Package Deal (50 page)

“You and
at l
e
ast
half th
e
und
e
rgrad majors,” Andy B
e
asl
e
y
deadpanned
.

Gr
e
g brought th
e
m back to ord
e
r
with a
smil
e
.
“JJ, p
e
rhaps you could writ
e
a po
e
m that sp
e
aks to th
e
issu
e
you w
e
r
e
imagining.
”

She laughed with the rest of the faculty.
“
In
rhyme or
free verse?”

Greg asked for the vote.
Evan Workman was approved.
“W
ith no oth
e
r busin
e
ss to discuss, w
e
ar
e
adjourn
e
d
.”

The conference room cleared as the rest of the faculty exited
, and
Greg
ask
e
d
Beatrice
to
invite
E
van
, waiting in the outer hall,
to join him
in his office
.
Amanda
turned toward her
own
office, other priorities on her mind.
She and Cece were going to
the pound
this afternoon.

The spotted dog
with the wiry
black and white
coat
was standing next to the
door
of his cage
when Cecelia
walked up.
She
bent down and put her hand
next to the wire mesh. H
e sniffed her hand.

“Look, Mom.
This one
likes me.”

“Are there any others you want to consider?” Amanda looked around. The barking from the other pens was distracting.

“No. I like this one.”

An attendant approached Cecelia. “His name is Skipper.
He’s been here a week.
Would you like to take him for a walk? He hasn’t had one
today
.”

“Can I, Mom?”

She
nodded as Cecelia was handed the leash and the dog headed for the door. “Be careful you don’t trip, Cece. It’s only been—”

“I know. I’ll be careful.”
Her daughter
disappeared out the door with Skipper leading the way.

Amanda turned to the attendant. “What do you know about th
at
dog?”

“He’
s a stray. A dairy farmer brought him in
.
He was
c
hasing his cows. He had no tags, but his name was on his collar and
he’s house-broken
. The
vet
who checks our animals says he’
s
maybe
two
or three
years old.He knows simple commands
, and he’s crate-trained
, so he
probably was
someone’s pet.
And, for a terrier—he’s
not a purebred, but
he seems pretty calm. You notice he didn’t bark when your daughter
came up to
his cage.”

She nodded
.“Is there a
n adoption
fee
if she likes him?”

“Yes. It covers the shots he’s been given already
, neutering,
and his tags.”

“All right
. I’ll wait out there.
”
She
pointed to the waiting room, out of sight of the pens and away from the
incessant
barking.

Minutes later, Cecelia walked back into the waiting room, her face flushed. She was limping slightly.

“Cecelia! Did you hurt your leg?” Amanda rose
from her chair
and went over to her.

“
No. I got tangled up in the leash
, but Skipper stopped and licked my knee where I scraped it. Can we take him home? He likes me!”

The attendant leaned over the desk. “I see t
he two of you are getting along just fine
.”

Cecelia nodded.

Amanda paid the adoption fee, and she and Cecelia
waited while
the attendant affixed
new
tags
to the dog’s collar
. With a bag of kibble under her arm, Amanda
followed her daughter out
to the car. The attendant brought out the crate, with Skipper inside, and placed it on the back
seat.

“I’ll sit back here with him,
Mom,
so he doesn’t get lonely.”

Cecelia spent most of the afternoon with the dog,
first
walking him up and down the street in front of their house and
then
showing
Amanda
the commands Skipper
knew
. That night,
the dog
walked into his crate
in the corner of
her
room
and
lay down
with
his head on his front paws
, his eyes following Cecelia as she got ready for bed
. The next morning, when
Amanda
went in to wake
Cecelia
, the dog raised his head and yawned from
his position at
the end of
her daughter’s
bed.

“Cece, it’s time to get up. W
h
y
is Skipper
on
your bed?”

“He looked so lonely in his cage. When I let him out,
he jumped up
here and lay right down.
He
’
s protecting me.
I like that.
And
he didn’t make any noise.”

“I see. Well, it’s time
for breakfast
. You need to take him outside
.”

