Page 11 of A Furry Thing Called Love (Friends of Gaynor Beach Animal Rescue #7)
Jordan
Luka
picture attachment
Jordan
Why is there a cat sitting on your kid’s shoulder like a parrot?
Luka
That’s something we’ve given up asking
Luka
What are you up to?
Jordan
Wondering how I ended up with a bird who’s obsessed with goats
Luka
laughing emoji That’s what you get when you have a house goat
Jordan
picture attachment
Luka
…Is Rodey on a leash?
Jordan
Yes, yes he is. All of my animals, aside from Porter, are leash trained.
Luka
Of course they are.
Laughing, I can feel the exasperation in his text. But I am a very responsible menagerie owner, thank you very much. If I thought Porter would let me put a harness on him, I’d have leash broken him the same time I housebroke him.
Jordan
I need to round up the troops. Got an appt soon
Luka
Yeah. Talk to you later.
Lucky for me, my cousin isn’t inherently nosy, like my best friend.
I wouldn’t be able to get away with not telling Val all the details about my day—which would include telling them that my “appointment” is with Arlo.
I’m…not quite ready to let my family know that we’re…
friends. Not that either of us have actually talked about what we’re doing, besides training Millie, in the two weeks it’s been since his fall and trip to the hospital.
I’m doing my best to keep my word and not push. As badly as I want to “mother hen” him—as Luka and Valery call it—I don’t want to push him away either. I've got a chance to have him in my life again, and I’m not throwing that away for anything.
Letting out a whistle, I call Rodey back to me. He hops on the ground, flapping his wings in displeasure. I scoop him up and he wiggles in my grasp until I put him on my shoulder.
Juniper follows in his wake, which makes it easy to herd her to the side of the yard, where I can lock her in her run so she doesn’t get into any unsupervised trouble.
“My baby!” he squawks.
“Yeah, yeah. Say goodbye to your baby, we’re going inside now.”
“Unfair!” he says. “Cruel and unusual!”
I snort. “Drama queen. Come on, Indie!” I call out.
She barks and runs in a tight circle, before coming over. Her blue eyes are bright and she licks me as she passes by.
“Gross,” Rodney says. “Cooties.”
Chuckling, I enter the house behind Indie, sighing and opening the sliding door again when there’s a thump on it. Porter doesn’t even look grateful as he ambles into the house.
I close and lock the door behind him, then work Rodey’s harness off and coax him into his cage.
He sighs and flaps his wings. “Poor Rodey. Jailed! Unfair!”
“You’re fine.”
“Unacceptable!”
I roll my eyes and shut the door to the cage, making sure to put the lock on the latch because I don’t trust him to not figure out how to escape.
Doing a quick check of Porter’s area to make sure he has everything he needs, I then grab Indie’s harness and lead. “Let’s go, Indie.”
She hops up and runs to the front door, happy to be included in this adventure. I grab a bag of treats I prepared, and double check I have everything before joining her.
I hate asking Arlo to come out while he’s still healing, but I didn’t want to introduce Indie to Millie at his house, because I don’t want to have Arlo worry about a territorial dog in case Millie feels threatened by Indie’s presence.
Nor did I want to overwhelm her by having them come to my house.
The menagerie could be…a lot. It’s why I made sure to build the training building as far from the house and my yards as possible.
That being said, I also don’t want to chance a dog park because I don’t know how she’ll act around multiple dogs. So, the beach in the middle of a work day it is, in order to try to lessen the issues we could run into today.
I can feel the judgment from Indie as I put her harness on her.
We both know she doesn’t need it, but it's for her and Millie’s safety more than anything.
It’s better to be safe than sorry, at least until I can assess how Millie is around another dog.
She’s been doing pretty well in her training.
The basics are easy for her, but her recall could use more work, so I’d rather err on the side of caution than risk an accident happening.
