Listen to Your Heart - Fern Michaels [2]
The giant jerked his head backward. He managed to gurgle, “She’s yours—just get her the hell off me. She wants my jugular!”
“You want me to try and get past that terrorist! Not in this lifetime, mister. I’m not going to tell you a second time. Give me my dog!”
“She won’t let go!”
Overhead a wind chime in one of the trees tinkled to life as a flock of birds took wing. Josie’s arms flapped in the air as though she, too, wanted to fly away. “Call off your damn dog! That’s an order, mister. Tell him to sit! Tell him something!”
“Sit, Zip!”
“Zip?”
“He doesn’t listen too well. He’s still a puppy,” the giant managed to croak.
“A puppy! A puppy! You call that monster a puppy! He’s as big as a cow!
“You will now sit, Zip!” Josie thundered. Rosie took that moment to relax her hold on the giant’s shirt collar. Two monstrous hands reached up and grasped the little dog around the middle of her body. He held her out in front of him as she snapped and snarled. Zip raised his head and with one swipe of his paw he had the little dog free and between his teeth. He lowered her gently to the littered floor. She ran immediately to her Beanie Baby. Josie watched her as she tried to fix it with her paws, knowing something was seriously wrong. Tears stung Josie’s eyes as she dropped to the floor, oblivious to the giant and his dog Zip.
“Shhh, it’s okay, Rosie. We’ll find the beans. I’ll fix it for you. I can sew it up.”
“Look, I’m . . .”
“Sorry? Is that what you were going to say? Just get out of here. See, Rosie. I found a few. I’ll keep looking. I can sew his head back on. Ohhh, it’s going to be okay.”
“Can I . . .”
“Help? Your kind of help I don’t need.”
“I’ll pay for the damages. Just tell me how much. I’m sorry. How much do those things cost? Tell me where to get one.”
Josie swiveled around. He really was a giant. “Are you dumb or dumb and stupid? This can’t be replaced. She’s had it since she came to me at six weeks. She loves it. It was something to cuddle and cling to when she left her mother. You can’t replace something like that. Being a man, you obviously can’t be expected to understand.”
The trees rustled overhead as the wind chimes tinkled again. A small red bird settled on the railing at the far end of the porch and watched what was going on with bright eyes. Inside the telephone rang as the miniature grandfather clock chimed the hour.
“I thought I told you to leave. Don’t bother sending me a check. Just take your dog and go. Look, Rosie. I found some more beans,” Josie crooned soothingly.
“You’re still here. What part of ‘leave and take your dog with you’ didn’t you understand?”
“Because I’m a man you think I don’t understand the mother-child . . . thing.”
“I didn’t say anything about a mother and child. I was talking about my dog being taken away from her mother. I’m a person. She’s a dog.”
The boxer, his eyes dark with misery, loped over to where Rosie was trying to tug her bed from the spokes in the railing. With one bite and one tug, the little bed came free. Rosie hopped in and lay down. The boxer lowered his big head and licked at her tiny face. One giant paw pulled the bed closer to Josie.
“I guess that’s an apology from your dog,” Josie sputtered. “You need to take him for some obedience courses. You should think about taking a few lessons yourself while you’re at it.”
“You’re pretty mouthy, young lady. My dog was coming to my defense when your dog sprang at me. I told you, he’s a puppy. He’s not a year old yet. If I had known you had a dog, I would have closed the windows of the car. He didn’t get out until your dog did her trapeze act. Does the Board of Health know you have a dog on the premises where food is prepared? You need a sign saying Beware of Dog or something like that. I wasn’t expecting a dog.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Josie saw the big boxer playing with Rosie. It irritated her. She said so. “Rosie doesn’t go in the test kitchens. This is the office, not that it’s any of your business. I don’t need a dog sign. She’s never done anything like that before. She must know you