In minutes,
Cecelia was downstairs with Ski
pper
at
her heels
. After
a few minutes
outside
, the two
entered the kitchen
. The dog lay
down
under the table.
Out of the corner of her eye
,
Amanda
saw Cecelia
reach
under the table, a piece of shredded wheat in her hand. Skipper took it from her,
crunched it quickly,
and lay back down to wait for another
treat
.

“I have to go to the office for a little while, Cece.
I’ve asked
Janet
to
com
e
over in
t
en
minutes
to stay with you
. If you and Skipper go
for a walk
, you must tell her where you are going, and I’d prefer that you stay
on our block
. Will you do that?”

Cecelia nodded.
“Sam wants to come over and see Skipper. Can
she stay
for lunch?”

“Sure
. But the two of you must do what Janet says.”

“We will.”

So
began a new regime. Amanda attributed Cecelia’s recovery to the daily walks she took with Skipper. Her daughter’s mood was upbeat and the only sounds emanating from her room at night were occasional snores from Cecelia, or from Skipper, who began each night in his crate, but was found each morning at the bottom of Cecelia’s bed.

Two or three times a week, Marcus came over to the house to read stories with Cecelia.
One afternoon, Amanda went to the store, taking advantage of
his
presence to pick up an early birthday present for
her daughter
.

Marcus and Cecelia
were at the end of the
book
they had been reading
together
when he turned to
her
.
It seemed like the perfect opportunity to work with the child.

“Can I give yo
u a hug? That was a super story,
”
he asked, watching
her for any negative reaction.

“Ye
s,
”
she replied calmly
.

He hugged her
quickly
, relieved she was so responsive
. “What shall we do now?”

“I
want to take Skipper for a walk
.”

He
looked out
the window
. “It’s kind of windy
today
. Why don’t you get a jacket
?
Your mom won’t like it if you catch cold.
”

“Ok
ay
.”
Cecelia
went upstairs, followed by Skipper, who preceded her back down the stairs. “Here it is.
Can you help me?”
She showed him a much-used light jacket.

Marcus looked at her and laug
hed. “It’s all messed up. I
s this
zipper broken?”

She looked down. “I don’t think so, but those things at the bottom don’t always
work right
.” She tried to catch the zipper and shrugged her shoulders. “See
,
I can’t them to go together.
”

“Let me see what the problem is.” He turned her
around
to face him. “H
m
m. I see what you mean
.”
He
worked the zipper
without success. “I have an idea. Turn around so I can pretend I’m putting it on myself. Maybe I can get it
to go together
that way.”

Cecelia turned around, and Marcus pulled her closer to his body, his
arms on either side of
her as he worked the zipper.
He pulled and tugged, and then
he said
,
“Got it!”

“Yeah!” Cecelia turned and gave him a quick hug. “Come on, Skipper.”

Amanda
was standing at the door
,
her arms across her chest,
her eyes wide
.

“Bye, Mom. Marcus and I finished the book
,
and I’m taking Skipper for a walk.”

“Don’t be gone long.”
Amanda
turned to
him
.
After Cecelia was walking down the street,
she said,
“You were holding her near your lap.”

“I was fixing her zipper
.
And she had no problem with me d
oing that. I think she’
s over all that.”

“At least with you.”

“Isn’t that a start—what the therapist wanted to happen? She trusts me. I don’t think it occurred to her that I would do anything like what Carl
may have
tried.”

“I guess you’re right.”
Amanda
sat down on the couch
, her
fists clenching and unclenching
in her lap
.

He reached for her hands.
“You saw it for yourself, didn’t you?”

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“What I saw was a man
with his arms around my child.
I had a momentary frig
ht, wondering what she might do.” She let out a big breath. “B
ut she didn’t do anything.”

He
gazed
into her brown eyes
.
“S
he was watching me work the zipper. I don’t think she
even thought about it
.” He leaned forward and kissed Amanda on the tip of her nose. “Isn’t that what you
want,
for her to trust that she can ask for
my
help if she needs it
?”