The Unexpected Everything (10 page)

“My dad's a congressman,” I said easily, automatically. “Maybe that's where you . . .” But a moment later it hit me that maybe her recognizing my name was not in the normal way people sometimes did. That this probably had more to do with my dad's scandal having taken over the news a few days ago. “Um,” I said, realizing I wasn't sure how to handle this. “I . . .”

“Well,” Maya said, giving me a smile that let me know she probably
had
seen my dad on TV but wasn't going to press the
issue. “You've got a lot of awesome experience here. I'm surprised you're still looking for a job, actually.”

“Yes,” I started, then hesitated. “My, uh, summer plans changed at the last minute. So I'm at a bit of a loose end.” As soon as I spoke these words, I felt myself cringe. I didn't even know what this job was, let alone if I wanted it, but I knew that you never made yourself seem too available.

“Oh, man, I know all about that,” Maya said, not seeming to realize that I'd violated a core interview technique. “Like, I only put up the flyers when one of my best employees quit because she decided to move to Seattle.” She took a long drink, then shook her head. “I think she'll be back, though. Do you know how much it
rains
there?”

“So about the job,” I said, trying to steer us back to the reason we were both sitting there, which I was pretty certain was not to discuss weather in the Pacific Northwest.

“Right!” Maya said, sitting up straighter. “Of course. So I run a dog-walking and pet-sitting operation I started two years ago. It's primarily me and my fiancé and one other employee, along with some people who fill in on an occasional basis.”

“Oh,” I said, nodding, feeling myself start to deflate. Not only did I not have any experience with animals, but I couldn't imagine a single college being impressed that I'd walked dogs all summer.

“It's hard work,” Maya said, her tone serious. “And it's a lot of responsibility. People are entrusting their pets—members of their family—to our care. Do you have experience with animals?”

“Yes. In fact, a few days ago, I was . . . with a dog.” A second
too late, I realized what I was doing. I didn't even
want
this job, so why was I trying to impress her? “But—”

“As long as you like animals and are good with them, everything else can be learned,” she said, giving me another big smile. “Just like anything in life.” She looked down at her watch, then back up at me. “I'm actually going to pick up some dogs for a walk now. Want to come along? You can see if the job's for you.”

I hesitated. This was not the job for me. It was even a step below what I'd been thinking I might have to sink to, which was seeing if Flask was hiring baristas. This would be outside, with no air-conditioning, and I had a feeling it would involve dealing with a lot of crap, both literal and figurative. And what was worse, I would have nothing to show for it when the summer was over. Also, I was wearing one of my best dresses and four-inch heels. I was supposed to walk a
dog
in this?

“Unless you have somewhere to be?” Maya asked, raising an eyebrow.

And maybe that's what did it. The fact that I had nowhere to be, no plans, no structure to my summer whatsoever. Maybe it was that even though I
knew
, rationally, I didn't want this job, there was still a part of me that wanted to get it. For whatever reason, I found myself sitting up straight and looking her right in the eye. “I'm totally free,” I said. “Let's do it.”

•  •  •

“All right!” Maya said cheerfully as she put her SUV in park and smiled at me. “You ready?”

“Um,” I said, with difficulty. There was a very large and fluffy dog on my lap. He had clambered into the front seat as soon as we'd picked him up, and he'd sat there the whole ride,
shaking slightly, while I'd tried my best to see around him. He had to weigh at least seventy-five pounds, and at first Maya had tried to get him to move to the back, saying apologetically, “I think he's just going to keep coming up, though. Jasper gets scared in cars, don't you, buddy?” Jasper had whimpered then, like he could understand her, and I'd tentatively patted his fluffy black fur, feeling him trembling under my hands.

It wasn't like I'd had a ton of time to focus on the fact that I was slowly losing feeling in my legs, either, because there were three other dogs in the back. We'd driven all over Stanwich picking them up, Maya keeping up a cheerful running commentary as we drove.

