Learning to Stand (18 page)

Max opened Trece’s door and Trece slid out.
Max took his place. Alex rested her head on his lap.

“
Where to?” Trece asked from
the driver’s seat.

“
I-70,” John
said.

“
You know. I always wonder
how they number these highways,” Trece said. “Growing up in Venice
Beach, I thought...”

As Trece’s flood of conversation filled the
car, Max caught Alex’s eyes.

“
Better?” Max
asked.

She nodded.

F

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

One and half hours later
Thursday afternoon

March 27 – 1:10 P.M. MDT

Evergreen, CO

“
Do we know where we’re
going?” Alex asked.

They had been driving for more than an
hour.

“
We know where we’re going,
you don’t.” Max replied.

“
You’ve planned this a long
time,” she said.

“
About a year,” John
said.

Trece pulled the car to a stop in front of a
small house up the road from downtown Evergreen.

“
I’ll be right
back.”

Trece went up to the door and was let into
the house. Within minutes, he waved them into the house. John came
around and helped her out of the back seat. With his arm tight
around her, they walked up to the front door.

“
Max! John!” A middle aged
woman stood in the doorway. She was average height and had the
physical bearing of someone who was capable and strong. She wore
riding pants, a loose top and a flowered apron. “You must be Alex.
I mean, I knew you were twins but… Wow, you look alike.”

Alex smiled.

“
Oh I forgot, you don’t know
anything about this,” she laughed. “Come in! Come in!”

Max went in first, followed by Alex and
John. There was a warm aroma of fresh tomato sauce and spaghetti.
They could see a family sitting down to lunch.

“
I apologize,” Alex said.
“We’re interrupting.”

“
I expected you, dear,” she
said. “You’re brave to come here with everything going
on.”

“
I’m armed,” Alex said.
Gesturing to Trece, she said, “Plus, I have my own bodyguard. It
makes it a little easier.”

The woman threw her head back and
laughed.

“
Where are my manners?” she
asked. “I’m Susannah Siegmann. Most people call me Sieg.” She put a
hand on John’s arm. “Ready boys?”

John and Max nodded.

“
Well, come on,” she
said.

She walked through her kitchen and down a
narrow set of stairs. Trece went down after her. Alex stopped to
look at Max and John.

“
I can’t get down those,”
she said.

Laughing, John swept her up in his arms. He
kissed her nose.

“
I like this better anyway,”
he said.

“
That’s the way to travel.”
Seig said. Her big voice echoed in the stairwell. “In the arms of a
handsome man. I envy you Alex. I do.”

Nearing the basement, Alex heard a funny
sound, a kind of yip or bark. She saw about a bunch of puppies
playing behind a small metal fence in the corner of the basement.
She gave John a questioning look. John set her down at the bottom
of the stairs.

“
We wanted you to pick her,”
he said.

“
They’re English Springer
Spaniels,” Seig said. “The boys called me about a year ago. But we
are a professional breeder. We only sell our dogs to people who
will show them. It’s part of our contract. The boys said you’d
never have time to show the dog.”

“
We’ve been at an impasse,”
John said. “I ring every few months or so but...”

“
I got to know the boys.
And...”

“
I think we all felt bad,”
Max said. “It wasn’t like our schedules were going to change.
Seig’s dogs are in hot demand from other breeders.”

“
We only have a couple
litters a year,” Seig said. “We don’t over breed.”

“
She doesn’t have a lot of
puppies,” John said.

“
A fortnight ago, I got a
call from a rescue group I work with,” Seig said. “Someone found a
stray mom and her pups. I had to go take a look.”

Seig’s eyes welled. She sniffed back her
tears.

“
This poor momma. No tag, no
chip, out in the wild trying to care for her babies. She had five
pups in a drainage culvert. It’s been so cold... Of course, I took
them to the vet.” Seig wiped her tears. “Only one pup survived. A
tiny little girl. Somehow, she was sheltered from the
wind.

