Page 52 of I Am Salvation

“It’s okay, buddy,” I say to him. “This is what it feels like to have someone take care of you. I know it’s all new to you, but once you’re clean, you’re going to feel great.”

I scrub him clean as best I can and then run the showerhead over him. The dirt-filled lather floats down the drain, leaving a thin veil of gravel over the bottom of the tub. I wash it down the drain as best I can and then grab Teddy in a towel. I manage to get him mostly dry until he squirms away and, of course, shakes himself, getting everything, including me, drenched.

He shakes himself again. I sigh and run a clean towel over him. That’s about as dry as he’s going to get. The air will do the rest. In the meantime, though, I don’t have any towels to take my own shower.

“Come on, buddy.” I open the door to the bathroom, and Teddy scrambles toward the bed, jumping on it and landing right in the middle, rolling around on the bedspread.

I sigh. I guess I’ll request a new bedspread as well.

“Come on, Teddy, get off the bed,” I scold.

Teddy does as he’s told, surprisingly. The dog seems to know basic commands, which means either Dragon’s mom taught him, or his father did before his heart attack. Or maybe they got him from the pound, from a family who trained him but couldn’t keep him.

I’ll probably never know, but he’s mine now.

And he fills a little bit of the hole in my heart.

He goes straight to the door again—the adjoining door—and scratches.

Dragon opens the door.

“Hey what’s going?—”

Teddy lunges at him, nearly knocking him off his feet.

“Hey, boy.” He gives Teddy a scratch behind the ears and looks him over. “Wow, you look a lot different.”

“It’s called clean,” I say dryly.

“He looks good,” Dragon says. “Who knew you were such a handsome pup?”

Teddy is indeed a nice-looking dog. He looks like a border collie or Australian cattle dog mix. He’s black-and-white mostly, but his paws are white with black specks.

“Cookies and cream paws,” I say to myself.

“What’s that?” Dragon asks.

“Never mind.” I head for the door. “Can you watch him for a bit? I need to get some new towels. I used all of mine to dry him off.”

“Yeah, sure.”

I look back at the patch of wet on my otherwise clean bed. “I need to get a new bedspread too. He jumped on the bed right after he got out of the bath, so it’s all wet.”

“Yeah. No problem.”

Funny. I gave him the perfect opportunity to invite me to sleep in his room, but he didn’t take it.

It’s okay. His head is a mess right now.

And frankly? I need to leave him alone. My head is a big mess too. I lost my dream job on my second day. I may have doomed my entire career.

So why am I feeling…kind of happy?

Is it the dog?

I’ve missed being with animals. I chose the city life rather than the ranch life. I love architecture, and it’s been my dream for I don’t know how long. All that being equal, this silly mutt has made me feel better than I have in years.

But if I’m completely honest with myself, Teddy’s not the only reason.

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