Chapter 4
I called the number on the screen, and it was answered right away.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” said the woman on the line, who introduced herself as Lily. “We’re completely full for that weekend. It’s been sold out for several months.” She offered to put my name on the waiting list and asked me for a lot of information, including my credit card number, my birth date, and my address.
“Just in case we have a last-minute cancellation,” she said.
I didn’t like that, and I wondered how Pepe and I were going to make contact with Tammy Darling if we couldn’t get to the Center.
Just then the doorbell rang. It was Felix. I had asked him to help me train Pepe. I hoped it would give us some time together before his brother arrived. We had been dating for over a month, but it was still unclear where the relationship was heading.
“Ready for the training session?” Felix asked after handing me a bouquet of fragrant sweet peas. He looked great as usual, in a pair of chinos and a crisp white T-shirt that set off the caramel color of his skin.
“We will see who trains who!” said Pepe.
“I’m ready,” I said, whisking the flowers away and putting them in a vase. “But I’m not sure about Pepe.”
Felix turned to Pepe and asked, “Are you ready for some training, my little amigo?”
“Not before I get a treat, hombre,” Pepe told him.
As if he understood my dog, Felix pulled a baggie out of the pocket of his scuffed black leather jacket. It contained some crumbled bacon bits. He gave one to Pepe, who quickly devoured it.
“That should soften him up,” Felix told me. “There’s nothing like a positive reward when working with a dog. He will soon figure out that there’s more to come when he learns to obey.”
Finished with the last morsel, Pepe said, “Obey this, mister!” and ran to the door, scratching on it to go out.
“Look at that,” Felix said with a grin. “He’s ready to go.”
“Good human!” Pepe praised Felix as he headed to the door. “You came right to me just as I wanted. I think you may do well. Now open the door.”
I got Pepe’s leash and harness from the hook on the back of the door, but before I could get them on him, Felix opened the door and Pepe dashed outside.
He got halfway down the block before I managed to grab him and wrestle him into his harness and leash.
“Notice how he walks so far ahead of you,” Felix said as we proceeded downhill. The rain had let up, although clouds still covered the sky. Pepe was a few yards ahead of us, at the very end of the retractable leash.
I nodded. This was typical. Pepe always surged ahead of me on our daily rambles. Lately he had taken to impulsively dashing across the street in search of ever more tantalizing aromas, which is what worried me and made me ask for Felix’s help.
Felix was an animal trainer. He grew up in
L.A.
in a show business family and went to school to learn how to work with wild animals on TV and movie sets. When he moved to Seattle (in search of a quieter life, he said, but he had never told me exactly what he meant by that), he went into a more domestic line of business: as a dog trainer, which he said usually involved training the human more than the dog.
“That means Pepe considers himself the alpha,” said Felix. “He’s scoping out the scene for danger before you enter the picture.”
“Do not worry, Geri,” said Pepe, whose sensitive long ears had picked up our conversation. “I will protect you.” We turned right when the road hit the lake and walked along a street lined with blackberry brambles on one side and parking lots for the houseboat residents on the other.
“How thoughtful,” I murmured.
“Not really,” said Felix, with a little frown. “
You
need to be the alpha. He should feel certain that you will protect him from harm, not the other way around. It’s our job to provide safety for our dogs.”
We were heading for a small pocket park on the edge of the lake. Just then, a cyclist buzzed down the hill and zipped into the parking lot, almost crashing into the leash and possibly causing a fatal accident. I had to race ahead to catch up with Pepe, scooping him up and out of the way just in the nick of time. I was trembling when Felix caught up with me.
“That was a close call,” Felix said, gathering me into his arms.
He held me until I stopped trembling, and he never once said
I told you so
, which is one of many things I love about Felix. I also love his kindness and his patience, with both people and animals. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s so handsome, with his brown skin, his high cheekbones, and his dark eyes. I snuggled closer, taking in the scent of his cologne: something spicy and earthy.
“Put me down!” said Pepe. “You are turning me into a Chihuahua pancake!” I set him down on the ground, and he ran off to sniff at the base of a tree.
