Page 47 of Finding Noah
He cocked his head. “Yeah. You have, I don’t know, a glow about you.”
“Oh look, Richard, his daughter Brooke, and their dogs Smudge and Pepsi have arrived. I should go greet them.” I lit out of there like my ass was on fire, even as Soren’s chuckle propelled me forward.
Glow? Does that mean he knows what Noah, and I have been up to? Oh God, is it written all over my face?“Hi, Richard. Brooke. How are things going?”
Brooke glared. She had teenager down to a science, even though she was only twelve. Funny how both Noah and I were only children, yet I could recognize attitude so well. Eighth grade felt like a million years ago.
“We’re good.” Richard met my gaze. “Happy to be here so we can learn more. Smudge is doing great, but Pepsi needs some work.”
And since Pepsi was Brooke’s responsibility, I wasn’t surprised to hear the dog lagged behind her sister.
“Noah’s going to review everything from last week first off, and he’ll make certain Pepsi’s up to speed.” Even as I said the words, I noted the pooch was trying to gnaw on her leash.Oh dear, lots of work there.
As more people arrived, Noah stepped into the center of the training ring and had everyone make a circle around him. Sable and River were in their crates in the house. We’d bring them out and introduce them to everyone once we hit playtime.
“Okay, glad to see everyone came back.” Noah grinned as he surveyed the group. “Anyone want to go first to show me what you’ve been practicing?”
Janelle’s hand shot in the air.
Noah beckoned her to come toward him.
She advanced with Roxy walking loose on leash and glancing at Janelle for her cues.
The puppy did everything on command perfectly and only received a treat at the very end.
She’s going to make a great service dog.I didn’t know nearly as much about animals as Noah did, but I’d learned enough about temperaments.
We had a woman who worked in the office at the factory who had epilepsy. Her service dog would alert her if a possible seizure was near. We had a safe space for her to lie down and one of us would keep her company. As the person with the most first aid training, that position fell often to me.I wonder how Ronni’s doing. Are the others taking care of her?She’d caused a momentary hesitation in my decision to leave—but I couldn’t stay just for her. I had hopes Marian, our new accounting clerk, would step into the role of…caregiver…? I’d certainly been more than just a junior executive. I’d taken the care of my employees seriously. Way more than my father ever had, that was for certain.
Even as I had that train of thought, Frankie, Penny, Haggis, and Bear all took their turns.
Bruiser managed—but barely.
Sleepy had to be roused, but she valiantly tried.
Smudge aced and Pepsi struggled because Brooke’s lack of focus was clear.
Noah was patient, though, in guiding her through some corrections and making suggestions.
Finally, Brooke seemed to be more interested as Noah effused about all the great things that would happen once Pepsi was trained up.
Class continued in some semblance of order as Noah focused on sitting and walking. Only a couple of the dogs managed a loose leash, but that was a goal for the end of class, and we still had some time to get the dogs doing as they were told.
Plus, what toddler ever did as they were told? None as far as I’d ever seen.
By the time the puppies were released into the puppy pile, even Sleepy managed to rouse herself to join the fray.
Noah brought River and Sable out and gently introduced them to the puppies who showed interest. Even though ours were several weeks older, they were much smaller than the labs. I worried they might get trampled, but Noah had everything in hand—as he always did.
By the time everyone left—after Soren had given methatlook—I was exhausted and ecstatic at the same time. Noah’d been amazing and was clearly in his element. Moving out here was proving to be a really good idea. Although Noah deserved the credit for the idea, I took some pleasure from knowing I’d pushed him into doing it. He never would’ve come if I hadn’t been willing to pull up stakes and move across the country with him.
Noah closed the gate after Daphne and Penny drove away. He sighed.
“You’re doing such an awesome job.” I grinned broadly. “Even Brooke is coming around, and I can see Pepsi’s got potential.”
“If Brooke works with her. Bigif.”
“You can always call midweek and say you’re doing a check in.”
