Kiss Me in the Summer - Barbara Dunlop Page 0,52

of her.”

“Whatever,” I said. “Just so you don’t forget, I have a really big dog lying on my feet.” I looked down, wondering what I should do to get out of this.

“So move your feet,” Josh said.

I braced myself, ready for anything, and pulled one of my feet free. Butch immediately jumped up and gave a little shake.

“He wants to please you,” Josh said.

“Okayyy.” I took a couple of steps into the room, feeling wet and sticky, wondering if Victoria might have something I could change into.

Butch immediately turned to stand on my left side. He gazed up at me, obviously waiting to see what we were going to do next.

“Walk over here,” Victoria said to me.

I went her way.

Butch stuck right beside me.

Pooh-Pooh growled at we passed.

Butch turned his head and let out a deep bark, shutting Pooh-Pooh up.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Victoria said, looking extraordinarily pleased.

“He knows you’re afraid,” Josh said to me.

I found that impossible to believe. “You think he understands English?”

“No. He understands body language and pheromones.”

“You’re making that up.”

“Josh is a trained professional,” Victoria said.

I shook my head, refusing to believe Butch could be that intuitive.

The thunder boomed even louder above us, and rain clattered sideways on the windows.

“I guess we’re not working at the park today,” I said.

Victoria made a face. “This kind of weather is hard on the gardens.”

“At least it waters them,” I said, trying to be positive.

“It beats down the blooms.”

“Oh. That’s doesn’t sound good.”

“We may have to do some replanting,” Josh said. “But that’s a risk every year, and we’ve still got plenty of time to fix any damage.”

“But not tonight.”

“There’s plenty to do here,” Josh said. “We were about to give Butch a bath. That’s why he was running loose.”

“And now you can help,” Victoria said.

I looked down at Butch, who was sitting at my side. His fur was long and his body was very large, as were his teeth, never mind the strong jaw Josh had talked about. What if he preferred not to have a bath?

“Couldn’t we bathe Tippy or maybe one of the twins?”

“The twins?” Victoria asked.

“Reno and Vegas.”

They were small and had short hair. I liked those traits in a dog that needed a bath.

*

I was up to my elbows in soap suds and, apparently, destined to stay wet for a while longer.

Butch had climbed gamely up the ramp into the dog bath and stood patiently while we wetted then soaped him up.

Josh had showed me how to spray the water at an angle to get it through Butch’s thick fur, and I quickly got the hang of that. It was satisfying and a little bit fun, especially since Butch seemed to like the attention.

I didn’t know why I’d thought he’d object, but I was wrong about that.

I was working on Butch’s chest while Josh focused on the dog’s hindquarters.

“I think we’re about ready to rinse,” Josh said.

I stood back to take in the sudsy Butch and couldn’t help but grin. “He looks like a giant snow dog.”

“He looks fresh and clean,” Josh said, unraveling the spray hose. He held it my way. “Want to give it a shot?”

I was feeling buoyed and quite brave. “Sure.” I took the spray nozzle from Josh, pointed it into the tub and adjusted the temperature. The last thing I wanted to do was give Butch a shock.

I pictured him leaping out of the tub and running loose around the shelter all soapy and slippery. I couldn’t help but smile again.

“What?” Josh asked.

I got the temperature right and pointed the spray up close on Butch’s foamy chest. “Just a funny mental picture.”

“Of?”

“Of—” I misjudged the angle and accidentally sprayed Josh. I caught him in the chest. “Oops. Sorry!” But as I changed direction, I caught him in the face.

“Is that what you pictured?” he asked, water dripping down his cheek and nose.

“That was an accident.”

“Sure, it was.”

“Honestly.” I was getting the hang of it now, keeping the water confined to the dog tub. “What I was imagining was Butch jumping out of the tub and running loose, all covered in soapsuds.”

Josh rubbed his wet face. “I might have preferred that.”

“I’m as wet as you are,” I said, moving along one side of Butch, rinsing as I went.

“Here.” Josh motioned for me to hand the nozzle to him overtop of Butch’s tail.

I released the trigger to stop the water and passed it over.

Then I realized my error when he pointed the nozzle at me.

“You wouldn’t.”

He squirted me. It