“So let’s work on getting him to come when called,” said Felix once I had stopped trembling.
“OK,” I said.
“Get him to look at you, then call his name,” said Felix. “Like this!” He called Pepe’s name and snapped his fingers.
Pepe gave him a glance. I could see the disdain in his expression—maybe it was the drooping ears. His ears are very expressive. Then he walked off in another direction.
“Pepe!” I said. “
Ven aqui
.” Sometimes he responds better to Spanish than to English. But not this time. He didn’t even look up but kept his little nose glued to the ground, as if he was intent on some important discovery.
“Just wait for him,” said Felix. “He will eventually want to know what you’re doing.”
“I know what she is doing,” said Pepe. “She is listening to bad advice from someone who believes he is the boss of me.”
“So who do you think is the boss?” I asked Pepe.
“You are!” said Felix. “You just have to be patient.”
“I am!” said Pepe. “Do I not understand the wisdom of the Here and Now?”
“Oh, don’t give me that Dogawandan jargon,” I said to him.
“Really,” said Felix. “Those people? I don’t think they have the corner on patience.”
“Oh, I wasn’t talking to you,” I said. “Pepe and I are supposed to go to a seminar taught by a dog. We’ve been researching it, and now he’s rather full of himself.”
“He’s always full of himself,” said Felix.
That got Pepe’s attention. He gave a little growl.
Felix laughed. “I don’t mean that as an insult. These little dogs always act much bigger than they are. They have to.”
“I am a little dog with a big heart and an even bigger spirit,” Pepe announced. “Dogs are only limited by their acceptance of limitations.”
Just then my cell phone rang. It was Lily from the Dogawanda Center calling to say there had been a last-minute cancellation. Was I still interested in registering for the weekend?
“Of course!” I said.
“Great! I’ll e-mail you a map and a list of what you need to bring,” she said. She hung up before I could ask if it was OK to bring a dog. I assumed so, since the whole thing revolved around a dog.
“Since when have you been a devotee of Dogawanda?” Felix asked as we headed back to my condo. We had given up on training Pepe. Felix had tried all the techniques he knew, but Pepe seemed to be impervious to all of them. He made it clear that he was going to do the opposite of whatever Felix wanted him to do, bacon or no bacon.
“I’m not a Dogawandan,” I told Felix. “It’s just that Pepe and I have to deliver a message to a woman who’s up at their ranch.”
“Just be careful,” said Felix as we headed up the stairs and into my condo. “I know someone who got involved in one of these cults in
L.A.
It’s much easier to get in than it is to get out.”
“I don’t know why everyone’s so worried about me,” I said, a little more sharply than I intended. I closed the front door and hung up Pepe’s leash and harness on the hook on the back of the door. “It’s not like I’m that gullible.”
“No, it’s just that you always see the best in everyone,” said Felix, pressing me up against the wall and delivering one of his great kisses. Combined with his body pressed against mine, it was doing amazing things to me.
“Geri, I would not do that if I were you,” said Pepe.
“What? Leave me alone!” I managed to murmur.
Felix stepped back, a hurt look on his face.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” I said, drawing him back toward me. “I was talking to Pepe. He was complaining about something.”
“You are so attentive to his needs,” said Felix. “What about mine?” And he moved his body against me in ways that made it clear what his needs were. In fact, it made it clear what I needed. It had been way too long since I had gotten any action. Felix and I were always being interrupted just as we were about to tumble into bed.
“I am trying to tell you, Geri. Somebody is on the front porch,” Pepe said.
Chapter 5
He was right. When I opened the door, there was a man on my front porch, holding a six-pack of beer. I recognized him instantly as Felix’s brother—they have the same wide grin. He was dressed in worn jeans and a T-shirt but seemed fine despite the misty rain. But his female companion wasn’t prepared for the Seattle weather. She wore a flimsy dress and was shivering, her arms wrapped around her body.
“Whoa! You startled me!” said the man. “I haven’t even rung the doorbell yet. You must have ESP.”
“No,” I said. “I have a dog.”
“Geri, this is my brother, Tavo,” said Felix, clapping him on the back.
