She was looking at Blade and Hunter Feretti.
Weeks had passed since she’d been at their house, but there was no mistaking them. German shorthaired pointers weren’t common DC dogs, and two of them in the same household were rarer still. The dogs radiated the same frantic energy she had picked up on when she met them, but now terror had entered the mix. They were far from home.
Hunter edged toward the car and strained at the end of his leash. Joe was having a hard time handling both dogs, and Hunter’s filthy front paws were just inches from the door.
“Whoa, watch the car!” Charlie shouted at Joe.
Joe ignored him. “Can you help me, girl? My aunt won’t let me have dogs in the house, and I don’t know what to tell these boys. They look real scared.”
Cora answered before she thought it through. “Yes, yes, of course I will.”
Charlie pulled his phone from his pocket. “I can fix this quickly, and we can get going; we don’t have time to mess around tonight. I’ll call my guy at Animal Control.”
“No!” Cora shouted too abruptly, and Charlie looked up from his phone as if her tone had offended him. She softened her approach. “I have a contact, too, but give me a second.” She didn’t want to get anyone else involved.
“Sorry, but we’ve got to move,” the driver said, gesturing to the open road in front of him.
“Can you just pull over for a sec?” Cora asked.
Charlie looked at his phone. “Cora, we need to roll, we’re already behind schedule.”
“I know, I know, but I don’t want to leave Joe on his own.” Joe stood in the street a few feet from the gleaming car with the dogs pacing and panting nervously. She looked at the driver. “Just for a second, sir.”
He edged his way to an open space near a hydrant, and Charlie sighed in frustration. “What can you possibly do to help, Cora? The smartest thing to do is get AC to take over. They come meet this guy, scan the dogs for ID chips, and get them back to their owners. Happy endings for all.”
Cora sat in silence, contemplating her next move. These weren’t just any lost dogs, these were theFerettidogs. Turning them over to Animal Control would indeed bring them home—no doubt they were chipped—but that would make it a hero-less reunion. Cora knew that Joe would never feel comfortable being associated with their rescue, so that left the position open. If she could get in touch with Dalton Feretti through Mia and Vaughn and hand the dogs off to him in person, it would add a new dimension to her audition. She would no longer be just Cora the dog trainer, she would be Cora the savior of Blade and Hunter.
She turned to Charlie. “You know what? Let me just help Joe get these guys settled, and I’ll take a cab to the gala. I’ll be thirty minutes late tops, before the cocktail hour is over, I promise.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he snapped, the smile on his face at odds with his tone of voice. “Cora, it’s starting to rain again, you’re going to get soaked. And those dogs are filthy. Why can’t you hand them off? You don’t have to be, like, the personal savior of all animals, you know.”
“That sounds kind of weird coming from you,” she replied curtly.
“No, whatyou’redoing is weird. It makes no sense.” He leaned back in the seat and crossed his arms.
Cora couldn’t believe how Charlie was acting. “I’m sorry, I just have to do this. Joe is my friend and he needs help. The dogs need help. It’s barely sprinkling, I’ll grab one of the umbrellas and take care of these guys super quick.”
He shook his head again, as if he was worried that his perfect arm piece might be muddy and ruined by the time she got to the gala. “This is insane. But do what you have to do. Whatever.”
“I’ll be there before you know it. Promise.”
Cora climbed out of the car, and Blade and Hunter launched themselves at her.
“Whoa, boys, be careful!” Joe admonished, pulling them away so that they couldn’t jump on her.
“I’ll see you in a bit. I’ll text you when I’m on my way,” she said to Charlie through the open window. He nodded but didn’t say anything, pouting like a little boy who hadn’t gotten his way. The car eased back onto the road just as the sprinkle of rain turned steady. Cora sprinted behind it in her delicate heels.
“Umbrella!” she shouted after it as it pulled away, waving her hands. “Can I get an umbrella?” She saw Charlie’s shadow shift in the backseat and the car pause in the middle of the street, but then continue on.
“Well, there you have it. I guess we better walk quickly,” she said to Joe as the rain picked up, trying not to think about Charlie.
“I always do,” he said with a smile as he struggled to hold on to the dogs.
“Let me take one of them.”
“This boy is more chill, he won’t get your dress all dirty,” he said, pointing to the dog on the belt leash that Cora could now identify as Hunter. Joe looked at Cora out of the corner of his eye. “You look real pretty tonight, girl.”
“Thanks, Joe. Not for long if this rain keeps up.” Cora was trying to process what had just happened with Charlie and figure out what to do with the dogs, all while attempting to keep dry. The rain subdued Hunter and Blade, and though they walked at the very end of their makeshift leashes, they weren’t uncontrollable.
