A Friend Amongst Dogs

At first, she was scared of the man. Though he was sitting on a bench, Shayla could tell the man was very tall. He was as wide as she was long. He had a head full of shaggy hair and a full beard, resembling a blonde Hagrid.

He sat on the bench by himself, all the others keeping a safe distance. Shayla herself stood a respectable distance from the man after releasing her mixed breed dog, Pebbles, to run at the dog park. Most people stood or sat alone, watching all of the dogs run and play.

After ten minutes, the large man stood and whistled a three note tune. A tiny, brown dachshund sprinted away from the group of dogs and leapt into the large man’s waiting arms.

“Hey there, my sweet girl,” he cooed to the dog, oblivious to everyone else. “Did daddy’s princess have fun playing with all of the other puppies?” The man cradled his dog as he talked to her and she yipped back. Shayla watched him clip a leash to the dog’s collar as they walked away. “How about we go get ice cream and go home?” The dog yipped again.

Shayla then decided the man may not be that scary after all.

She returned to the dog park with Pebbles a few times but it wasn’t until a week later that the large man was there again.

“Mind if I sit with you?” she asked him after approaching his bench. The man startled at someone speak to him but only for a moment then smiled.

“No, no. Please sit down!” he exclaimed, scooting as much as he could as she settled on the bench.

“Thank you,” she said. “It’s been a long day. I needed to sit “

“Anytime,” he told her, still smiling. Shayla got the impression that she was the first person to ever approach him here at the park. “I’m Joe and that there is my princess, Lulu.” He pointed out the same dachshund she has saw him with the week before.

“Nice to meet you, Joe. I’m Shayla and my princess is Pebbles, the black, brown and white floof over there.”

“She’s beautiful,” Joe beamed. His voice was gruff yet there was a kindness as well. “I love sitting and just watching them play. Don’t you?”

“I truly do,” Shayla replied. “They all seem to become puppies again. I just watch them and wonder what they are talking about as they communicate with each other. I wonder if they have drama among themselves as we humans do. Or if they are simply enjoying being dogs and living their doggy lives.”

Joe nodded thoughtfully.

“I imagine they are just living their doggy lives,” he finally said. They sat the rest of their time in a comfortable silence.

“Well, I suppose it’s time to go,” Joe said after some time. He whistled his three note tune again and Lulu came dashing towards them. Scooping her up and leashing her, he turn towards Shayla to show off his baby like a proud parent.

“Lulu, this is our new friend Shayla. Tell her hi.” Lulu yipped and wagged her whole body. Laughing, Shayla reached out to let Lulu sniff her hand. Once given approval, she scratched the tiny dog behind her floppy ears.

“It is so nice to meet you, sweet LuLu,” Shayla said, laughing at the good nature of the dog.

“Shayla, thank you again for sitting with me,” Joe started while looking apprehensive. “Would it be okay if I sat with you if I see you here again?” The hopeful look on Joe’s hairy face reminded Shayla of her four-year-old nephew with he was asking her for one more hug or one more story before she’d leave. Shayla smiled.

“Yea, Joe, that’d be absolutely fine.” Joe visibly breathed out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you! I’ll see you next time!” Shayla gave him a small wave and bid him goodbye as she watched Joe and Lulu walk away.

The next time they saw each other, Shayla and Joe talked about their careers and what had brought them to the city.

Joe had been born and grew up in the same house that he lived in now. He was a retired lineman who had worked for the county until he fell one day, breaking his back. While in recovery, a friend had brought him Lulu as a therapy dog. They’d been inseparable ever since.

“She’s my saving grace,” he told Shayla with tears in his eyes.

Shayla told him about how she had recently finished a nasty divorce from her college sweetheart and had moved to the city to be closer to her job as a book editor.

“Pebbles was my saving grace also,” she admitted. She didn’t tell Joe how Pebbles had saved her by biting her abusive ex one night while he was choking her. After Pebbles tore a hole in his arm, Shayla grabbed the dog and her purse. She fled to her sister’s house in the city and never went back.

They talked about family. Joe had been an only child, married and divorced young. Never had children and both of his parents passed when he was in his 30s. Shayla’s parents had passed when she and her sister were teenagers. Now it was just them along with her sister’s husband and children.

Shayla and Joe began to meet at the park at least twice a week, companions in a world that was passing them by. The seasons passed and Joe became like a father to Shayla. When the holidays rolled around, Shayla invited Joe to spend them with her and her sister’s family. He even dressed up as Santa at Christmas, much to the delight of Shayla’s nephew and nieces.

One day, Joe didn’t show. He’d usually call or text Shayla if he was going to be late. Worried, she went to his house but no one answered the door and there was no barking to indicate that Lulu was home. Shayla assumed that Joe must have left his phone at home or lost track of the time. She went back to her own apartment, not sleeping well that night due to worrying.

The next morning, she received a call from an unknown number.