“Short for Gustavo,” said Tavo. “I was named after our grandfather. But please never call me that.” He smiled and offered me his hand. “It’s good to meet you, Geri.”
“And this is Chloe,” said Felix. She had long blond hair, big brown eyes, a pretty upturned nose, and a pretty downturned mouth.
“Chloe’s the star of the film we’re working on,” said Tavo. “You might recognize her. She was the star of
Zombies Gone Wild
.”
Not very likely. I do like horror movies, but I hadn’t seen one since my divorce. Too scary to watch alone. And Pepe refuses to watch them. He prefers telenovellas and reality TV shows.
“Glad to meet you,” I said.
“Tavo!” said Felix. “I thought I was supposed to pick you up.” He checked his watch. “Did I get the time wrong?”
“No, I managed to get a seat on an earlier flight. Chloe was on the same plane and so I invited her along,” Tavo said. “Since I knew you weren’t expecting me so early, I decided to rent a car. Thought I’d save you the trip to the airport.”
“I don’t see how you can stand to live in a climate like this,” Chloe said to me, still shivering. I pulled a towel out of the linen closet and directed her toward the bathroom where she could dry herself off. I also offered her one of my favorite cardigans, which I thought was very nice of me, as it was one of my favorites: a shell-pink number with silver flowers embroidered up and down the placket.
“Is this OK, Geri?” Felix asked, coming into the kitchen, putting his arms around me and whispering in my ear. Tavo was in the dining room opening the beer. I could hear the pop and fizz of the cans as the pressure was released. “Tavo felt sorry for Chloe since she didn’t know anyone in Seattle and invited her along.”
“Yeah, sure,” I said. “Why don’t you go keep them busy while I finish up the dinner preparations? We should be ready to eat in about fifteen minutes.”
Felix gave me a kiss on the cheek, then went out into the dining room. I set the water on to boil for the pasta. Normally I might have felt rushed, but since I had everything prepped, dinner would be a snap.
I was just setting another place at the table for Chloe when she came back from the bathroom, still wearing my sweater, I noted. I offered her a glass of wine, but she said she preferred water.
Once the pasta was done, I whipped up some of my homemade dressing: a raspberry vinaigrette. We all gathered at the table, and Tavo and Felix made appreciative noises as they sat down to eat, but Chloe pouted. It turned out she was vegan, so she couldn’t eat the pasta because of the cheese, not to mention the ham. I offered to share the small meatless portion I had set aside for myself, but she declined my offer.
“Is that your dog?” she asked. Pepe was circling her ankles as if he thought they might be good to eat.
“Yes, that is Pepe,” I said, thinking she would reach down and pet him, which is what most people do when they see Pepe.
Instead she shuddered. “Please get him away from me. I don’t like dogs. I got bit once when I was a kid.”
“Go watch TV,” I told Pepe.
“Your dog watches TV?” Tavo asked as I sat down at the table.
“He loves telenovellas,” I said, pouring my homemade dressing over my salad. “Of all the Spanish soap operas,
Paraiso Perdido
is his favorite.”
“Can you believe what Ramon did last week?” Tavo asked.
“What did he do?” I asked.
“He turned his own brother over to the
federales
,” Tavo said, twirling some of the pasta noodles around his fork.
“
Sí
, his brother is a big drug lord, and he will have his men after Ramon now for sure,” said Pepe. He was licking his lips, no doubt waiting for some ham to come his way.
“Pepe, go watch the next episode,” I said. “And you can tell us what happens.”
“I can tell you right now what will happen,” said Pepe. “Ramon better go into hiding. Preferably at the home of Conchita.” But he went trotting off into the living room.
“He obeys you now,” said Felix.
“Yes,” I said with a sigh. “He’s very good at doing what he wants.”
“He can turn on the TV?” Tavo asked.
“He can operate the remote,” I said. “He’s highly motivated when it comes to entertainment.” I heard the click of the TV coming on in the living room.
“Amazing!” Tavo said. “Does my brother get any credit?”
“No,” said Felix, helping himself to another serving of the pasta. “Geri is the only one who can train this Chihuahua. I’ll have to settle for working with bigger dogs.”
