She wished she could feel that way at other times.
•
Two Months Later
Jannie started as cold wetness swiped her cheek, followed by the hot lap of a tongue. Hard claws raked her arm. She opened one eye andmade out the silhouette of a huge head with triangle-shaped ears.
“Off,” she muttered, grimacing as she endured one more lick and a whiff of dog breath before the German Shepherd dropped to the floor, not moving back an inch and still panting in her face as his heavy tail thumped rhythmically against her nightstand.
He nudged her with his cold, wet nose.
“Butthead. You know better than that.”
This was unusual. She’d trained Rolf for years to be the well-behaved dog he now was at seven, and if he did this, he sensed she was in bad shape.
She gave no shits.
Jannie picked up her phone to check the time.
Huh. Noon. Another Saturday morning she’d slept away.
The light-blocking blinds did a great job of concealing daylight. She reached to switch on the salt lamp on her nightstand, the globe illuminating the small room in soft orange light, and found herself staring into round, soulful brown eyes.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. You need to go out.”
That last word earned her a pointy-eared head tilt.
She had to smile. Dog head tilts were always funny, especially when carried out to the extreme by a German Shepherd. She reached out to caress one impossibly soft ear. It felt like warm velvet, and she always marveled at how such ferocious-looking beasts could have the softest ears in the world—the secret of German Shepherd owners.
She sat up, her head spinning a bit as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. Rolf, of course, didn’t move, his fur tickling her feet and ankles as he pressed against her leg. They called these dogs Velcro dogs for a reason, and lately, he was the only reason Jannie got out of bed on weekends when she was not on call.
She shoved the covers aside and moved toward the sliding glass door, waiting for Rolf to politely sit as she unlatched and pulled it open.
She made eye contact, and he fixed on her, round brown eyes shining, doggie mouth opening in a white-toothed canine grin.
“OK!”
The instant the release word left her mouth, Rolf bolted, pausing topick up a fuzzy toy before bounding to the cluster of queen palms across the yard to lift his leg. Jannie squinted and blinked, the bright Florida sunshine stinging her eyes, the limestone pool deck smooth and warm beneath her bare feet. The clear blue sky reflected in the water.
Another beautiful day. The lake out back shimmered, the rippling water gilded silver. Overhead, a pelican flapped to the middle of the lake, pressed its wings close to its body, and dived with a splash, disappearing for an instant before resurfacing with a small fish.
“What are you doing way out here? You should be in Tampa.”
OK, now she was talking to pelicans. She’d really lost the plot.
Rolf trotted to the back fence, intently sniffing, then lifted his leg again. Even with all her medical knowledge, Jannie couldn’t figure out the never-ending pee supply dogs possessed. She yanked up her pajama pants, now constantly slipping down since she’d lost so much weight, then clapped her hands twice.
Rolf bounded back to her like a rocket, periwinkle dragon in his mouth, round brown eyes shining with hope.
She shook her head and slid open the heavy glass door. “Not today, bud. Inside.”
Disappointment filled the dog’s face. Why did German Shepherds have to be so humanlike? She should have gone for a breed that wasn’t so expressive and in tune with its handler. Guilt clenched her stomach as she went inside, followed by a dejected Rolf, who immediately headed to his dog bed and flopped on it, chin between his large paws, the whites of his eyes visible as he sulked and fixed her with woeful doggie eyes.
Maybe in the near future she’d feel like hiking with him again. But not today.
Jannie stretched out on the sofa and dragged a soft, fuzzy blanket over herself, then picked up her phone and started scrolling through her Instagram feed. Her brothers in uniform, grinning in the cockpit of the G550. Her sister-in-law, the physical therapy doctoral student, gorgeous and cheerful, demonstrating a stretching technique. A reel advertising a shampoo that supposedly solved any hair problem. Rescued otters shooting hoops in a pool. Florida Man running from cops in the Keys and jumping into the ocean.
Ugh.