“Hello,” she answered.

“Good morning,” said a female voice on the other end. “Am I speaking with a Shayla Evans”?

“You are. Who is this?” A ball of dread began to curl in Shayla’s stomach.

“Ms. Evans, my name is Carla White. I am the legal representative for Joe Childers.”

“Joe?!? Is he okay? I haven’t been able to reach him?” Shayla could feel her voice wobble as the ball of dread became heavier.

“I’m afraid not, Ms. Evans. Joe passed away yesterday morning. I’m very sorry.” Shayla felt her world tilt. A sob bubbled up and escaped her throat.

“Oh God,” she cried out. “Please, no.”

“I’m afraid so, Ms. Evans. Now, in the matter of –“

Shayla felt a flash of annoyance before she interrupted the cool tone of the lawyer.

“What about Lulu, his dog?” she asked.

“The dog is currently with Mr. Childers’ housekeeper. The housekeeper is the one who found him. But, as I was saying, I need to discuss the matter of Mr. Childers’ estate with you.”

“His estate? Why?” Shayla was confused.

“I’m afraid we will have to discuss that in person. Can you please come into my office today?” Shayla numbly agreed on a time and wrote down the address to Carla’s office. After hanging up, she called her sister to deliver the news. Her sister cried with her, as her family had taken to Joe as well.

“I’m coming to the lawyer’s office with you,” she told Shayla, who didn’t argue.

Two hours later, Shayla and her sister sat in a large office. Floor to ceiling windows were the background to a massive oak desk. The woman sitting at the desk looked as cool as her voice. Smooth, pale skin and straight blonde hair.

“Thank you for coming in, Ms. Evans. I am truly sorry for your loss,” she began after the women sat down in the plush guest chairs.

“Thank you,” sniffed Shayla. “What happened? Do you know? What’s going to happen to Lulu?”

Carla held up her slim, pale hand at Shayla’s rapid firing of questions.

“I know you have a lot of questions. Mr. Childers has left a letter here for you and it’ll answer things that he knew you would ask. All of the funeral arrangements have already been made, per his wishes, so you do not have to worry about any of that. As for Lulu, and Mr. Childers’ entire estate, they all now belong to you.”

Shayla’s jaw dropped.

“To me?” she asked in disbelief. “There must be some kind of mistake. I’ve only known him for a little over a year.”

“I assure you, there’s no mistake. Shortly after the new year, Mr. Childers came in and changed his final will to leave it all to you. Before that, it was to be broken into charities.”

Shayla sat back in her chair, still in shock from the roller coaster of a day. She glanced over to her sister, who sat just as wide eyed and still.

“Ms. Evans, as a professional, I am to give you this letter and have you sign this paperwork. Before I do, I want to say something to you.” She leveled a gaze at Shayla.

“I’ve known Joe my entire life. My father was his attorney before I was. He was a good man. But he wasn’t a particularly happy man outside of being around Lulu. Not in several years at least.” Carla’s cool façade finally broke just a little and tears welled up in her icy blue eyes. “Until he met you last year. Whatever you did for him, you, your sister and her family made the last year of his life happy. I just wanted you to know that.”

Shayla felt the hot tears running down her face. Her sister reached over and squeezed her hand.

“Thank you, Carla. He meant so much to us also.” The lawyer then handed the letter to Shayla.

“I am going to step out and let you have a moment. When you’re ready, we’ll go over the details of everything. I’ll have Joe’s housekeeper bring Lulu up here.” Shayla accepted the letter from Carla. Her sister and the lawyer stepped out.

Taking a few deep breaths, Shayla opened the envelope and slid the few folded pages out.

“My dearest Shayla,

If you’re reading this, I have of course passed from this realm to the beyond. I hope we had many moments from the time I’m writing this. But I want to tell you all the things that I never said.

From the moment that I met you, I was in awe. You, a bubbly little woman who dressed head to toe in pink, smiling despite the trauma life has thrown at you. You spoke to me and became my friend. I couldn’t believe it. I knew how people looked at me at the dog park. And that’s okay.

The day before we met, I found out that I was sick. The doctor gave me no longer than six months. After the life that I had, I was okay with that. I was ready to move on, provided that I could find a happy home for Lulu. Then you came bouncing into my life with your big smile and bigger kindness.

You and Pebbles changed my life that day. You gave me hope, finally. Six months came and went. I still lived. Thanks to you, your family, your heart.

You became the daughter that I never had and always wanted. You are a fierce woman who lives with love. I still don’t know the details of what your ex-husband did to you, but I can see there are scars on your heart. And yet, you smile.

I wish I could give you the world, my dear daughter, like you gave me the will to live as long as I have. However, I cannot. But I can give you all that I have and my sweet LuLu. I know you’ll care for her as you’ve always cared for Pebbles.

Thank you for making an old man happy in his last days, however many that I’ve had. Keep smiling. I love you and I’ll see you again.”