to work on the back burner for a while.”
She thought he wanted to flare out at her, but he didn’t. Instead he gave her a look she couldn’t interpret. “I understand. You’re right. Let’s get started.”
He turned toward the training center. She had to hurry to keep up, because her mind was spinning with possibilities.
What if Gabe was right about himself? If his seizures really were a thing of the past, he was no good to her as a test case. She had to get a handle on his physical condition, and soon.
And then there was the personal problem. What on earth was she going to do with this totally inappropriate attraction she felt every time she was near the man?
He’d blown it. Gabe was still berating himself as Nolie put him and Max through a series of obedience exercises in the training center she’d set up in a converted garage. Her voice echoed through the wide space as she gave him directions. A barn swallow, apparently nesting in the rafters, swooped out the open door at the sound.
He shouldn’t have rushed into telling her what he wanted. He should have taken it easy, let her warm up to him. Rationally presented his arguments.
Instead he’d blurted it out, making it almost inevitable that she’d say no.
He didn’t intend to take Ryan’s advice and try to charm the woman. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be friendly. Let her feel she was getting to know him. Get her on his side.
As for what he was going to do with that totally inappropriate blast of attraction he’d felt when he’d held her hands—well, that was probably a good thing to ignore. She wasn’t his type. And at the moment, she was a very effective barrier to his getting what he wanted most in the world.
He and Max reached the end of the obstacle course. He waited for her to tell him what totally useless thing she wanted him to do next.
“Reward your dog,” she reminded him in the same detached, calm tone she’d used the first four times she’d had to tell him that.
“Yes. Right.” He gave the dog one of the treats Nolie had provided and patted him.
Nolie crossed the concrete floor to join them, frowning slightly.
“What?” She obviously thought he’d done something wrong. “I’m sorry I didn’t remember.”
“It’s not that.” She fondled Max’s ears, and the dog looked up at her with a totally besotted expression of adoration. “Do you understand why I’m having you do obedience exercises with Max?”
He shrugged. He could hardly tell her again that he thought the whole thing was useless.
He thought she suppressed a sigh.
“Let’s go out in the sun and take a break. There are some things you need to understand about the training.”
Max stuck to Nolie’s heels as if he were attached. He followed woman and dog outside.
An old-fashioned porch swing hung from the branch of an oak tree at the corner of the training center. Nolie sat and waited until he took the seat next to her. The swing creaked gently, swaying a little.
Nolie rubbed Max’s head. “Max has already gone through obedience training. Haven’t you, Maxie?”
He gave her a wide doggy grin.
“So the obedience training is for me.” He said the obvious. She probably thought he needed a little obedience training.
A smile touched her face, softening it. The eyes he’d thought a pale, nondescript blue the day before had been turned to aqua by the sweater she had on.
“Not exactly. The training is for both of you. It’s to allow the two of you to get used to working together. More importantly, to let you bond with Max.”
He didn’t need to bond with the dog, because they weren’t going to be together that long. But now was probably not the time to say that. He ruffled the dog’s fur, and Max leaned against his knee.
“He’s a good-looking animal. Purebred?” He’d show interest, not agreement.
“Max is mostly yellow lab, but I wouldn’t venture a guess as to what the other part is. All my service dogs come from the humane society. They’re abandoned animals who need a chance to prove they can be useful.”
She said that with a passion he didn’t quite understand. There was a lot he didn’t understand about Nolie, come to think of it.
“So, once Max and I have bonded to your satisfaction, what comes next?” Supposing he had to stick around that long. “What’s your time frame?”
Worry lines creased her forehead. “We only have a month. Still, I’m usually working with children, and it should go faster with an adult. I’d suggest that this week and next week we do obedience work and then put in two weeks of intensive live-in training.”
“Live-in? Not in the cottage?”
He glanced toward the cottage she’d shown him the day before. White frame with black shutters like the house. It had rosebushes on either side of the black front door. A yellow rambler rose was already coming into bloom on a trellis over the walk. It looked like a kid’s playhouse.
“Yes, I know it’s small, but I’m sure you’ll do fine.” The brisk assurance in her voice said that this was non-negotiable. “You and the dog have to live together during the intensive training. That twenty-four-hour-a-day experience is crucial to the whole process.”
He got what she meant then, and he didn’t like it. “You mean you’re hoping I’ll have a seizure during that time, don’t you?”
“Not hoping, no.” Her brows furrowed, and she seemed to choose her words carefully. “I hope you never have another one. But if you do, that’s the test of whether Max will live up to my belief in him.”
“There’s no guarantee, in other words,” he said flatly. “This could all be useless.”
“It’s not useless. I can guarantee you that when we’ve finished training together, Max will do his job in protecting you should a seizure occur. The question is whether he’ll know the seizure is coming and warn you.”
Passion for her work filled her as she said the words, so strong he almost felt its heat. The face he’d thought plain was alive with enthusiasm. He wanted to tell her again that he wasn’t going to have another seizure, but she swept on.
“The foundation wanted scientific proof, and there isn’t any. But it happens. I’ve seen it happen. When the bond between dog and client is strong enough, the dog knows when a seizure is coming.”
He couldn’t help being moved by the strength of her conviction. No one could. He leaned toward her, his hand on her shoulder, feeling the passion that flooded through her for her cause.
Nolie wanted to be sure a bond formed between him and the dog, so that she could prove her theories to the foundation. He wanted to create a bond between himself and Nolie, so that he could get her on his side.
The
