Dog Beach Unleashed by Lisa Greenwald Read Free Book Online

it,” I tell him, still trying not to laugh as I imagine the dogs acting onstage. “This is only our second day, and we’re trying to get the dogs situated.” I pause. “But it sounds like a fun idea.”
    I see Ritzy trying to steal a ball from Rascal. Lester is at the very edge of Dog Beach, about to make a run for it again, and Marilyn Monroe keeps looking over at me as if she’s bored. I should probably end this conversation for now.
    â€œThanks for thinking about it, Remy,” he says and gives me his phone number. “Oh, and I forgot to mention, I’m planning to be a vet. I don’t know very much yet, but I do know some things about dogs.”
    â€œCool,” I say.
    If he knows some things about being a vet, he should know that I really need to get back to the dogs!
    â€œSo, how ’bout this? I’ll bring the other members of the troupe by tomorrow, and we can explain what we were thinking about, in terms of getting the dogs into our act.”
    â€œOkay. How many of you are there?” I ask.
    â€œWell, there are four of us.”
    â€œOkay.”
    Only on Seagate Island would a college kid come to talk to a twelve-year-old running a doggie day care program. That’s the magic of Seagate, right there in a nutshell.
    â€œWhat was that all about?” Bennett asks when I get back to the group. “It seemed like a really intense conversation.”
    â€œNot much, really,” I tell him. “It was kinda odd. You know that improv troupe we’ve seen running the acting classes in the stadium?”
    Everyone nods, and I tell them what Josh said about getting the dogs involved, their competition, and everything else.
    â€œJosh is a genius,” Bennett says. “He goes to Yale.” He throws a Frisbee to Atticus.
    â€œOkay . . .” I’m not sure what that really has to do with this improv situation, but it only goes to prove that Bennett knows every single person on Seagate Island. “Anyway, they’re coming by tomorrow to hang out with the dogs.”
    â€œSounds cool,” Calvin says. “I mean, improv can be really funny.” He pauses and turns to his sister. “Right, Claire?”
    She rolls her eyes and walks away.
    Calvin sighs. “Well,
I
think it’s cool. She does, too. We went on a cruise once, and there was an improv show. Claire was picked out of the audience to participate.”
    He runs down the beach to continue the Frisbee game with Bennett.
    I notice that Claire’s crying again, but Calvin is acting as if everything is fine. Maybe that’s the key word:
acting.
His parents’ pending divorce has got to be upsetting him, too.
    I walk over to Claire. “How are you?” I ask, even though it seems like the dumbest question in the world.
    â€œBad. I saw my mom crying again.”
    â€œReally?” I answer. I want to be there for Claire, but I don’t know what to say.
    â€œYeah, and she’s not a crier. I mean, the only other time I saw her cry was when my grandma died. She didn’t even cry when she broke her foot or got stung by five bees.”
    â€œThat’s a hard thing to see,” I say. “I’m really sorry this is happening to you.”
    Everything I say sounds wrong after it comes out of my mouth. Maybe there’s someone I can turn to for guidance. I thought about asking Bennett for advice, but now it seems easier to talk to someone else. I’ve spent time studying dog behavior, but I guess I need to spend time studying human behavior, too.
    â€œI just realized that this may be our last Seagate summer. We’ll probably have to spend summers with my dad from now on.”
    â€œReally? No! You just got here.”
    â€œI know. Everything about this totally stinks,” she says. “I really don’t know what’s going to happen.”
    â€œLet’s not think about the future; things can always