Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 37 of 78

The limousine reached the manor gates by evening. Kylie's polished home rose against the dark, all bright glass and warm stone. Inside, they had a girlfriend, a necklace, and a plan. But when Kylie opened the front door, the puppy planted his paws and would not cross. "He's never lived here," Arianna said. She knelt beside him. "The estate was different. The ship was small. This is huge to him." Kylie watched the puppy tremble. His ears pinned flat. He stared down the long, echoing hall past the tall windows and the wide stairs. Her two dogs came to sniff, and he shrank behind Arianna's legs. "He panicked in the taxi," Kylie said. "He panicked in the crowd until we trained him. This is the same problem. Too much space, no safe corner." She thought of the blanket den she had built for him the very first day they met. It had worked once. It would work again. "Then we make him one here," Arianna said. They chose the corner of the living room, near the piano. Kylie pushed two chairs together. Arianna draped a soft blanket over the top to make a low roof. Kylie brought the puppy's own bed and set it inside, then added the scarf Arianna had worn on the ship so the den smelled like her. The puppy still would not move. Kylie sat on the floor a few feet from the den and waited. She did not carry him. She did not push. She had learned on the ship that forcing him made it worse. "Come on," Arianna whispered. She placed one green grape near the den's opening. The puppy took a step. Then another. He sniffed the scarf, circled once, and lay down inside the little tent. Kylie let out the breath she had been holding. She reached over and closed her hand around Arianna's on the carpet. "He's home," Arianna said. "We're home," Kylie said. Then her phone lit up on the piano. Her mother's name. Kylie let it ring twice, watching the puppy sleep in his corner. She was tired of picking the world over the person in front of her. But she picked it up. Her mother's voice was fast and low. "The label saw the dock footage," her mother said. "They want you and Arianna in the studio Monday. Both of you. They're calling it a duo now." Kylie looked at Arianna, then at the puppy who had finally stopped shaking. She had just made this house safe. Now the label wanted to pull them both back out of it. "Tell them we'll talk," Kylie said. "Not decide. Talk." She hung up. The puppy had a corner. But Kylie and Arianna had a new one waiting Monday, and this time the door was not theirs to lock.