she said to the group.
Trevor helped Mindy up to the deck to join everyone. They sat on benches and chairs and enjoyed their icy cold beverages.
“Thanks for coming,” Shelby said. “This is our first official meeting of the Dog Walkers Club.”
“A great name,” Eleanor said.
The others chimed in in agreement.
“Today we set up everything and we are almost ready to open. First, Theo has a few things to share.”
“For starters,” Theo said, “I’d like to be open about two days a week. During these hot days we might want to do mornings. Remember, the main thing is come have fun. Pick up after your dog and help clean up after we close the park and that's really about it.”
“It's really nice of you,” Josh said, “to offer this place to gather and let the dogs play.”
“My pleasure,” Theo said. “Now we just need to choose an opening date.”
“How about a toast?” Alice held up her lemonade and others followed. “To the Dog Walkers Club,” she said.
Theo walked back into the house after everyone had left for the day. Wally was curled up in his bed fast asleep, probably overwhelmed from all the recent activity. Theo took a seat on his leather recliner, put his head back, and closed his eyes. Empty silence. Now that he had ventured out again, being alone seemed that much more pronounced. He reflected on all the smiling faces and laughter that had filled his backyard. It would have made Jean so happy to see this, even though her raised vegetable garden beds, unattended and dormant now for so long, had been made into a resting area for dog beds. He could almost hear her chuckle at that.
On his next weekly Skype call with his son, Theo thought he’d leave out all the commotion going on here. Cam had his own way of seeing things. He was very fastidious, and all the mess and noise of a dog park would probably set him off on another lecture. If Cam had his way, Theo would be living in a sterile senior community somewhere where his needs would be cared for, and Cam would not have to worry about his busy schedule being disrupted if there was an emergency.
To be fair, Theo had given his son cause to worry these last several months. But Cam had first suggested they move to an active senior community a year or so before Jean died. Jean had laughed at Cam’s suggestions. “We are very happy here in this small town,” she would say. Even though Cam considered it the middle of nowhere, Jean would just make a face at Theo and they would laugh over being perceived as country bumpkins. The fact was, he and Jean had never been happier than at Moonwater Lake.
Until she’d gotten sick.
And even then Jean had worried more about how Theo would do after she was gone than her own declining health. Over and over Theo had promised her he would find a way to still enjoy life again. But he’d never believed it. Until now, he supposed. Glimmers of happiness had started to filter into his daily life. Shelby and Alice were starting to feel like family. Family of the heart, Jean had called it.
He reminded himself to count his blessings. Wally stirred in the corner, and he was surely one of them. Alice’s warm smile came to mind, and he felt a flicker in his heart. It was too soon. And was it right to even let himself think about another woman?
“Be happy,” he could almost hear Jean shouting out to him.
With a deep sigh, he closed his eyes and joined Wally in an afternoon nap.
Chapter 17
After a busy afternoon setting the dog park up, Shelby was looking forward to going to Logan's tonight and watching the full moon rise from their deck. Alice made sure she ate supper, and although she felt a bit too excited to eat, the fish and chips were very tempting.
After a long shower, she laid out a couple of her new shirts next to her skinny jeans on the bed, deciding which one would look the best. "I’ll have to bring a sweatshirt for later,” she said to herself, since it would get cool down by the lake. Logan told her the moonrise over the lake lasted until after 10:00 p.m., but he’d come get her about 8:00 p.m.
“This one,” she said, holding up a soft turquoise shirt that went well with her blue zip-up jacket. Before leaving