Page 136 of Three Not-So-Little Words
“Not exactly. This is Arlo. I adopted him from the shelter. He’s going to live here with me, but maybe he can come visit when I come over. And maybe you can watch him for me when I have to go out of town.” She talks to Colton, but she looks at me and winks. “Kind of a rent-a-dog program.”
I should have known that Ronnie couldn’t volunteer at the shelter without bringing home a new friend. Her heart is way too big for that.
Colton starts to step closer, and Ronnie says, “Let’s take things slow. Arlo here has had a pretty rough life so far, and things tend to scare him, so you have to be really gentle.”
He takes off his jacket and hands it to me while slowly moving toward the dog. Ronnie holds the leash with hardly any slack so that she can pull the dog back if needed. We all watch like a hawk in case we need to intervene.
But the dog starts wagging his tail like crazy and leans forward to give Colton a couple of sweet licks. Colton giggles and gently holds out his hand to pat the top of Arlo’s head.
“Good boy, Arlo,” he says.
Ronnie keeps him on the leash a few more minutes while the two of them get a little more acclimated. She walks him into the living room, and Colton sits on the floor next to him. Arlo laysdown, so Ronnie releases him while we still keep a close eye on them.
She and I stand a couple feet away, watching intently.
I look at her and say, “So, a dog, huh? Did you do this just to make Colton happy?”
Without looking at me, she smiles and says, “No. I guess it was an added perk, but Arlo’s cage was the last one that I was cleaning out. He was terrified and didn’t want to come out of the corner. The workers said he would probably never get adopted because he was too fearful of people. I sat with him for a while, and we both kind of fell for each other. He came over and laid in my lap, and it was just over. I knew he had to come home with me.”
“I’m not surprised,” say.
“What do you mean?”
“I get how easy it is to be sucked in by the Veronica Lawson effect.”
She laughs. “That’s not a real thing.”
“Are you kidding me? Everyone who is around you absolutely adores you. Me, Colton, and now Arlo. You’re incredible, and everyone can see it.” I put my arm around her and kiss her cheek.
She looks up at me. “I’m sorry for kind of volunteering you to have a dog around. If it’s a big deal, I can see if Dylan can watch him when I come over or when I’m out of town.”
I look at Colton and see how happy he is. “Oh, that won’t be happening. I think Colton has made a new best friend, and I’m sure he will love having him around once in a while.”
“Maybe he will love it, but what about you?”
“I love dogs. I just wasn’t sure about having one full time because we aren’t always home. I think this will work out perfectly.”
“You sure?” She asks.
“Positive.”
“Thank you.” She wraps her arms around my waist. “I’ll be sure to show you how thankful I am this weekend.”
fifty-three
Uh, Talent?
Ronnie
You’d think a knock on the door would send Arlo into a frenzy, but all he does is sit in front of the door and look at it and then back at me. I’m not sure I’ve heard this dog bark at all, which makes me wonder if he was disciplined when he barked at his old home.
As I walk past him, I give him a pat on the head. “Good boy.”
I open it up to find my mother standing there.
“Hey, Mom.” I immediately turn around because I know she will follow me inside.
“How’s it going, Veronica?”
