Jamie Sobrato - Baby Under The Mistletoe

He nodded. “I almost died from the attack.”

Soleil frowned, unable to produce any adequate words.

“So now you see why I’m not going anywhere near that dog.”

“I understand how terrified you are of dogs, and you have good reason to be.”

He smirked, waiting for her but.

“It must be scary going through everyday life, when there are so many dogs around.”

“Yeah, sometimes.”

“When you applied to come here for the internship, did you see the part in the brochure about my dog?”

Tonio shrugged. “Yeah, but I figured…I don’t know. I thought you’d keep him away from me.”

“Maybe some part of you knew you needed to get used to having a dog around.”

“Nuh-uh.”

“An important part of this farm is Silas. He helps keep things running properly-and he’s very unhappy when he doesn’t have his job to do.”

Tonio looked doubtful at this bit of information.

“It’s true. And I want you to do me a favor.”

“What?”

“I was a social worker before I started running this farm, and I’ve worked a few times with kids who’ve suffered from fear of dogs.”

“Yeah, so?”

“I want you to trust me that I know how to help you be comfortable around dogs again.”

“I don’t want to be comfortable around dogs. It ain’t like I’m getting me a pet pit bull or anything.”

“No, but you do want to complete your internship, right?”

“The week’s almost over, and I don’t really care.”

That, Soleil knew, was an outright lie. Judging by his application essay and his strong sense of right and wrong, Tonio was a community activist in the making. He’d be a great advocate for Urban Garden.

“Then why are you here?”

He shrugged again. “I thought it would be fun, but it’s kind of lame.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Fair enough, but as long as you’re here, I’d like to help you get more comfortable around dogs.”

He started shaking his head, but she said, “Do you trust me?”

“Sort of, I guess.”

“I want you to spend five minutes with me in this room.” She placed her hand on the closed door of the study.

“Why?”

“Because Silas is in there, and he’s lying down, and he won’t get up or even come near you unless I allow him to, and I won’t, okay?”

“No way.”

“Just five minutes, okay? I want to show you a few things about dogs that will help you in the future.”

He sighed. “You promise he’ll stay away from me?”

“Promise.”

He stood there, resigned, waiting for her to open the door, so she did. Inside the room, Silas lay just where she’d left him, his tail wagging deliriously to see her again.

“Stay,” she said again, and his tail slowed to a stop.

She went in ahead of Tonio and kept her body between him and the dog’s. She crossed the room, sat next to Silas and took hold of his collar.

“Have a seat there on the sofa,” she said to Tonio.

Nervously, he edged into the room, his gaze never leaving the dog’s.

“While I’m holding on to Silas, I want you to come closer when you feel comfortable.”

Tonio looked from her to the dog and back again. “If the dog’s so obedient, why do you have to hold on to him?”

“I don’t. He’ll stay where he is until I tell him he can move, but I thought you might be more comfortable with me here holding him.”

“This is stupid,” he said. “Sitting here with a dog isn’t going to make me like dogs again.”

“I don’t expect it to.”

Instead of arguing further though, he stood and took a step closer, then another, then another. His movements were halting, and he seemed embarrassed to have her observing the whole thing.

“You’re doing great,” she said quietly. “Just kneel right here when you feel ready.” She patted the ground next to her, a few feet from the dog.

Tonio dropped to his knees, then sat stiffly, staring at the dog with a look of absolute terror.

“You’re okay,” she said. “He’s going to stay right where he is, and I’m going to have him roll onto his back.”

“On your back,” she said to Silas, loosening her grip on the collar, and he rolled.

The dog peered at them from his upside-down position, tongue lolling from the side of his mouth, paws bent in the air.

Tonio laughed a little. “He looks kinda silly like that.”

Soleil rubbed the dog’s belly and chest. “Yeah, he does. This is the dog’s submissive posture. When he’s like this, he can’t hurt anyone, but others can hurt him.”

“So that’s why it’s the submissive posture.”

“Yep. When dogs meet each other, or sometimes when they meet people, and they want to show that they’re trying to be friends, sometimes they’ll flop onto their backs like this.”

“Like their surrender flag?”

“They’re telling the other dog that he or she is in charge.”

Tonio watched the dog, a little more curious now than guarded. “I guess I’ve seen dogs do that.”

