Page 21 of Acting on Instinct
They ran ten miles every morning because otherwise Rory became a menace. Malinois were very high energy, and Ty needed to run Rory in the morning, and then he would do training in the afternoon, where Ty tried to engage Rory’s brain so that Rory became tired from all the thinking. New skills came easily to Rory; hence, Ty was constantly trying to come up with something fresh to teach Rory. In the latest game, Ty was trying to teach Rory how to read simple words. If the card said ball, Rory would have to pick out a ball from the items in front of him.
Reading was a Rory favorite.
Kira had asked if Ty would like to get a communications mat she’d seen on social media, where influencers trained their dogs to step on a button to speak a recorded word to “talk” with their people. Kira thought it led to hilarious misunderstandings, some confusion, and some poignant moments.
Ty said giving Rory buttons like that would be a mistake because it would change their relationship dynamic. Rory's ability to ask for what he wanted, rather than waiting for Ty to offer specific options, wasn’t a safe structure for their work relationship. “Besides,” Ty said, “can you imagine what life would be like if I gave Rory a button that said, ‘outside’? We’d never have any peace.”
Handling Rory was like being a parent. Where the other men in Echo got their downtime, being a K9 handler was a way of life.
And with those thoughts, Kira drifted back to sleep.
By the time Ty and Rory got back from their run, Kira was deep enough in sleep land that she didn’t hear them come back in. She only woke when a cold, wet nose pressed into her cheek, then snuffled her hair.
As Kira blinked her eyes open and reached out to pet Rory, she registered the sound of the shower.
Rory was whining and stomping, demanding that she get up.
“Rory, my love, you are very insistent.” She leaned over to kiss him on the forehead and rub his ears.
Rory grabbed a mouthful of sheets and blankets and pulled them off the bed, leaving Kira lying there in one of Ty’s white T-shirts that covered her nearly to her knees.
“Up,” Kira said with a salute. “Yes, sir.” She pattered over to the bathroom door and tapped. “Good morning, Ty.”
“Almost done.”
“Don’t rush. I’m going down for coffee. Can I go ahead and feed Rory?”
“Yes. Thanks,” he called back, and Kira left her hand on the knob for a moment, knowing that Ty never locked the door in case she wanted to wander in and play Mr. and Mrs. Clean.
Fun. But not what Kira was in the mood for today.
She’d talk to Ty about her mood when he came down for breakfast.
When she got to her kitchen, she found a bag from her favorite bakery sitting next to the coffee pot. Ty and Rory must have taken the loop and stopped by on the way home.
She pulled the bag over to peek in, finding her favorite cinnamon rolls wrapped in parchment, still warm and fragrant. She rolled the top of the bag back down, so it would hold their heat until Ty came down.
Rory sat next to his bowl, muscles tight, staring intensely.
“I’m coming, sweet pea.” Kira opened the fridge, pushing the milk aside to pull out the container of wet food Ty kept stocked.
Rory’s body quivered with restraint as she filled his bowl. “Now, we say thank you,” Kira said. And Rory sat on his back legs, bringing his front paws together with a bow of the head. “Lovely. You may eat.”
Rory dove in, tail wagging, mouth gobbling, tongue licking.
He brought his gaze up to meet Kira’s with a question in his eyes.
“Nope. That’s all you get. You can take it up with Ty when he gets down.”
Reaching into the cupboard, Kira pulled out two hand-thrown ceramic mugs made by a local artist. She set one by the coffee maker for Ty and filled the other for herself.
The coffee Ty had chosen that morning smelled of hazelnuts.
Pattering barefoot over to the glass doors that led out to her little garden, Kira watched as the sun winked over the back wall, sending shadows crisscrossing her lawn.
She looked down at Rory. “I remember the first time I saw you. You were then, as you are now, spectacular.”
Rory plopped onto his butt and lifted a hind leg to noisily scratch his ear.
