Gem by Jane B. Mason

Author:Jane B. Mason
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

“You haven’t told her?” The exasperation in Roxanne’s voice was unmistakable. Pedro felt it as much as he heard it and in a way it was almost a relief, because he’d been feeling exasperated with himself, too.

“No, I haven’t. And to tell you the truth I’m not sure why,” he confessed. He leaned back against the counter where they prepared the dogs’ food and gave Roxanne a sheepish look. “I guess I just wanted Laurel to come and give Gem a chance—”

“Without knowing she has Lyme disease? I mean, that’s a pretty big complication to pull out after she’s driven halfway up the coast of California.”

Pedro shoved his hands in his pockets and rooted around for a piece of forgotten candy. All he found was a wrapper, which he crumpled into a tight ball. He couldn’t even look at Roxanne. He felt like a kid disappointing his parents—a kid in trouble. Roxanne wasn’t his superior, though. She was his partner and good friend … which made disappointing her even worse.

“You could have mentioned it on the phone or in email.” Roxanne sounded more baffled than angry. She was trying to understand.

“I know.” Pedro’s shoulders rose in a feeble shrug.

Roxanne turned and leaned an elbow on the counter beside him. “You know Lyme disease can recur, right? It can cause problems with the heart and kidneys down the line if it flares up. You don’t want a handler going into this without full and complete disclosure about the dog …” She trailed off. She wasn’t sure why she was telling Pedro this—it was stuff he already knew. “The good news is Gem is doing great. The bad news is that doing great is not a guarantee. And now, thanks to an accidental oversight and Juniper being, well, Juniper, she’s already met Gem.”

Pedro nodded, and Roxanne put her hand on his shoulder. She could tell by his hangdog face that he was already feeling terrible about the situation. He was the one who’d initially lectured her about the importance of entering into a canine partnership with eyes open, with all the critical information revealed to everyone involved. A dog’s health clearly fell under “critical.”

Roxanne couldn’t help blaming herself in part for the predicament. Most training operations would have ruled Gem out as soon as she was diagnosed, but that wasn’t the choice that she had made. She’d also let an insistent, spunky nine-year-old participate in training her.

“I thought it would be easier to tell Laurel what the situation is after she met Gem, though it’s certainly not feeling that way now.”

Roxanne nodded. She got it. It wasn’t always easy to do what they did. They invested so much in the dogs and people they trained. They created heroes. The expectations were high. And hopes were high, too. On top of which, they were all human, and humans were notorious for making mistakes.

“I’ll tell her, though. The next time I talk to her on my own, I’ll tell her everything,” Pedro said. And, he realized, he meant it.

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