“Dogs really care a lot about the social order. They need to know who is in charge all the time, and when they do, they’re much happier, more well-behaved dogs.”

“I don’t think my brother’s dog ever knew who was in charge.”

“It’s hard to know why he attacked you. But we can help you feel confident around dogs so that when you are with them, they know you’re in charge.”

“That doesn’t mean they won’t bite.”

“No, you’re right. But every dog and every situation is different. Let’s consider this dog, right now. Do you think he’s going to bite you?”

“He might.”

“I’ve had him for six years, and he’s never bitten anyone. It’s not likely he’ll do so now.”

Tonio looked doubtful.

“Silas knows I’m the alpha dog here. I’m going to put my hand over his muzzle, and when I do, I’d like you to reach out and touch him.”

“Hell, no.”

“How about just on his tail?”

He half smiled. “This is still stupid.”

She put her hand over Silas’s mouth, and nodded at Tonio.

He reached out, slowly, slowly, and his hand grazed the very end of Silas’s slowly thumping tail. As soon as he touched him and nothing happened, Tonio grew a bit bolder and moved his hand higher, to the dog’s haunch. He gave Silas a tentative pat, then pulled his hand away, looking proud of himself.

Soleil smiled. “Great,” she said. “You did great.”

Tonio’s gaze remained glued on the dog.

“I think that’s enough progress for one day, don’t you?” she continued.

He finally looked up at her with frightened puppy-dog eyes. “Can I go now?”

“Sure, but I want you to meet me again tomorrow, same time, same place. Deal?”

“Yeah, okay, whatever,” he said as he hurried out of the room.

Soleil gave the dog a hard rub on his ears. “Good boy, Si.”

She could relate to Tonio. His fear of dogs wasn’t so different than her fear of West. Both of them had valid reasons for being afraid.

She put her hand on her belly, where a fluttering sensation had started, and she thought of West. He hadn’t felt the baby’s movements the way she had, hadn’t had the time to let the reality of impending parenthood even settle on him yet. She’d really been a jerk to keep the truth from him for so long, and she felt horrible about it now.

She owed him the time to process his new reality and decide how he wanted to be involved. Even if the waiting was akin to torture.

FRIDAY AFTERNOON, Soleil was waving goodbye to her last batch of interns for the year. She still hadn’t heard from West, and her anxiety was moving into the panicked range.

The last two days of camp had consumed her, but now the hubbub was over, and the farm was, thankfully, silent except for the sound of her assistant, Michelle, swaying on the porch swing nearby.

Back from her battle with the flu, she was beginning to look like a normal human again and had expressed a strong desire to get out and go for a walk today because she was so sick of being cooped up indoors.

“So,” Soleil said, turning to Michelle. “Room service?”

The other woman rolled her eyes. Room service for them meant nothing in the way of luxury. Rather, it referred to the cleanup they had to do every time a group of interns left.

If they worked fast, they could get it done in a half hour and head for their favorite trail while there was still plenty of light.

“You’re such a tyrant,” Michelle complained, but she pushed herself off the swing and hurried inside. She liked to set an egg timer to see if they could beat their record time for getting the work done.

Soleil tried to forget her worries in the frenzy of cleaning, but as she was shoving laundry into the washer, she let her mind wander back to West. She realized with some horror that she was now even more disturbed by the prospect of him not caring about the baby at all than she was with the idea of having to fight off his well-intentioned advances.

God, she was screwed up.

Because the kids had done a pretty good job of cleaning up their rooms before leaving, Soleil and Michelle were finished in twenty minutes, and shortly thereafter, they were breathing in the fresh cold mountain air and working up a sweat as they hiked along the ridge overlooking the lake.

As they walked, Soleil filled Michelle in on the events of the days she’d missed. She desperately needed to talk to someone neutral about her West worries.

“You’re lying,” Michelle said in response to her biggest piece of news.

“I’m not,” Soleil said, shaking her head, unable to contain a grin at her friend’s shock.

“West Morgan did not just ride into town and nearly run over one of our goats.”

“Why would I make that up?”

“Because you’re cruel. Because you know this is exactly the kind of gossip I want to hear.”

The path they followed went three miles on the high country trail at the top of the ridge overlooking Promise Lake. It was Soleil’s favorite hike in the area, and it felt great to be getting some aerobic exercise finally.