A Very Good Life by Lynn Steward Read Free Book Online Page A

rode down in the elevator, Wills panting in anticipation of ruling the sidewalk for the next fifteen minutes. She walked through the softly lit lobby, Wills’ paws tapping the polished marble floor as he scooted through the door held open by the uniformed doorman. It was twilight, and streetlamps were just winking on as Dana allowed the eager spaniel to take the lead, pulling the leash taut. They had only gone half a block when Wills suddenly bolted forward, the leash going slack.
    “Wills!” Dana called. “Come back! Please!” She took the end of the leash in her hand and noticed that the metal clasp that hooked to the collar was worn.
    The spaniel sprinted on its short legs, its wide furry ears flapping against its head as it enjoyed newfound freedom on the crowded sidewalk of Park Avenue.
    “Wills!” Dana cried. “Please—someone stop him!”
    In the distance, Dana could see Wills fast approaching the busy traffic at the corner of 37th Street and Park. Suddenly, a dark figure twenty yards away bent over and scooped him up, cradling him with two arms.
    “Wait!” Dana called. “No! That’s my dog!”
    Dana quickened her pace, trying to make her way through the busy flow of people returning from work or shopping. If the stranger disappeared and she never saw Wills again, she would never forgive herself for not double-checking the clasp on the leash.
    Dana stopped in her tracks, breathing a sigh of relief. The stranger was walking in her direction, a smile on his face. Wills was safely bundled against the lapels of his rescuer’s wool overcoat.
    “I think this little guy belongs to you,” said a man in his early thirties. He smiled as he placed Wills into Dana’s outstretched arms. He was tall, perhaps six-foot two, and had a friendly smile and light blue eyes.
    Dana wrapped Wills, cold and wet from the snow, in her soft cashmere scarf and held him so tightly that the man started to laugh and said, “I didn’t save him so you could suffocate him.”
    “Another second and he would have been in traffic,” Dana said as she wiped snow from Wills’ face. “I’m sorry. Where are my manners? Thank you so much. You saved his life.”
    The man shook his head slightly and grinned. “Glad to help. A Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, if I’m correct. A very handsome breed.”
    “Yes it is. And thank you again. Chivalry isn’t dead.”
    “I should hope not,” said the well-dressed stranger. “Besides, we don’t own the dogs. They own us
.
Have a pleasant evening.” He slowly walked away, turned to wave, and then disappeared into the brisk sidewalk traffic.
    Dana retraced her steps to the lobby of her building, thinking of the brief exchange with the man in the wool overcoat. She couldn’t help but think that the stranger had spoken more words to her in the space of two minutes than Brett sometimes said in an hour.
    Have a pleasant evening.
    It was such a simple phrase, but the four words were warm and comforting. They’d represented a kind sentiment on a dark evening. Dana smiled brightly as Wills looked up at her with big, round innocent eyes. Sometimes, she thought, Christmas angels wore wool overcoats. It had been a bright moment in an otherwise depressing, drab day.
    • • •
    Dana saw that Brett, his crossed legs stretched before him, had just ended a phone call.
    “Just one more,” he said, holding up his left index finger. “Five minutes tops.”
    Dana walked calmly to the chair, took the beige Princess receiver from his hands, and placed it on the cradle.
    Brett was speechless, his mouth hanging open. “What are you doing? I have to call Patrick about a case next week.”
    “Exactly.
Next
week. We have dinner reservations in an hour,” Dana said, “and the traffic isn’t moving.”
    Brett wearily got to his feet and picked up his polo coat from the couch, mumbling “Somebody must have had a bad day.”
    “What did you say?” Dana asked, her tone challenging. Brett’s behavior was