“
I have a litter. Well, my
girl Chrysanthemum, took one look at this little survivor pup and
pushed her other pups out of the way. She’s weaning her pups
anyway. She nursed this little girl to health.

“
I had no idea if this tiny
creature would survive. But with my Chrysanthemum’s mothering,
she’s bounced right back. I would never let one of my girls go to
the wrong home. But I don’t know the line of this pup. Can’t show
her. I was fretting about what to do with her when John called last
night. It was fate. I’m certain of it.”

“
What was fate?” Alex
asked.

“
This pup was destined to be
your pup,” Seig said. “She’s tough and sweet. A real
survivor.”

“
Seig recognized you as my
twin in the video,” Max said in Alex’s ear.

Shaking her head in amazement, Alex looked
from John to Max.

“
Come on, dear,” Seig said.
“I’ll help. First, let’s see if she chooses you. I think that’s the
best test of a good dog fit.”

“
What if another puppy
chooses us?” Alex asked.

“
Then it’s God’s will,” Seig
said. Pointing to Trece and Max, she said, “You boys stand over
there. This is woman’s work.”

John helped Alex sit down on the floor then
stood along the far wall with Max and Trece. Seig opened the metal
fence and the puppies pressed forward. Alex giggled as the puppies
surrounded her. A white puppy with large brownish-red spots climbed
onto her lap and started biting her fingers.

“
They are so cute,” Alex
said. The puppies were pulling at her from every side and tumbling
with each other in excitement. “How do you pick?”

“
I think one has already
picked you.” Seig pointed to the puppy on her lap. “I knew it was
destiny.”

“
Destiny?” Alex
asked.

“
That’s our very special
girl. We don’t have liver colored dogs.” Seig wiped a tear from her
eyes. “It always makes me tear up to see them find their new home.
Do you have a name?”

Alex looked at John and Max.

“
Maggie,” John said. He
lifted the puppy from Alex’s lap and held it to his face. “What do
you think about your name? Are you Maggie?”

The puppy licked his nose.

Seig laughed then clapped her hands.

“
It’s a fit. I’m so glad,”
she said.

Max helped Alex stand while Seig wrangled
the puppies back into their area. John gave the puppy to Max.
Maggie snuggled into his arms. Excited, Seig spoke a mile a
minute.

“
We’re family now. I’ll help
you train her. I’ll come down in a couple of weeks to see how
you’re faring. A new puppy can be very challenging. I will help you
through the first stages. Now did you get the supplies I
recommended? Good. And the food? Good. You made the donation to
English Springer Rescue? Good. Do you have any
questions?”

“
Shots? Vets?” Alex threw
her questions into the flow of Seig’s words.

John lifted Alex into his arms.

“
She’s had all of her shots.
The boys met with a couple vets. Did you pick one? Good. Oh one
more thing. Here is my favorite book on dogs. I thought it might
come in handy in the next few days.”

Seig gave Alex a book and beamed from ear to
ear.

“
The next few days are
crucial,” she started again. “Oh hell, I talk on and on when I’m
excited. You have my phone number. Call me if you have any
questions.”

Maggie never looked up from Max’s arms. He
carried her, cradled like a baby, all the way to the car. While Max
carried Maggie, John carried Alex up the stairs and through the
house. Trece helped them into the SUV then went around to the
driver’s seat.

Standing in the doorway, Seig waved them
down the street.

“
And?” Alex asked from the
back seat.

John looked at her in the rearview mirror
and smiled. “Surprise?”

She laughed.

“
We thought…” Turning around
in the passenger’s seat, John looked at Max.

“
We thought having a dog
might help you feel more settled,” Max said. “John called last
night because of Simon.”

“
Maggie’s not a replacement
for Simon,” John said. “Nothing can replace Simon. We thought she
might help.”

“
Why are you so quiet,
Trece?” Alex asked.

“
I’m touched by this family
moment,” Trece said. He gave an exaggerated sniff. “I, myself, am
choked up about it. Plus, you have to admit Alex, she’s very
cute.”

