Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 3 of 78

The puppy would not stop shaking. Arianna set her down on the gravel and the little dog pressed flat against her ankle, ears back, tail tucked. Kylie crouched a few feet away and kept her voice low. She had pictured this morning a hundred times. She had not pictured a scared animal between them. "She was fine on the bus," Arianna said. "The taxi is what did it. The driver kept braking." She sat down cross-legged on the gravel and the puppy climbed halfway into her lap and stayed there, panting. Kylie stood up slow. "Come inside. Gravel isn't helping. Hard floors, no echo. Let's find her a corner." They moved into the front room. High ceilings. Too much space. The puppy skittered on the tile and hid behind a planter. Arianna followed and coaxed with a piece of jerky from her bag. The puppy would not take it. She looked up at Kylie with an apology already forming on her mouth, and Kylie shook her head before it landed. "Don't. I have an idea." Kylie walked to the kitchen and came back with a folded throw blanket and a shallow bowl of water. She pushed a low bench away from the wall to make a pocket of space. She laid the blanket in the pocket. Then she sat down on the floor a body's length away and patted the blanket once. "Small den," she said. "That's what my trainer told me once, about my mom's dog. They need a wall on three sides." Arianna carried the puppy over and set her on the blanket. The puppy circled twice, sniffed the wool, and lay down with her chin on her paws. Her ribs still moved fast. Kylie slid the water bowl closer without leaning in. She hummed something under her breath, the bridge of a song she had not finished. The puppy's ears twitched once and settled. They sat on the tile and waited. Five minutes. Ten. The panting slowed. The tail loosened out from under the belly. Somewhere in the yard a fountain ran. A red cat crossed the window ledge outside, paused to look in at them, then dropped away into the garden. Arianna spoke first, quiet so the puppy wouldn't spook. "I wrote a song about you last month. I almost didn't come because I thought meeting you would ruin it." Kylie kept her eyes on the dog. "Does this ruin it?" "No." Arianna's hand was flat on the tile between them, palm up. "This is better than the song." Kylie put her hand in Arianna's. The puppy sighed once and closed her eyes. For the first time since the gate buzzer, the room felt like a room and not a stage. Then Kylie's phone lit up on the counter. Her assistant's name. Three missed calls already. The hotel knew she was gone.