Page 19 of Claimed by my Bestie's Dad

She nods. “Both at the same time is too much. They’re huge, and if they decide to dart in opposite directions at the same time, you’re out of luck. You’ll lose one if not both. They usually come back for treats, though. Good luck. They’re sweethearts, but they can be a handful.”

Then, she turns to the dogs. “Bella! Bigfoot! Come give Mommy a goodbye hug!”

The dogs bound over and lick her face.

Then, the woman turns serious. “Okay, put them in another room when you open the front door or get a good hold on their collars.”

I follow her instructions and grab both of their collars. The woman opens the door only wide enough to slip through before closing it again. Bigfoot leaps forward, barking, yanking my hand from his collar. But the door is already closed.

From experience, I won’t feel safe until it’s locked, so I turn the lock too.

Then, I turn back to them. “Not this time!” I tell them. “Now, let’s get you settled.”

As the dogs rush around, knocking into things but at least not barking, I remind myself of what I have to remind myself of every time a new dog comes. The first hour or two are the worst. They don’t feel comfortable, and sometimes, they’re excited. They act like… Well, like wild animals.

I get their kennels set up in the back corner of the living room. They are so massive that they take up almost the entire wall. I spread their towels into the kennels and then put their leashes on the coffee table. I’ll miss Scout and Barney, but these two look like they’ll keep me busy.

I know that their owner said they should stay inside as much as possible, but I look at the limitless energy in them. Maybe if I use the long twenty-foot leash I bought just for my dog-sitting business, they can run some energy off and relax a little.

I reach for the nearest one, not sure if I have Bella or Bigfoot. I snap the long leash onto the dog’s collar, and the other dog, clearly Bigfoot I see now, bounds over, not wanting to be left out.

“No! No!” I tell him. But Bigfoot doesn’t respond to me.It’s like he’s telling me that he doesn’t speak English. “You’ll get your turn,” I tell him.

Sighing, I get Bigfoot into his kennel with a treat, and he stares mournfully as Samson and Bella trot outside with me.

As soon as Bella is in the backyard, she bolts. I’m holding the leash tightly, but she nearly yanks my arm out of the socket with how strong she is. She seems to realize that she’s on a leash of some sort and comes back, slowly sniffing everything along the way. Then, she and Samson start wrestling. They’re playing on the ground, rolling, and having a great time.

I smile as I watch them. Bella may be huge but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t have the chance to play, just like any dog. I look around my backyard. I really should get a fence. I need it in this business, but I just can’t see myself investing in something like that when what I really want is to start my surf school.

“Okay, you guys are doing great. Samson, you know to stay in the yard,” I tell him, like it’s my words that persuade him to stay, not the electric fence.

I tie Bella’s leash to a tree, making sure the knot is super tight. Then, I head back inside to get Bigfoot. He is now howling like he is having a mental breakdown from being left alone for five seconds.

“Hold on. No one has forgotten about you. Now, look. I only have one long leash, so you’re going to have to behave on this one, got it?”

Bigfoot bounds up to me as soon as I open his kennel door. He licks at me excitedly, then runs in a circle around me before I can put his leash on.

Suddenly, I hear Samson barking from outside. That’s strange. He almost never barks, and this bark sounds different from his excited, let’s play bark.

I run to the back door and peer out the glass.

Where the hell is Bella? I can see the twenty-foot leash in the yard, but there’s no dog at the end of it.

“No, no, no!” I shout. I squeeze through the door, not leaving enough room for Bigfoot to get out. I run over to the leash like Bella might still be on the end of it.

Her collar has broken, the plastic clip snapped, and it looks like Bella is taking full advantage of it.

“Bella!” I shout, making whistling noises.

Samson continues to bark, and he’s facing Ethan’s large fence.

Samson noses at a tiny gap under the bottom of the fence, a gap that I haven’t even noticed before. It’s clear by the freshly turned dirt, though, that the gap has been recently widened. Still, I’m not sure how Bella could have squeezed through it unless she literally made her bones liquid.

“Is she in there?” I ask Samson while Bigfoot howls from inside the house.

My life officially feels like a never-ending circus.

I try to jump up and peer over the fence, but it’s impossible to really see more than a glimpse of the perfectly arranged flowerbeds. I need to climb the fence. I did it before, but it’s easier without shoes.

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