Unfortunately, I had also dressed the salad with crumbled feta, along with roasted walnuts and chopped fennel root. Chloe was picking her way through the salad, removing the crumbly white chunks of feta and making a little mountain of them on her plate.
“So tell me about your movie,” I said.
“It’s an independent project. Low-budget horror,” Tavo said. “I’ve worked with the director before. He’s pretty easygoing. Should be fun. Plus I knew I could spend some time with Felix since we’re filming up here in Seattle. Then it turned out they needed a trainer for the wolves.”
I guess I looked puzzled.
“It’s a werewolf movie,” Tavo said.
“Werewolves are the new vampires,” said Chloe.
“So you’ll be working with real wolves?” I turned to Felix. This was the first time he had worked with wild animals since I had known him.
Felix shrugged. “Not wolves, wolf-hybrids. But some are probably seventy-five percent wolf. Which means they’re almost as unpredictable as real wolves.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not if I can help it,” he said. “It’s my job to make sure they look menacing but behave like pussycats.”
“You wouldn’t say that,” I said, “if you knew my cat, Albert.”
“Felix is good,” Tavo said. “Did you know he worked with the wolves in the
True Blood
series?”
Felix shook his head, his eyes warning his brother not to pursue that line of thought. It gave me the impression that it hadn’t been a good experience for him.
“No, I didn’t,” I said. I threw Felix a look that meant
Why have you never told me about this?
“Just as long as you keep them away from me,” said Chloe. She set down her fork. Her plate was empty except for the little mound of discarded cheese bits. “Can we go, Tavo? I’m really tired.”
“I want to hang out with my little bro,” Tavo said. “Why don’t you take the car to the hotel? Felix can give me a ride later.”
Chloe didn’t like that idea, it was obvious, but she was finally persuaded and left, in my favorite sweater, without even saying good-bye or thank you. I guess stars can be pretty self-centered, especially when they are beautiful. Of course, I didn’t really like the idea either. I was hoping for some one-on-one time with Felix.
We adjourned to the living room, the men with the last two beers and me with another glass of wine. Pepe was curled up on a pillow on the sofa when we walked in.
“How was
Paraiso Perdido
?” I asked him.
“Tell Senor Tavo he was right,” said Pepe. “Ramon is now hiding in the closet at Conchita’s casa.”
“He says you were right,” I told Tavo. “About Ramon, that is.”
“I often am,” said Tavo. “Privilege of being the older brother.”
Felix gave him a playful punch in the arm. Apparently this was part of their bonding ritual.
“What about you?” Tavo asked. “Do you have siblings?”
“I’m the middle one of three sisters,” I said.
“And is your older sister always right?” asked Felix.
“Cheryl certainly thinks so,” I said.
“No. I am the one who is always right,” said Pepe.
“And what about your younger sister?” Tavo asked. “Does she get her way by being cute and charming like Felix here?”
I tried to smile. “It’s hard to say.”
Felix jumped in, trying to save me from an awkward conversation.
“Geri hasn’t seen her younger sister in a while,” he said. It was a topic we had discussed briefly on our first date. But we had never talked about it since. It’s not something I like to talk about.
Tavo didn’t get the hint. “Really?” He sounded puzzled. “Does she live overseas?” Obviously he didn’t understand a family where the siblings weren’t close.
“No,” I said. I really didn’t need to say more than that, but the words came tumbling out. “She disappeared years ago. Naturally Cheryl and I fear the worst. That she’s dead. But then the alternative is just as bad. If she is alive, how could she be so cruel as to not let us know?”
The mood had become very solemn.
“But I am going to find her for Geri!” Pepe announced.
“Maybe that’s why you became a PI,” said Tavo. “So you could find her.”
“That’s exactly what I told her!” Felix said. The two brothers smiled at each other, happy to share a common thought.
I tried to smile, too, but it was hard. I had been searching for Terry on and off with little success. I tried to lighten the mood. “So if that’s why I became a PI, why did you become a wild animal trainer?” I asked Felix.
“Ha! That’s easy!” said Tavo. “Living in our house growing up was like living in a three-ring circus.”