Ryan considered raising his hand.
Brooke stopped in front of a kennel where a mutt that had to be mostly shepherd lay on a raised bed in the corner. “This is Duke.”
He didn’t even lift his head.
“He was surrendered this summer after his owner passed. Her kids didn’t want to take him, so they brought him here. He’s older. About nine years, so people keep skipping over him for younger dogs. Poor guy’s just gotten more and more depressed.”
That was a familiar story. Ryan glanced at Percy to see if the tale upset him at all. His uncle’s face was full of disgust rather than discomfort. He definitely eyed the animal with sympathy.
“Well no wonder.” Hannah crouched in front of the chainlink, curling her fingers through the wire. “Hey Duke. Hey buddy. You want some exercise?” she crooned.
His ears twitched.
“How is he on lead?” she asked.
“A perfect gentleman,” Brooke said. “He’s really well trained, fully housebroken. He just doesn’t get on in a household with multiple pets, so that’s also made him harder to place. Either way, some exercise would do him good.”
“How about it, Percy? You want to take this guy around the yard a bit?”
“I expect so.”
Brooke opened the gate and moved inside to slip on a leash and collar. She made clucking noises. “C’mon, Duke.”
With a fair amount of grumbling that reminded Ryan of Percy himself, the dog rose and stretched before plodding obediently out of the kennel. When Brooke handed over the leash, Duke sat with a sigh and eyed Percy as if to say, “So you’re the next in the line of disappointments, huh?” Percy let the dog sniff his hand before giving him a scratch behind the ears. “Reckon we could both do with a little exercise. Let’s go.”
Duke rose to his feet and followed Percy out the gate at the end of the corridor and into the exercise yard.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ryan muttered to Hannah.
“Just give it a little time. Those two have more than a little in common.”
“That did not escape my notice.” He pinned Hannah with a Look. “What are you up to?”
Her face was all innocence. “I told you. Getting him some exercise and helping you evaluate him.”
He might have believed her if she and Brooke hadn’t exchanged some kind of secret glance. “You’re hoping he falls in love and takes him home.”
Brooke pressed her lips together, eyes sparkling. “I’m just gonna let you two discuss. There are leashes on the wall over there. Grab whoever you want for a walk.”
As soon as she walked away, Hannah turned toward him, hands on hips, brows up. “And what if I am?”
“That’s a terrible idea. If he ends up needing to go into assisted living, where would that leave an animal? That poor dog has been through enough.”
“I get your concerns. Really, I do. But think about it. Percy let himself decline after Janie died because he no longer had anybody to take care of, and so he didn’t have any impetus to take care of himself. If he got a dog, he’d have another creature depending on him again. One that would require regular exercise and attention, both of which would do Percy good himself. Dogs are a lot of company, and I think he needs that.”
“And if he adopts an older one like Duke and then outlives the dog? What then?” Losing Janie had gutted Percy. If he opened himself up again, let himself get attached, and then lost the dog, would it make him shut down again?
She angled her head, and those big, blue eyes seemed to look into him. “Did you have a dog growing up?”
“Trixie. Big old sloppy black lab. She died when I was a sophomore in college. Made it to sixteen. Broke my heart.” He was man enough to admit that.
“Did you ever get another dog?”
“No. I knew I was going into the Army when I finished school. Didn’t make sense to get another one for that short stint.”
“So you haven’t connected with any other dog since then?”
Ryan shrugged. “It wasn’t practical. We’ve got some technically illegal dogs on base that we all share responsibility for, but I haven’t had my own dog since I was a kid.” He hadn’t been willing to risk it.
“I think it scares you.”
The accusation had his head kicking back. “Excuse me?”
“The idea of letting yourself get attached to something like that again, knowing you’ll eventually lose it—that scares you. You think it’s easier to avoid attachment in the first place.”
Were they still talking about dogs? Or had this gone on into something else?
“I deal with loss on an almost daily basis.” And if he’d had to learn to shut down the part of himself that cared, well, that was a matter of survival.
“Dealing with it isn’t the same as not being afraid of it. Loss sucks. Grief sucks. But it’s a part of life. And I don’t think it overshadows the payoff of the attachment in the first place.” Hannah curled her hands in his, her expression full of such warmth and understanding, he almost wanted to take a step back. Because that part he’d worked so damned hard to shut down had been stirring back to life since she’d walked into his.
“Sorry I’m late!”
He lifted his head to find Miss Betty hurrying down the corridor. “Late?”
Hannah released him and approached the older woman with a smile. “I’ll just get Coco on a leash for you.”
“Coco?” Ryan asked.
“Oh yes, Coco and I have a regular walking date three times a week,” Miss Betty informed him.
“And how do you know Coco?” he asked, as Hannah disappeared into one of the other kennels with a leash.
“I might volunteer down here on a regular basis,” she called back.
“Uh huh.” He watched as she led some little poodle mix out and handed it over to Miss Betty.
“Percy’s already out in the yard with Duke. They might appreciate some company.”
Miss Betty beamed and hurried on outside with her charge.
Ryan stared after her, then turned to Hannah. “You are a sneaky, sneaky woman.”
“Well, he did kiss her at the dance.”
“I can’t decide if you’re brilliant or terrifying.”
She grinned. “I can be both. Now pick your pooch. We’re here to work while we matchmake.”
In honor of Trixie, Ryan leashed up a young lab mix aptly dubbed Pogo. The dog did more bouncing than walking as they made their way out to the yard with Hannah and her chosen companion, a border collie mix named Dolly. They spent twenty minutes walking and chatting, working with the dogs on their leash manners. Brooke wandered out with a tennis ball and suggested some off-leash time. Pogo trembled with excitement at the sight of it and Dolly bowed, butt wagging.
“How can you say no to those faces?” Hannah asked.
Across the fenced yard, Percy sat on a bench beside Miss Betty. Coco curled up in her lap and Duke stretched out at their feet, not remotely enticed by the idea of a game.
Ryan unclipped the leash from Pogo’s collar, pausing to give the dog a full body rubdown. “Wanna play? Huh? You want the ball?”
Pogo barked, leaping up to slobber a cheerful kiss across Ryan’s face.