“When you say peaceful—”
A trumpeting noise rent the air. Colin Vicar blowing his own trumpet flashed into my mind. But he’d left.
“Dog training!” I recognized Knightley’s voice calling through our open bedroom window.
“You go. I’ll be down in a sec,” Wills said. I searched his face, but I couldn’t quite discern his expression. He didn’t seem angry at me or consumed with desperate longing for Jane. Maybe he’d decided to take it easy with her and that decision sat well with him.
I grabbed Max and hurried outside. This would be fun, and a rare chance for me to shine for the viewers.
I was still annoyed with myself about losing it in the cooking competition yesterday.
I needed to appear sane and pleasant to placate clubhouse donors.
Try not to get too distracted by Lizzy’s beautiful dark eyes and her playful manner.
“Okay, Max, sportsmanlike behavior,” I muttered as we ran down the stairs. “And also—crush them without a thought.”
Outside, I caught sight of Harry, the red light on his camera indicating he was already recording. He gave me the thumbs-up, and I grinned, pleased at his support. Let it go. But I could still win and let it go, right?
Knightley was surrounded by six dogs—one huge, one tiny, one old and drooling.
And…oh good lord—was that even a dog? The Balfours had joined us, and they already had Oodles on the leash.
I tried to catch Lizzy’s eye, but she was too busy waving Oodles goodbye.
Why was Oodles leaving? Max pulled at the leash, wanting to follow him.
Knightley clapped. “Okay. Today, we’ve added a little twist to our event.”
I was trying to listen, but I felt transfixed by the sixth dog.
Said dog had so much going on, it was hard to pinpoint what was so odd about the poor creature.
Its tongue was permanently hanging out the side of its mouth.
One ear stuck straight up, the other flopped.
Head too big for its long body. Legs too short.
A fluffy tail that would not have been amiss on a massive Alaskan Malamute.
Oh my God, that was the ugliest dog I’d ever seen.
Knightley gave me a dirty look. Shit, had I said that aloud? The others looked annoyed too.
“In a cute way,” I said, backpedaling.
Wills moved beside me, obviously ready to shut me down.
The most bewildering thing was this dog’s attitude.
It smiled all the time, a distinctive upturn at the corners of its mouth.
Must be something like a pig, where they looked like they were smiling but they weren’t.
And the attitude. The dog was the happiest of joiners.
This unfortunate mutt paused at each person, tail wagging, jumped up on their legs, and then ran around the other dogs.
Yeah, we’re the cool kids, this dog seemed to be saying.
The other dogs merely regarded it with annoyance.
Knightley cleared his throat. “We’ve used this opportunity to shine a spotlight on six of our dogs who have not been adopted in months, and for a variety of reasons, one has been with us for…a year.”
Knightley definitely snuck a look at The Dog and then away, as if he were covering up.
The Dog looked up at us all as if to say, Yeah, can you believe it? Gobsmacked.
“What a surprise,” I muttered to myself.
“Shh,” Wills hissed and elbowed me in the ribs.
Hang on, why wasn’t he standing next to Jane? What was going on? He wasn’t even looking at her. He was pointedly not looking at her. Now she was walking over. Did he stiffen? No, I must have imagined it.
“We are hoping viewers will meet these wonderful creatures—” Knightley swooped a hand at them as though they’d all won prizes for beauty and stamina “—see how friendly they are, what wonderful dispositions they have, and offer them a new forever home.”
“Not bloody likely, mate,” I muttered, looking away as The Dog lay down and licked itself. Everyone else, similarly transfixed by The Dog, looked away.
“Darcy,” William scolded under his breath. Back to being old Wills. I was clearly imagining this new attitude toward Jane.
“Okay, we have assigned one dog to each of you today for the training,” Knightley announced.
“What? No, no, no,” I blurted. “Max and I have been practicing.” Shit. Should not have said that. This place, this weekend, was seriously messing up my cool.
“I’m confused,” Knightley said in front of the camera. “Why would you be practicing?”
