Chapter Ten #3
The reality of that sat funny in her chest. Ugh, now she felt horrible for getting sideways with him. He’d hired her to do something that meant everything to him and his future, his family’s future, and she’d been treating it more cavalierly than she should have.
“To be fair, you’re doing an okay job,” he told her gruffly, as if the admission hadn’t been easy.
She arched a brow at the rehashed faint praise from earlier. “Okay? That’s almost as bad as a ‘bit of progress.’ I’m doing a great job.”
That, she believed with all her heart, given what she had to work with.
And her lack of experience. But of course, she couldn’t exactly use that fact to make her point since she’d convinced him she had expertise.
If you looked up honorable in the dictionary, there’d be a picture of Zero Renshaw.
He’d probably never even cheated on a test.
Who would have thought she’d like that about him so much? Or she’d still be here at the Flying Pig, carefully stacking up these dog cards, desperately praying for them not to fall?
Because if they did, she’d have to stop working with Hunter, and after learning he’d been trying to control the dogs himself this morning, she couldn’t stop now. He needed her to help him. He needed emotional support dogs, and they were more than halfway there with Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner.
“I’ll reserve the high praise for when I see how you do with the livestock,” he advised her.
Which was totally fair. But she wished he understood how much it meant to her that she’d taken four semi-wild dogs and gotten them to trust her. Hunter’s progress felt like nothing short of a miracle. She’d done that all by herself, no Dr. Kersey breathing down her neck.
The last week had been one of the greatest of her life. Nothing she’d ever done with art could compare to the thrill of seeing Hunter with Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann piled around him.
“You won’t be disappointed,” she said with as much cheer as she could muster after just realizing she liked training dogs. That she might actually be good at it, SugarGate aside.
A bird chose that moment to land near the water, pecking at the high grass near the shore. The Captains’ ears perked up, and she could tell the exact moment when they both decided birds might be more fun than sitting patiently in wait for their next commands.
“No, Captain Barbossa,” she snapped, totally aware that, unlike SugarGate, Zero would have a front-row seat for her mastery of this situation.
The dog glanced at her, and she gave him the command to heel, which would orient him facing away from the bird.
In what should amount to the eighth wonder of the world, he did it, which blessedly caught Captain Jack Sparrow’s attention.
The other dog barked at the bird but then meandered over to sit at her feet, doggy eyes on her pocket.
“You heel, too,” she ordered, but the bird flapped its wings in the water a couple of times, which must be code for let’s play in dog language, because Captain Jack took off like a shot, charging into the water.
The bird flew off in an indignant huff of feathers and squawks. Captain Jack skidded to a halt in the shallow water, giving Delilah a few precious seconds to dash after him, then snap the leash onto his collar so she could haul him back onto dry land.
“That’s enough of that,” she advised him and gave him the sit command, which he did, likely because he knew he couldn’t go anywhere now that he was back on his leash.
It wasn’t as good of a demonstration as Captain Barbossa heeling a moment ago, but it wasn’t too shabby, either. She dared sneak a glance at her audience, who was watching the scene with his arms crossed.
“That didn’t go very well,” he said, a slight frown marring his perfect jaw. “After the sugar mess this morning, I’m starting to wonder if I was too quick to comment on your progress.”
Geez, he really was a hard grader.
“You’ll note that Captain Jack didn’t shake himself off like he normally does after getting in the water,” she pointed out, not too happy she had to be the one to bring it up.
“Captain Barbossa didn’t move from the spot I left him in.
These are all huge improvements. You, of all people, should recognize that. ”
He looked unconvinced. “The goal was to get them under control.”
“And they are,” she said, exasperated. “They’re dogs, not soldiers. You have to reset your expectations.”
“Maybe you’re the one who needs to have expectations reset. By the one paying you.”
Arms crossed in kind, she stared him down, refusing to be cowed by His Grumpiness. “Sounds like you need a real demonstration of how this works.”
Before she could talk herself out of it, she gave both dogs the command to jump, which was one of their more impressive tricks. Or would have been, if Captain Barbossa wasn’t still leashed, the handle of which she had looped around her wrist.
It’s possible she might have tightened her grip and pulled the line taut as she let nature take its course.
Everything happened in slow motion. The dogs getting tangled up with Zero as they jumped. Her arm flying out. And suddenly, Zero falling backward…right into the pond with a splash. Exactly where he needed to be to cool off.