PROLOGUE
“Max, calm.”
The big Rottweiler whined at Sarah and backed against the wall of his cage.For a moment, he sat there, ears pulled back, mouth drooping, tail tucked between his legs.Then, possibly realizing that there was nowhere for him to escape to, he bared his teeth and barked.
Sarah regarded him with a tender but firm expression.“Max, calm.”
Max tilted his head, not sure why she wasn’t either running away or advancing to attack him.He whined, confused, and Sarah took a step forward.Immediately, he barked again, trying to sound dangerous but succeeding only in sounding terrified.
“Max, calm.”
He whined and pressed his hindquarters against the wall, and Sarah suppressed a sigh.“Come on, boy.I’m not going to hurt you.”
Max stopped barking and whining.His chest heaved, and he watched Sarah like a wildebeest watching a lioness at a watering hole.It was a little funny, considering that he could probably break Sarah in half with one bite, but it was also very sad.Max had been rescued from a dogfighting ring in Fort Worth.Some of the scars that crisscrossed his entire body were suffered in the ring.Most were suffered outside of it when his owners expressed their dissatisfaction with his performance.
He’d been at the shelter for ten weeks.During that time, he’d attacked two dogs and injured one of Sarah’s coworkers when he bolted out of the cage during feeding time and knocked her over.He was slated to be euthanized when Sarah stepped in and asked for a chance to rehabilitate him.
This was day six of that rehabilitation, and if she didn’t make progress by tomorrow, they were going to put him down.That’s why she was working overtime tonight.She wasn’t ready to give up on him.
She took a step forward.He started to whine again, and she repeated, “Calm.”
He stopped, watching her warily, but also with confusion.This was the closest any human had gotten to him without hitting or kicking him, but this woman was doing neither.
She stopped in front of him.He stared at her, unmoving.She held out a hand, palm up.On one hand was a small treat, a bacon biscuit.He flinched, but when she didn't strike him, he slowly relaxed.Well, not really, but he unflinched.Was that a word?
“Hi, Max.”
Max stared at her blankly, his mind unable to comprehend what was going on.Sarah lowered herself slowly, and his breathing quickened again, but he didn't whine or bark.His eyes followed her as she squatted in front of him, hand still extended, palm up."Hi, Max."
Max looked at her hand, then at her, then at her hand, then at her.She smiled and repeated, “Hi, Max.”
Max lifted his left front paw.His nose twitched, and it reminded Sarah adorably of a chipmunk.A one-hundred-twenty-pound chipmunk strong enough to drag two fully grown men across forty yards of parking lot before a third managed to tase him.
Sarah’s lips thinned at that.She had torn Remus a new one for that bullshit.There were a thousand right ways to corral aggressive dogs, and they had chosen the worst possible wrong way.
Max saw her expression and hesitated.Sarah pushed the image of his first day from her mind and focused on now.She smiled at him and said, “Hi, Max.”
Max moved forward with glacial speed.He touched the tip of his nose to the outermost of Sarah’s outstretched fingertips.Sarah’s heart leaped, but she stayed still and calm as Max crept forward, sniffing her hand.His eyes slowly lost their terror and filled with wonder instead, the natural curiosity of dogs that she loved so much.
He looked up at her with an expression that made tears well in her eyes.Really?That expression said.Are you not going to hurt me?
“I’m not going to hurt you,” she promised.
He took a step forward and carefully pressed the top of his head to her palm.She stroked his fur back over her ear.He looked up at her, sniffed, then launched into her so powerfully that it knocked her all the way onto her back.
He jumped on top of her, licking her all over, whining again, but this time with affection and exuberance.She laughed and righted herself, enduring an assault of love that proved that Max really was a good boy at heart.He just needed a chance.
“Didn’t you, boy?”she said, using both hands to caress him all over.“You just needed some time.That’s what I told them.You just needed time to figure it out.”
Max barked happily and leaned his big body against her.She wrapped him in a bear hug, and his tail swung giddily side to side, the universal sign of a happy dog.
She stayed with him for a long time, petting him and talking to him.She told him about her trip home to see her parents, playing with her nieces and nephews (super fun!), shopping for a new car (not so fun), and how she wasn’t sure if she liked the new season ofThe Pitt(she did, but she thought it made her sound boring if she didn’t find something to complain about).
Max listened intently, eyes regarding her with amazement.She had to choke back tears more than once as the big dog experienced the joy of interacting with a human who wasn’t trying to hurt him.
Finally, she ran out of things to say, so she just kept petting him and repeating over and over, “Good boy.Good boy.”
Max beamed at her, tail wagging back and forth.Then out of nowhere, he flattened himself against the wall again, barking madly.