I needed good public opinion to complete the kids’ clubhouse. And I was ballsing it up again. If I had any question whether anyone had noticed my faux pas, the resident barometer, Harry, paced toward me.
I gave him what I hoped was a plaintive look. I thought we were mates?
He shrugged back. But you insist on being a right spanner, so here we are.
Turning my shoulder slightly to the camera, I gave Knightley a hard look. He knew bloody well I’d been practicing the course with Max so I could win. He may have been a softy when it came to animals, but he certainly didn’t intend to let this human man off the hook.
“Carry on,” I said. Couldn’t we get through this morning? Jane joined Wills, and he moved away from her, closer to me. Or was I imagining that?
I surveyed the available dogs. The old rheumy dog was the only one whose legs were long enough to make it over the jump. Maybe.
“I’ll take the Lab mix,” I said, pointing at him. At least he could walk straight.
Knightley laughed. “This is not primary school recess. I’m assigning the dogs.”
He then did so.
My heart sank lower as the rest of the dogs were assigned to the others. The old lab went to Lizzy, who looked delighted with the pairing.
Finally, the verdict was obvious.
“And Darcy, your teammate is Topaz LeStar,” Knightley announced gleefully.
What the hell. The Dog had a stripper name?
Harry was now almost on top of me with his camera.
Thank God I hadn’t said that aloud. Suggesting outright that she had a stripper name would shove me back to the doghouse I’d been consigned to the first night.
I smiled…beatifically, I hoped. Topaz’s eyes lit up at the mention of her name.
Somehow knowing she’d been assigned, she bounded toward me.
“Dream team!” I punched the air. I’d never punched the air in my life.
“Doesn’t she have a fun name?” Knightley said with a definite knowing lilt to his tone, seeming almost disappointed I hadn’t made a total cock of myself. “And never was a dog so loved. Which is where she got all her confidence from. Sadly, both her humans died.”
Everyone else made an “aww” face. I snuck a look at Lizzy, who pressed one of her eyes as if she’d welled up. Blinking hard, she gave Topaz an admiring look that said, Aren’t you fabulous?
Two birds with one stone. Being Lizzy’s hero and nailing this filming thing.
“I, for one, am looking forward to working with Topaz,” I said resolutely and was rewarded with a beaming smile from Lizzy.
I gave commands. I flattered. I wheedled.
I scolded. Topaz wandered around blithely, aimlessly, but always happily.
She strolled around the jump. She climbed over the tunnel.
She went in the other direction on the obstacle course.
And then, in the middle of it all, obstructing everyone, she sat down next to me and licked herself again.
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. In what felt like emotional ping-pong, I checked on Wills.
Oh no. Jane was clearly trying to engage him, but he looked blank.
I didn’t think I was imagining his studied disinterest in her.
It appeared Wills hadn’t taken my advice to not take drastic steps.
He was giving her the cold shoulder instead of cooling things a little.
I’d have to speak with him later, without cameras around.
“She loves you. She loves being around you,” Knightley said in a booming voice, bringing me back to Topaz.
His loud words got the attention of Lizzy, running the old rheumy dog, who turned out to have a lot of life in him yet. Lizzy raced over, the old dog at her heels.
“Gosh, she does, Darcy.” She smiled at Topaz, then at me. “You two have an immediate bond.”
“Is bond how you’d describe it?” I asked.
“I feel a forever home coming on,” Knightley sang out annoyingly. “It’s written in the stars.”
“The LeStars?” I asked him with a fake smile.
“Exactement,” he said, giving me an equally large but fake smile back.
“I would love to, but we don’t have room,” I said.
Knightley and Lizzy stared at me. Shit, yeah, fair point. I basically owned an enormous apartment in London and a, er, castle-like abode.
“But what about poor Max?” I asked. “He’ll be jealous. He won’t like it.”
“We’re talking about Max? The most laid-back dog in the universe?” Lizzy said.