Arlo is waiting on a bench a few feet from the pier. Eli sits at his side, with a harness and vest on. Millie isn’t as calm as Eli is, and she gets excited when she sees me, but after a few moments, Arlo is able to calm her down and get her to settle once more.
I wait until she’s standing still before I reach out and pet her head.
I slip her a treat when she sits as I ask.
We’re slowly working our way to her automatically sitting when I greet her, but for now, this will do.
She’s very smart and eager to learn, it’s just going to be slow since she’s older now, and her brain is full of other things, but I have tricks up my sleeve to help both her and Arlo.
Indie sits calmly and patiently at my feet, waiting for instruction. When I meet Arlo’s eyes, he smiles, making his already bright blues shine in the sunlight. It takes my breath away, and I have to remind myself that we’re just friends. Kinda.
“She’s beautiful,” Arlo says.
I look down at Indie and grin. “Thank you. Shall we test out the waters?”
He looks down at Millie, who’s watching Indie intensely, but hasn’t made any aggressive moves against her. “Sure, she seems chill for now.”
“Go ahead, Indie. Greet.”
Arlo leans forward, reaching out a hand. Indie jumps up and moves toward him, happy to reacquaint herself with someone she only knew briefly as a puppy.
Millie moves forward as well. She doesn’t growl or show any other aggressive tendencies, but I keep a careful eye on her. When Arlo pets Indie, Millie lets out a huff, as if jealous she’s not getting the attention, but she doesn’t try to shove Indie away, or do anything really worrisome.
Millie sniffs at Indie, but Indie’s too much in heaven, getting undivided attention, that she doesn’t pay her, or Eli, any mind.
“You’re so pretty,” Arlo tells Indie. “Yes, you know you’re pretty, don’t you? Do you remember me?”
Indie’s tail wags and she barks. I don’t know if she actually remembers Arlo or not, as it’s been a long time since she saw him—aside from briefly a few weeks ago—but she eats up the attention either way.
“Are you done love-bombing my dog?” I pretend to gripe.
“I am not,” Arlo says. “Not until she wants to go home with me.”
Sighing, I shake my head. “I’ll take Millie then.”
Arlo easily hands over Millie’s lead and I drop Indie's. I trust her not to take off. Though she’s too busy getting love from Arlo to even pay attention to me.
“Betrayed by my own dog,” I mutter. Clicking my tongue, I say, “Come on, Millie, let’s go.”
Arlo laughs and says, “We’ll be right behind you.”
Waving him off, I start walking away with Millie.
She has a little trouble with staying close, so I shorten the lead, keeping a firmer grip than I’d normally use, to let her know I’m the one steering this party.
She’s a bit clumsy on her feet as she learns she doesn’t have much slack, and can’t go running off whenever and wherever she wants.
We get a few feet down the sidewalk before stopping and looking back at Arlo. He's taken Indie’s lead off, and is apparently her new favorite person because she stays by his side as he holds onto Eli’s harness, and the three of them amble toward us.
“I won’t insult you by assuming you don’t know what’s best for you, but how’s your balance?”
“I don’t think I can manage the sand today,” he admits. “I’d prefer to have a cane as well, but with the cast…” He shrugs his shoulders. “I have an appointment with a neurologist in a few weeks. I’m hoping they’ll agree with my one from back home that I’m at least in partial remission now.
“I haven’t had a bad episode or symptom in a few weeks. The dizzy thing wasn’t abnormal for me—usually that can be chalked up to my fatigue, as annoying as that is. So… I’m hoping for good news when I see the doctor.
“I’m also on the waitlist for a new physiotherapist. I had good results when I worked with one before, so hopefully I can see someone soon and we can get back to work.”
We continue walking slowly. There are a few other people out, some Millie wants to make her best friend, but I keep her close and divert her attention with varying degrees of success.
“Would you take her?” Arlo asks quietly.
I glance at him, but he’s carefully watching where he steps as we start to turn around and head back the way we came. “What do you mean?”
Arlo sighs. “I don’t know what I’m going to be told when I see the doctor.
