Page 121 of Worst in Show

“Oh no,” Micki whispers.

Leo tries again, this time using the hand signal to lie down, but Cap still doesn’t move. A snicker travels through the audience and hits my very core. This is painful. Leo’s stage fright is going to be quadrupled after this—it’s exactly what he wanted to avoid.

Leo’s face gets redder and redder as he tries, in vain, to get Cap to do even one of the tricks we’ve worked on at the farm with Cho and Tilly. And the more embarrassed he gets, the more my heart melts because he’s much too concerned with appearances to be doing this for fun. He’s doing it for me.

No sooner has this revelation sunk in than Micki leans forward, her hand coming down hard on my leg.

“Ow. What was that for?” I ask.

“Look at Cap.”

I do, and what I see brings me to my feet. His head has started twitching—incidentally in time with the music—and one of his legs moves in and out. He’s having one of his episodes.

I’m torn between running up on stage and calling out to Leo, but before I can react, Leo looks from Cap to the audience, sees me, smiles, puts a finger up as if to pause me… and starts dancing.

One of his shoulders goes up, the other goes down, then his arms bend at the elbow, and his feet move sideways as if pulled by an invisible string.

“You never told me Leo knows how to pop and lock,” Micki hisses next to me. “He’s not bad, actually.”

A sigh goes through the audience before the first cheerful “whoop” rises into the air.

“Ah, here they go,” the MC says quietly. “Had me worried there for a while.”

Leo makes his way around Cap, seemingly matching the pup’s movements with his, and the crowd goes ballistic. There are chest pops, hip gyrations, and even a poor moonwalk attempt before Leo bends his elbows ninety degrees and wiggles forward on stiff legs like a musically inclined C-3PO. Fully in the zone now, he links eyes with me, cocks his head to the side, and lets the movement travel down his joints to end with a flick of his foot before scooping Cap up into his arms and accepting the audience’s standing ovation.

I have never loved a man more.

Micki and I hold hands as we wait for the verdict. The MC starts in fifth place and makes his way up.

“And finally—in an upset no one saw coming—a tie to be settled between Jessie the wheaten terrier and Captain Spots von Puppington, the, um, beagle mix. What’s he mixed with anyway? A robot?” He laughs self-indulgently at his own quip.

“How does that guy live with himself?” Micki mutters at my side before joining the chorus of cheering and applause.

“What does this mean?” I ask, my pulse racing. On the one hand, we’re still in it, but on the other, Jessie is clearly a trained pooch. If this pageant was scored traditionally, Cap wouldn’t stand a chance. Fortunately for him, crowd enthusiasm seems to have carried him through.

I look to Leo on the stage, side by side with Jessie’s handler. He looks as confused as I feel, and when our eyes meet, he shrugs.

“Folks, we’re going to let all the dogs have a short break before we crown our champion,” the MC says. “The tiebreaker will be the ultimate game of fetch. Each dog must retrieve five balls shot out of this here ball machine. Winner takes all.”

Cap knows fetch. It’s the game he loves most. He’s never done it with Leo, though.

“I have to get down there,” I tell Micki. “I know Cap better.” Another idea strikes. “There are capes at the booth, right? Can you go get one?”

“On it.”

We push our way through the still-seated audience, but when Micki heads outside, I set a course for backstage.

Leo and Cap are on their way out a back door when I get there, but Leo stops in his tracks when I call his name.

I slow and approach with some trepidation, not sure how to bridge the last few days in the right way.

“You’re here,” I say. “I mean, not here here, but you know… Although here here is also unexpected, I guess.” Stop talking, Cora. To hide my red cheeks, I squat down to greet Cap. He licks my face as I praise him for being such a good boy.

When I stand, a jumble of emotions is playing across Leo’s face. “I wanted to make it up to you. All of it—leaving, letting Cho out, being a jerk…”

I nod. “Yeah, this week has not been great.” Cap pulls toward the door, but Leo holds his leash tightly. I take my chance to ask the question most on my mind. “What about your dad?”

His jaw ticks. “We’ll see. But I talked to Mom through her assistant, so I know she’s on my side at least.”

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