How To Get Married by Margot Early

Author:Margot Early
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2006-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

“I HAVE TWO DOGS,” she said. “I need to train one of them—Loki, we decided—as a hearing dog.”

“But if you train another hearing dog—for something to do, for money, for experience, for any reason—we’ll have no trouble finding a partner for that dog.”

“Well, let’s have fun sound-testing them anyhow,” Sophie said as they went inside. “But I can’t stand this. There are so many good dogs in these places.”

William didn’t answer. He greeted a middle-aged woman with very short black hair who stood behind the counter.

“Hi, Will,” she said. “Come to see our Tibetan mastiff?”

“Your alleged Tibetan mastiff. And maybe to sound-test some dogs. We’re going to try training a hearing dog.”

“Now that’s a good idea. I know some people who do that down in Bayfield if you want to talk with them.”

“Thanks. I would.”

He let Sophie precede him down the hallway, following painted paw prints the size of dinner plates toward the kennels, which lined both sides of four aisles. More dogs were outside. They found the alleged Tibetan mastiff against the back wall.

William took one look and shook his head.

“What?” asked Sophie.

“I bet you can figure it out.”

“Too small? Not a Tibetan mastiff?”

“The latter. I don’t like his conformation either.” He nodded and walked on, pausing beside a golden-colored dog with a creamy chest.

“He looks kind of like a Shiba Inu,” said Sophie. Its card identified the dog as a “Carolina Dog.”

“He’s not,” said William. “And he’s not a Carolina Dog.” He crouched beside the door, and the dog came forward, tongue hanging out. “I know what you are, mate.”

“What is he?”

“This is a New Guinea Singing Dog.”

“They’re really from New Guinea?”

“Yes.”

“Do they sing?”

“They do. It’s kind of like wolves howling. There’s nothing like hearing a bunch of them together.”

Sophie felt tears sting behind her eyes. Her damn hearing. Coyotes had lived near her when she was in Nevada and when she was in California. There was nothing she’d preferred to listening to their song. But even that was different now. After she’d lost her hearing, she’d known they were yipping and singing only when Loki and Cinders had told her. Then she’d put both dogs on lead and gone outside to try to listen.

Everything sounded so different now.

And look how different your life is, Sophie.

Living in Ouray, visiting an animal shelter with William Ludlow, preparing to sing at a wedding.

I feel like such a failure.

Why had this happened? Why had it happened now, when she was so near the culmination of her dreams?

“How did the dog get here,” she managed to ask, “if it’s from New Guinea?”

“Imported or maybe bred here. I saw one once on the street in Denver with someone. They were wild in the Highlands of New Guinea. But people have domesticated them here.”

“Are you going to adopt this dog?” she asked.

He scrutinized the dog as it stood and jumped against the chain link. “Yes. I think I am.”

“He’s too small for protection work. And you’ll only have one. You won’t have a chorus.”

“One will be fine.

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