Like me, Max was the least laid-back creature in the universe; it was that Oodles had brought out a playful side of him this weekend. He hadn’t even turned around when the Balfours had led him away with Oodles for a walk through the fields. Traitorous, ungrateful creature.
Topaz was grinning up at me, as though she knew exactly what was happening. I didn’t want any more responsibility in my life, someone else who needed me to take charge.
“Max is pretty territorial and jealous. I’m not sure about this.”
“I’ll take care of Max while Topaz gets settled,” Wills chimed in. “Walk him, feed him, you know, all the rest.”
Not going to happen. Max had started out as Wills’s dog, and though he had all the love and best intentions, Wills was unused to the responsibility and day-to-day routine that dogs craved. I blamed myself for his irresponsibility, as I’d taken care of everything for Wills since he was a child.
Everyone looked at me expectantly. Knightley said nothing either, giving me a confused face. Cunning, conniving bloody man. I had a new respect for him.
I heaved out an exasperated breath. “Okay. I’ll foster her for two weeks and see if she gets along with Max. Otherwise, this is not fair on Max. Two weeks.” I sighed internally. I was pretty sure they would not get along, and I’d be off the hook.
“First, I must announce the winning combo! Lizzy and old Bob. Lizzy, you win a gift certificate to a hot-air-balloon experience!” Knightley said.
Lizzy looked a little horrified for some reason, then smiled gamely.
Knightley turned back to me, grinning from ear to ear. “Now. I’ll go and grab Topaz’s medications from the car. Hard to believe by looking at her, but she has a lot of health issues.”
Shocker. And why did Knightley have all her medications in his car? Had he been planning all along to offload this creature on me? Knightley returned with a veritable suitcase full of medications and a folder of instructions.
“All pretty self-explanatory,” he said with a friendly but cursory clip to his voice.
“But feel free to contact Hetty Bates on our front desk with any questions. Hey thanks, man,” he said brightly, patting me on the back after he’d handed off the suitcase and folder.
His forehead creased with sincerity, but there was a definite twitch to his lips.
“We’re going to miss our Ms. LeStar. She’s much loved. ”
“I can imagine,” I said. I tucked the high-maintenance Ms. LeStar’s to-go bag and folder under one arm and leaned over to collect her.
“Okay, beautiful, looks like you’re coming home with me.”
I scooped her up, and she looked at me like I was her prince. Sweet.
“Oh hell,” I coughed out at the stench. Topaz LeStar might have been named after some glamorous, perfumed dancer, but unlike her imaginary namesake, she was on the smelly side. What was it with me and stinking beasts, large and small? First, Goatee and now this dog.
“Yay,” said Lizzy, clapping and bouncing on her toes.
You’d think there’d be an easier way to impress a woman. But apparently not this woman. Lizzy called out the news to Jane and Emma, who joined in, doing some hand-clapping and bouncing up and down themselves.
Yay.
Now, where the hell had Wills gone?
Upstairs, I found the bedroom empty, not just unoccupied. Wills must have quickly packed, loaded up the car, and left for a walk or something. My heart twisted in my chest, unsettled and uncertain about the state of my brother’s mind. I’d talk to Lizzy then find him.
I washed a protesting and thrashing Topaz in the sink, dried her, and settled her newly sweetly smelling self on my bed while I changed again out of my sodden clothes.
I then directed a watchful and pissed-off Max to his cushion and packed.
I had to make sure they got on before I left them alone together.
It already wasn’t going so well. Topaz didn’t realize, as the second dog in the house, she should be humble and defer to Max’s seniority.
Instead, she gave Max a superior grin from her new height atop the bed.
Max returned her haughty look with a stink eye.
I gathered my stuff, ready to take it down to the car, and asked Penny Balfour to keep an eye on the dogs.
Before we left, I wanted to meet Lizzy somewhere private to tell her how I felt and to see how we could get together.
I wanted to get to know her better, and I thought through the logistics of traveling back and forth on dates.
We lived two hours apart, so how was that going to work with my job?
But I knew this connection between us was strong enough already we would make it work.