“So I have all the keys color-coded,” she said, holding up an enormous key ring, the top of each key painted a bright metallic color. “And we keep a log of all the pets—their habits, things to watch out for. It gets a little more complicated when it's pet sitting, but that's a different conversation. Also, sometimes we take groups out for longer hikes, or to the dog beach, but you wouldn't be doing that right away, so don't worry.”

“Uh-huh,” I said, trying my best to pay attention. But I was distracted by the fact that there were three dogs in the backseat, all of whom seemed to be staring at me. What was she supposed to do if one of them started freaking out or something? Wasn't this a huge driving distraction? “So you normally do this on your own—just you in the car with four dogs?”

“Oh no,” she said easily, and I felt myself relax. “Usually it's more like five or six.”

“What?” I asked, as Maya cut the engine and hopped out of the front door. Jasper seemed to realize this meant he no longer
needed to be afraid, and he lumbered over me to climb into the back. I looked down at my lap and saw it was covered with dog hair and what looked suspiciously like drool. I shook my head, then got out of the car, brushing off my dress.

“Sometimes dogs get walked alone,” Maya said. “Dogs that don't play well with others—and sometimes it's down to scheduling. But Dave—that's my fiancé—and I have a philosophy that dogs are social animals. They're happiest when they're with friends. Just like us.”

“Okay,” I said, even as I was pretty sure this was the opposite of okay. One dog seemed challenging enough. But
six
? I looked around and realized where I was—what I'd missed with my visibility blocked by Jasper. I was right back where I'd been two days ago, just a few streets over from where Dr. Rizzoli lived. I followed Maya around to the other side of the car, wobbling on my heels.

“Here,” Maya said, handing me an armful of leashes. “I usually take them off when we drive, because it's a choking hazard if they get tangled. But they tend to rush the door and get really excited when they know we're going on a walk, so you have to be careful and make sure they don't go running when you open it.”

I nodded, and even as I took the leashes, I was realizing that I'd let this go way too far. My competitive instinct had kicked in, but this was getting ridiculous. Was there a way to turn this around at this point without being rude? I set about untangling the leashes, trying to work through the possibilities. After a moment I concluded that there was really no way to tell her that she needed to get back in the car, drive me back to the
coffee shop, and probably really confuse the dogs as a result. I needed to just get through this, and then I could walk away and never have to tell anyone that I got dressed up to try to be a dog walker. I had a feeling Toby would never let me hear the end of it if she found out.

Maya opened the door, and then there was a scramble, with the dogs all barking at once, everyone trying to get out the door first. I handed her the leashes, she snapped them on collars, and then we were standing on the side of the road, with four dogs trying to go in four directions. I had ended up with Jasper, even though he was by far the biggest of the dogs. Maya had a pug, some kind of shaggy mutt, and something that looked like a small collie. “Are you okay with him?” she asked, as she arranged the leashes so that all three were in one hand. “Jasper always seems to get tangled with the other dogs, so it's easier if he walks by himself.”

“Sure,” I said, a little uncertainly, wrapping the leash around my wrist once, then once again. I was pretty sure I'd walked a dog before. I had to have, right? I was struggling to remember if I'd ever walked my ex Nathan's dog when Maya started walking and Jasper, clearly not wanting to be left behind, lunged after her. I ran in my heels to catch up, feeling my feet already protesting.

“Great day, right?” Maya asked, looking over her shoulder at me as I caught up with Jasper.

“Uh-huh,” I said, barely listening as I tried to get a tighter grip on the leash, but I pulled a little too hard, and Jasper was yanked back by his neck. I was worried that he would be mad and would lunge again, or worse, start growling or snapping, but he seemed to forgive me instantly, just going back to sniffing
the ground. I didn't know how this was going to work with all these dogs, if they'd start to fight with each other or something, but they all seemed pretty well behaved, trotting along in a line. One of them would want to sniff a tree or a rock, and the others would either join in the sniffing or simply sit and wait. Jasper, despite his size, seemed pretty easy to control, responding immediately when I pulled back on the leash.

