“Are you at this desk a lot?”
“Yup, all day every day.”
“And you’ve never seen her with this dog?”
“Nope, never.”
“Oh,wow. Okay, thank you.” Cora continued toward the large double doors and looked down at Chanel. “How in the world am I going to make this better?”
Chanel dragged Cora to the closest grassy patch and immediately emptied what was left in her bladder. The little dog obviously wanted to be clean, but Beth Ann didn’t give her the opportunity to potty where she was supposed to. After she finished her business, which also included a compact pile of poo, Chanel stood with her face turned up to the sun, eyes closed and panting, as if drinking in the world. Neither of them wanted to go back inside.
Cora felt powerless to help. She’d cobbled together a dog trainer code of ethics when she began her career, stealing “First, do no harm” from the Hippocratic Oath. It guided every interaction she had with her canine clients and prevented her from doing anything even close to what Ershovich did on his show. The second part of her code was “Help the helpless.” For the first time since she’d started Top Dog, she felt like she was failing. Chanel had the bare minimum of what she needed to survive—food, water, and shelter, which meant that animal control couldn’t be summoned—but she lacked what dogs require to thrive. How was she going to get through to Beth Ann?
Cora sat down on a low retaining wall and patted next to her, and Chanel immediately jumped up and sat with her body resting against Cora’s leg. Of course, there was a right way and a wrong way to attempt a nail trim with an unfamiliar dog, but Cora had no choice. She needed to get this done in a hurry.
“Now, Chanel, this might feel uncomfortable for you, but I promise it won’t hurt. Trust me, I do this all the time on dogs much bigger and grumpier than you.” She pulled the clippers from her back pocket and grasped the dog’s tiny paw in her hand. “We’re going to do this sooo fast, okay?” Chanel looked up at her with what looked like a smile of acceptance.
Cora cut the first nail quickly, and Chanel didn’t move. “Yay, wasn’t that easy? Look what you get. A treat!” Cora offered the dog a small piece of freeze-dried chicken, which she gulped down. “Let’s keep going!” Chanel wagged her tail in agreement.
Chanel didn’t protest once as Cora clipped all her nails, accepting the novel handling with the grace of a veteran show dog that was used to getting poked and prodded by strangers. Cora couldn’t believe how tolerant she was, despite being thrown in the deep end of the grooming pool. Nail trims were a serious business, with some dogs requiring a trip to the vet and mild sedation to get the job done. Chanel acted like they were just two girlfriends hanging out at the spa.
“I can’t believe how good you are!” Cora laughed at the homely little dog spinning in happy circles on the retaining wall next to her. “You are the best dog ever!”
A voice called out, “Holy crap, is that Chanel?” Cora looked up to see Eli loping toward them.
“Fancy meeting you here,” Cora responded. “Yes, this is your neighborhood menace. Come face your foe!” Even though she’d anticipated feeling awkward around him since Fran had told her about his crush, she was happy to see his friendly face. She needed it to bolster her for the next round with Beth Ann.
Chanel hopped off the wall as Eli got closer, turning herself in a joyful circle, wagging her tail so fast that it looked like a hummingbird’s wings.
Eli knelt down so that Chanel could approach him at her own pace. Cora was impressed he didn’t rush over and try to pet her. “Awww, she’s so ... weird-looking,” he said as he surveyed her. “Like a dirty little space alien. With a goofy toof.”
“I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this situation,” Cora said, speaking more candidly about her client than she meant to. “Something’s not right with Beth Ann today. She forgot I was coming and she was sleeping when I got here. Does she work?”
Eli scratched behind Chanel’s ears as he answered. “She had a job for a while but I rarely see her coming or going anymore. I think she might be a trust fund baby. I know her parents live in Houston, and she came out here to take a job on the Hill.”
“She doesn’t strike me as a ‘working on the Hill’ type.”
“Yeah, me neither. Maybe that’s why she’s not.”
Cora considered this new information. At one point Beth Ann had the wherewithal to leave her familiar life in Texas and move to a new world all by herself. What had happened?
“I like this little weirdo.” Eli looked down and spoke directly to Chanel as he petted her. “I like you even though your barking is making me nuts!”
Cora watched Eli interacting with Chanel, and it was clear that he was a dog person. He had a way with Chanel that the little dog couldn’t seem to get enough of. He sat down on the ground and she immediately crawled into his lap and rolled onto her back for more belly rubs.
“I don’t mean to pry, but why are you home at two on a Friday?” Cora asked. “Is everything okay?”
“Oh, it’s just my typical ‘big brother to the rescue’ gig. My sister is moving this weekend and she’s totally helpless, so I took the afternoon off to assist. You know, lifting heavy things, holding doors, project managing. It’s kind of my lot in life.” He shrugged and looked down at his phone. “I should get going.”
Cora sighed. “I’m dreading going back in, but we’ve been out here for ten minutes already.”
“I’ll escort you guys. Like a warden taking the prisoners to death row.” He stood up and gestured dramatically toward the door.
Eli studied Cora as she walked his way. “Hey, this”—he waved his fingers near his cheeks—“looks really good. Your face, I mean. You look ... like, fancy. Sorry, am I allowed to say that? Was that rude?”
Cora had forgotten that she was still wearing Darnell’s handiwork. She blushed. “Oh, thanks. I never wear makeup, but my friends did a little makeover on me this morning.”
“Well, it looks nice. I mean, youalwayslook nice, the few times I’ve seen you. Like a ... Disney princess or something. Really, like, natural.” He was fumbling, gesturing with his hands to try to convey what words couldn’t.