Just then Maggie squirmed out of Max’s arms.
She walked across his lap and onto Alex’s lap where she gave a
sharp bark. Alex picked her up to nestle her in her arms.

“
See now? That’s very cute,”
Trece said. “You remember when Luz had our first. Damn, Alex had to
show me how to hold him. I swear Luz thought I had lost my mind.
But look at me. How could I hold that ity bity baby?”

“
Not such a baby anymore,”
Alex said.

“
He’s collecting contracts,”
Trece said. “College football. My son! Luz says she has to turn the
sprinklers on to keep the recruiters from destroying my beautiful
lawn.”

“
I thought you were
divorced?” John asked.

“
Let me tell
you...”

Alex groaned. Leaning against the car seat,
she settled into a long Trece story. The tiny puppy in her arms
seemed ready to nap right with her. Before Trece got to the
predictable ‘Luz said my brown ass made her loco,’ Alex and Maggie
were asleep.

FFFFF

Four hours later

Thursday afternoon
March 27 – 6:10 P.M. MDT

Denver, Colorado

“
Are they in there?” A
woman’s voice at the door woke Alex from a sound sleep.

Alex heard a muffled male voice in
response.

“
I don’t care what they are
doing. Open. The. Door,” the voice said.

White Boy’s face looked at Alex and she
shrugged.

“
Your sister,” he said with
a bow.

Samantha stomped into the room to stand at
the end of the bed. She squinted at Alex then looked around the
room.

“
Where’s your
boyfriend?”

“
My boyfriend?” Alex asked.
Maggie’s head peeked out from under the covers. “Sorry, we just
woke up.”

“
You were sleeping with...”
Samantha’s eyes shifted to the bed where the puppy was walking
across to her. “What’s that?”

“
Our new puppy,” Alex said.
“Sami meet Maggie. Maggie meet Sami.”

Maggie’s front paws scratched at her skirt
until Samantha picked up the puppy. Maggie immediately licked her
mouth. Samantha looked disgusted then let out a tiny giggle. Her
giggle shifted to a sigh. She snuggled the warm puppy. Her sigh
turned into sniffles and Samantha was angry again.

“
Where is your
boyfriend?”

“
Who?”

“
Rasmussen.”

Samantha put the puppy down. She seethed
with anger.

“
Um…Yes, Sam, after being
assaulted, and of course having a hysterectomy, Raz and I came back
here. We’ve been fucking for hours. You can ask all hundred people
roaming around the basement. We’re kind of loud.”

“
And what does your husband
have to say?”

“
Oh him. He joined our fun
last night. You know, a bleeding girl can never have too many
lovers. How ever did you guess the truth?”

“
You’re not funny,” Samantha
said.

Maggie gave a delighted bark when Alex
rolled a ball to her. Samantha crossed her arms across her chest to
keep from laughing at the puppy’s joy.

“
What’s going on,
Sami?”

“
It’s not enough that I’m
working a billion hours this week at my JOB or that I only sleep
three hours a night or that I BARELY have time to pee. No, I have
to deal with your CRAP. Why? Because Alex managed to get herself in
legal trouble… AGAIN. Not to mention the fact that I have to deal
with you and...” Samantha raised her perfectly arched eyebrows and
pursed her lips. “Of course, he won’t have a thing to do with me.
But what do I find? He’s in bed with Alex.”

“
Erm… Raz canceled last
night?”

Samantha nodded her head with such force
that her long auburn curls bounced on her chest. Her blue eyes
blazed with indignation.

“
You know he hurt his back,”
Alex said. “You know that, right?”

“
He says he hurt his back
but come on? The man is solid muscle. How could he possibly hurt
his back? He doesn’t have the guts...”

Alex moved from the bed to catch Samantha as
she started to cry. Alex held her sister close while Samantha cried
into her shoulder.

“
Sami, what is this? This is
not about Raz.”