“Here's what I was thinking,” Maya said, looking over at me with an easy smile as I glanced up at her briefly before returning all my attention to Jasper. I didn't understand how she was able to do it—wasn't this taking all her concentration? She had three dogs in front of her, after all. “We walk them around this loop, and then there's a little grassy area. It's not quite a park, but the dogs love it.”

“Actually,” I started, taking a breath to tell her that we should probably wrap this up quickly, since the job wasn't for me, when all the dogs started barking as one. I looked around, wondering if maybe there was a squirrel or something, when I saw there was another dog and owner coming toward us.

“So, here's a moment for a lesson!” Maya said brightly, though I could tell there was a tiny bit of stress in her voice. “When you have a bunch of dogs together like this, they kind of form a pack mentality and can sometimes scare the other dog. Everyone's trying to make friends; they just don't know the best way to go about it.”

“Okay,” I said, tightening Jasper's leash around my wrist again, feeling my heart pound when the barking got louder as the other dog got closer. I squinted against the sun, which was right behind the dog and his owner, blurring them out. When they came into view a moment later, though, I realized I knew
them—both of them. It was the guy and his runaway dog—Bertie—from two days before.

The guy must have recognized me at the same time, because he smiled and held up his hand to wave—the same hand that was holding his leash. His dog clearly saw his opportunity and took off at a run toward us as the guy grabbed for where the leash had been but only got empty air.

“Okay,” Maya said now, her voice raised over the barking of the dogs, who were going into a frenzy, all of them straining against their leashes, “I'll try and grab him while you—”

But whatever she'd been about to say was lost as Bertie ran right up to me, barking and tail wagging wildly. He tried to jump up on me, which honestly would have been okay—it would give me an opportunity to try to grab his leash—but Jasper seemed to take this as some kind of threat, because suddenly his bark changed from what had been a
hi, other dog!
bark to a
get the hell away from me and the girl with the leash
bark. In between barks, there was now a low growl at the back of his throat, and the other dogs, sensing this, started to bark as well, with a definite note of
back off
in their voices.

“It's okay,” I said, trying to put myself between the two dogs while feeling this was really not where I wanted to be. “Just—”

“Andie,” Maya said, and I could hear the anxiety in her voice, even as it was masked by a layer of cheerfulness. “Stay calm and—” Whatever came next was lost in another wave of barking, as she tried to get closer to me while simultaneously holding back her three dogs, who were all straining against their leashes, trying to get closer to the excitement.

I saw the guy finally catch up with his dog, and then
everything seemed to happen at once. Bertie jumped up at me again, just as he grabbed the leash to pull his dog back, and Jasper tried to follow. I held on to Jasper's leash as hard as I could, and he was pulled back, making a kind of gagging cough sound, and I silently apologized to him while I wobbled on my heels but managed to regain my balance, thrilled that I'd somehow remained upright. I looked over and saw that the guy was not so lucky—he was on the ground, trying to push himself up to standing, while his dog made matters worse, running in circles around his feet and tangling the leash even further. All the dogs were barking like crazy now, though I was relieved to hear it was back to happy excitement barking and not angry, territorial barking.

“Hey!” Maya yelled, and then she let out a piercing two-finger whistle. All the dogs stopped barking immediately, and the sudden silence was surprising, like I'd forgotten what it was like not to have that sound track. “Sit,” Maya said firmly, and her three dogs sat simultaneously. Maya gave Jasper a stern look, and he sat too. She looked at the other dog, who just wagged his tail back at her. “Sit,” she said, but the other dog tried to jump up, like he was under the impression it was opposite day.

“I'm sorry about that,” the guy said. He pushed himself to standing, wincing slightly. He straightened his glasses and looked over at me, and his ears turned bright red again. The guy hadn't gotten any less cute since I'd last seen him, and I was glad he was the one who'd wiped out this time, and not me. However, there was now the fact that I was walking dogs in a dress and heels, which I had no doubt looked beyond strange. “Hey,” he said. “Nice to, um . . .” But there didn't seem to be anything to
follow this, and his cheeks flushed and he gave me an embarrassed smile. I realized I was staring before I made myself look away. Dimples like that should honestly not be allowed.