Page 25 of Just Say (Hell) No
Nyree was watching, too, which was good. The dog, though, wasn’t cooperating. She was running back and forth in short little sprints along the shore, barking at the three of them like she wanted to be out there, but it was awfully wet. Finally, Koti dropped to his knees so he was hip-deep in the water and called to her. She hesitated a moment more, then came wagging up to him, picking up her feet with every step like sand was very odd indeed and water was worse. But when she got there, she settled in for a cuddle, her tail wagging hard, and Nyree started snapping like mad.
She did manage to break off long enough, though, to look at Marko with something like challenge and maybe something like heat in her eyes and say, “That’s working. Stay wet for me, will you? You look at the camera like you’re looking at me right now, and we’ll take some photos that have the ladies coming into the shelter to see ifyou’reup for adoption.”
You could say that the water suddenly didn’t feel nearly as cold.
By now, Koti was soaked but laughing, the dog was wet through and no more beautiful for it, and still, Marko could see that the pair of them would telegraph, “Rescue a dog today and get a lifelong friend!” in a way that was going to work.
Fine. As long as Marko got his turn. While Nyree was still in the bikini. He could come across as dark and tough and fierce as she’d ever hoped for if he were looking at that.
It was all good. Better than good. Until Maia stopped playing in the sand and went running out into the sea.
It happened fast, and it happened slowly, as those moments always did. The little girl moving unevenly over the sloping sea bottom, her father and the dog both heading towards her, and her mother standing up with the baby in her arms, calling out something incoherent. And the instant when Maia tripped, fell, and landed face-first in the water.
She didn’t come up.
The dog got there first, faster even than Koti. She grabbed Maia’s tiny shirt with her teeth and began tugging her towards shore—at least for the few seconds it took Koti to reach his daughter, scoop her out of the water, and hold her close to his chest.
Maia hauled in a breath, about to cry, and Koti, his voice nearly steady, said, ’“Monster.” He waded to shore and swung her high overhead until she shrieked, but with laughter this time. “We don’t go in the water alone,” he said when he brought her down. “That was very, very naughty.” But when he had her cuddled up close again and was peeling off her wet shirt, his face told a different story. And so did Kate’s. She was right there with him now, pulling off the little girl’s soaked leggings as the baby, deprived of his feed, wailed.
“I have a spare outfit in the diaper bag,” she said. Her voice was level, too, but her face was white. “Let’s go, miss. Daddy’s right. Stay with Mummy.”
“Doggie,” Maia said, reaching down again.
Koti asked Nyree, who, like Marko, had headed to the beach fast, “Can she pat her? Is it safe? I think it might help.” He laughed, and—all right, now hedidn’tsound so steady. He’d be having nightmares tonight. “Not helpher. She’s fine. Me. I know the dog didn’t save her life. It just felt like it.”
“Oh, yes,” Nyree said. “Do have Maia pat her. That’s why I brought her.” She was holding it together as well. Ella, though, had a hand over her mouth, and Marko could hear her saying, “Oh, my God.”
Nyree went on. “She’s gentle with little ones, and you just saw why she’s so special. She kept her puppies alive through some pretty rough times. She’s a black dog, and black dogs don’t get adopted. But she has a beautiful soul.”
“We’re getting her,” Kate said. She was at the pushchair, holding her daughter on one hip and searching in the diaper bag with the other hand. The commotion inside the pushchair announced that the baby had headed into full Scream Mode, and Kate’s hands were trembling on the bag. The dog had followed her, though, and was sitting at her feet for all the world as if she were checking on Maia.
Koti took both the bag and the soggy-diapered little girl out of her hands and told his wife, “Let’s go sit by the fountain. I’ll get Maia dressed, she can pat the dog, and you can feed Mikaere. Then we’ll go home. It’s all good, baby. No worries. She’s safe.” He put a gentle arm around Kate and said, his voice barely low enough to hear, “Ka nui taku aroha ki a koe.”
The baby was still crying, and Kate said to Nyree over the noise, “We want the dog. Can you please have them save her for us? And can we borrow her for a minute? Koti will bring her back before we leave.”
“Of course I’ll make sure they save her for you,” Nyree said. She stood still, her camera clutched to her chest. “And of course you can have a few minutes with her. I’m so sorry. I wish I’d seen.”
“No reason you should’ve,” Koti said. “Not your job. No worries. We’re good.”
“Right,” Nyree said, watching Koti carry the pushchair up the beach, complete with crying baby, while Kate clutched a diaper-clad Maia and the black dog followed behind. “Strangest adoption ever.”
It had been nothing. A few seconds. Koti had been right there. But still.
Marko had come to stand beside her, and she had the oddest feeling, as if he had his arm around her. “It’s the imagination,” he said quietly. “It’s brutal, eh.”
“Yeh.” She did her best to shake it off. “Could we take a pass on the kitten pictures? I think I’m about photo’d out for now.”
It had been a joke, but not really, because Marko looked at her too keenly and said, “Course.”
“What did he say to her? Koti?” Ella asked, and Nyree nearly jumped. She’d almost forgotten the girl was there. Still holding the kitten in two hands, clutching it close to her chest. Looking sixteen. How could Nyree have thought anything else?
“‘I love you,’” Marko said. “I think.”
“Ka nui taku aroha ki a koe,”Nyree said. More like, ‘My love for you is limitless.’ Comforting her. Sweet, eh.”
Marko was putting on his shirt again, the red of him shining deeper than ever. Strong. Alive.
She should have done the photos, except she couldn’t. She went to find her dress and bag instead, and when she came back, Marko said, “You’re cold. Why don’t you go shower off while we’re waiting for your dog to come back? Bet they’ve got hot water in the showers here. We can pop across the street afterwards and have that breakfast.”