Just because I seem to be in remission now…
that doesn’t mean I can’t have another relapse in a few months, or even a few weeks.
What if… What if I meet with them and they say the MS has progressed past RRMS and is now Secondary Progressive?
What if they tell me I’m on a slippery slope to worsening symptoms?
Hell, the last time I had a relapse they gave me a wheelchair because my legs were so bad I couldn’t hold myself up.
I think that was the last straw for my ex. ”
“He’s a dick.”
Arlo snorts. “Yeah, he can be at times. Anyway, my point is, what if I’m told I’m worse off than I think?
I couldn’t in good conscience keep Millie.
She doesn’t deserve that. She needs someone who will love her, and make sure she’s safe and healthy.
I might be better for her than Will was, but I know a new prognosis will change my entire life—again.
” He sighs and stops walking, looking out towards the ocean.
“I’ve lived with this disease for at least fifteen years now, though I’ve only been diagnosed for seven.
I don’t want it to get to the point where I’ve held off giving her up, and irrevocably hurt her because I couldn’t give her what she needed.
When the time comes that I can’t reliably and safely care for her, it might be too late to correct any damage.
I know eventually I’m going to get to that point, that’s just the nature of having MS. It’s a soul-sucking, progressive illness, but I want to believe I have plenty of time before I get to that point.
Still, I can’t help but plan for the ‘what ifs’. ”
“Hey.” I set a hand on his arm. “Whatever happens at your appointment, we’ll navigate it then, okay? You’re not alone, Ar. Not if you don’t want to be. As for Millie…if you need me to take her in, of course I will, but don’t jump straight to the worst-case scenario.”
“It’s kind of hard not to,” he says softly.
“Not when faced with the real possibility that this cushy life I’ve lived for the last several years will go away because my body fails me.
Sure, I live as normally as I can, but that doesn’t mean the fear isn’t there still.
I try. Fuck, I try so hard to remeber that I’m still the person I was five, seven, ten years ago, but the older I get…
the more real the fear becomes, because I have to wonder what will happen to this life I’ve built when—not if—the worst happens. ”
He looks at me, his blue eyes soft and full of pain that makes me want to hold him and never let him go.
“It’s why I moved back,” he says softly.
“I knew, if I was going to be single with two dogs and an unpredictable neurological disorder that will completely turn my life upside down—again—without warning, that I would want to be somewhere where I felt like I most belonged. All it takes is a relapse I don’t come back from. ”
“I don’t want to diminish your fears, I’d never want to do that,” I tell him softly, reaching up and wiping the tears falling down his cheeks.
“But I know how strong you are, Arlo. I saw it three years ago, and I see it now. You’re amazing, and you will do whatever you can, whatever you need to do, to live however you’re comfortable with.
I’ll take Millie when it gets to that point.
I’ll do whatever you need me to do. I want to think we’re friends, right? ”
He gives a watery smile. “Friends… Yeah, I like that.”
“Good. Then that means you’re not alone. You’ll have me, for whatever you need.”
“I can’t ask that of you.”
I smile gently. “You’re not, I’m offering. No matter what happens, you’ll have me, and so will Millie. Okay?”
Arlo takes a long, slow breath. “Yeah, okay.”
“Good.”
Tension sparks between us and I swallow. Fuck, I want to kiss him.
Arlo takes another breath and seems to sigh before stepping back and away, so we’re no longer touching.
“Hungry?” I ask, hoping my voice sounds normal.
“I could eat, yeah.”
“Okay. How about we head over to Boardwalk Books & Bites? They have outdoor seating, so we should be fine with the dogs.”
“Yeah, alright.”
We start walking again.
Arlo’s words replay over and over in my head, and if I wasn’t already sure I had deep feelings for him, then the thought of him going through more terrifying medical diagnoses or issues alone would cinch it.
There’s nothing I want more than to be there for him, in whatever capacity he’ll allow.