Darkness had fallen around Nick as he sat on the picnic table. The dogs lounged on the ground around him. He was satisfied with himself; he’d written three times his daily quota today, earning himself some slack time to spend with Dana. He checked his phone for the fifth time since sunset, expecting to see a message from Dana explaining that she was running late or had gotten lost.

Nothing.

He raised the pipe to his lips. He had packed it an hour ago, but failed to light it. He struck the wooden match and held the flame over the bowl. The light hurt his eyes for they’d adjusted to the darkness much earlier. Puff-puff. The tobacco in the bowl began to sizzle, the air drawing through it hissed. Puff-puff. The inside of the bowl glowed bright orange. Nick shook the match out and flicked it onto the ground.

More time passed as Nick smoked. He was beginning to worry slightly, but remained stoic in the face of it. He was dead set on remaining calm and relaxed. The area around the house was still and quiet.

In a flash, Drake had gone from lying still to walking into the darkness, his ears focused forward, tail raised. He move slowly, holding his head level with his shoulders, staring into the dark night. Within seconds, Tris stood next to him on high alert. Bear ambled over next. The three dogs stood like statues on the edge of the darkness, close enough still for Nick to see them. Izzy, meanwhile, nervously paced around the table whining softly for Nick to comfort and protect her.

Nick stared into the distance and counted down.

“4, 3, 2, 1.”

Just then, the headlights of a car appeared on the horizon

“Bear, Tris, Drake, easy!” Nick called to the dogs. “C’mon back.”

The dogs circled back to the table, but remained on guard.

The headlights drew closer and closer.  

The dogs, unaccustomed to visitors, grew more and more anxious, but remained under Nick’s firm command.

After several minutes of suspense, the car rolled to a stop in front of the garage. Nick, flanked by the dogs, walked into the beams of the headlights to show Dana that she was in the right place. The lights switched off, followed by the car’s engine.

Nick turned over his shoulder, “Everybody sit.” The dogs all obeyed the command at once. “Good dogs, stay.”

Nick approached the car as the driver door swung open.

Drake whined softly, desiring to be at Nick’s heel.

Dana climbed out of the car smiling with tears in her eyes. Nick stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her.

“It’s so good to see you,” Dana said into his shoulder, “I’m exhausted.”

“Okay,” Nick replied, “just grab what you need and we’ll get you settled straight away. Worry about the rest tomorrow.”

“Lady needs to be walked,” Dana whined.

Nick reached out and opened the back door of the car, catching Lady’s leash as she hopped out. Nick shot a look back at his dogs who were all straining against the temptation to run to the new dog.

“Stay!” Nick shouted at them preemptively. He led Lady to the other dogs. “Get your stuff, I’ve got her,” he said to Dana looking over his shoulder. He let the dogs all sniff each other and assured enough that there would be no trouble, he unhooked Lady’s leash and encouraged her to run. “Go! Go on!”

Lady bolted into the darkness, while the others looked to Nick for permission.

“You can’t let her loose!” Dana screamed. “Oh my god! Why did you do that? She’ll get lost, we’ll never find her. “

“Go get her!” Nick commanded the dogs who all took off in a sprint after Lady.

“Listen to me,” Nick rested a hand on Dana’s shoulder, “they will bring her back. She can run for a mile in any direction and not find anything, she’ll freak out and come back on her own. There are no cars out here to hit her, no one will take her. She’s safe.”

“She’s never been off of her leash before. It’s always just been the way it was.”

“Let’s let them run for a few minutes, they need to wear themselves out. Let’s get your stuff inside then we’ll get the dogs. Okay?”

“Okay.”

They each grabbed two bags and walked towards the house.

“So, this door goes straight into the kitchen, I always use this one. Can’t remember the last time I used the front door.” Nick lifted the bags in the air to make finger quotes for the phrase front door. He stepped through the door and led Dana to the living room. “You cool just crashing in here tonight? We can talk long term tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I could sleep anywhere right now.”

Nick dropped the bags on the floor.

“Great!” he replied with glee. “So my room is just down the hall there. There’s a bathroom right there too, but it’s only a half. You’ll have to shower in the bathroom in my room. You need a shower tonight or anything?”

“No. Just sleep.”

“Okay. That door over there is my… place where I write. It’s not serious enough to be an office.”

Dana smiled at the description.

“It’s pretty small, but we’ll make it work. I’m only inside when I’m sleeping, cooking, or writing anyways, so…” Nick was running out of things to say. His nickel tour was only worth two cents and he knew it. “There’ll be more to see tomorrow. You need anything to eat or drink before you crash though? Just speak up.”

“I’m okay,” Dana wished she could be more expressive, but she was just so tired from three days of driving. “Can we check on the dogs?”

“Sure.”

They walked back outside and Nick whistled once. Within a minute all of Nick’s dogs had gathered around them with Lady in tow.

“Inside everyone,” Nick said as he herded the pack through the door. “So the German Shepherd is Drake, that big bear is Bear, of course, Tris is the retriever, and that little Brittany girl is Izzy.” Nick explained to Dana as the walked back to the living room.

“What is Bear exactly? He’s massive.”

“He’s a Newfoundland. Gentle giant, some say that Newfie’s are the best breed for children.”

“Wow. And the retriever, Tris, right?”

“Yeah, short for Tristan.”

“Hm. Is he a chocolate Lab?”

“No, he’s a Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Labs are great, but Chessie’s are like the stripped down, no-nonsense, tough as nails, hardcore version of them. They’ve got a lot more attitude, so they’re not as popular.”

“Oh. Why Tristan? The name, I mean.”

“I got him and Izzy around the same time, when I first came out here. So, Tristan and Isolde. Tris and Izzy.”

“That’s cute,” Dana said before yawning. “Lady’s crate is still in the car.”

“No crate needed here. Look around. There’s nothing she can do that hasn’t happened before two or three times. She’ll be fine. Go ahead and get changed or whatever you need to do. I’ll get some blankets.” Nick walked towards his bedroom “Dogs, bed, now!” Drake, Tris and Izzy all scampered past him, tails wagging, while Bear searched for a nice place big enough for him to lay down on the rug. “Be right back.”

Fifteen minutes later, Dana was wearing loose pajama pants and a t-shirt, sitting on the couch, pillows to her left, blanket to her right. Lady was stretched out along the front of the couch on the floor. Bear occupied his typical spot on the rug. Nick leaned against the wall next to a light switch.

“So, I always leave my bedroom door open, so the dogs can move around, so there’s not much privacy either way. At least as far as noise goes. I tend to sleep like a rock though. Just, try to keep it down if you wake up, help yourself to anything.”

“Okay.”

“One last thing,” Nick hesitated, “I get that you’re going through a lot right now. I understand, and I will be accommodating. But that runs out in a week. If you want to heal, to grow, to get anything out of being here, you have to work for it. So just get all the negative shit out of your system soon.” He flipped the switch leaving the room in darkness, “Goodnight.”

Dana didn’t know how to react to the ultimatum. Was it even an ultimatum? Was coming here a mistake? She couldn’t think about it now, she was just too tired.

“Night.”

Next Chapter: Chapter 9