#72: Hesitate

Grace hesitated. Somewhere, on the other side of the ranges, a fire burned, the smoke bathing Farmer's Market in a warm orange haze.

Tilly was growling, and from the corner of her eye Grace could see the teeth snarl. This would not end well. But Peter knew best.

The plan was to confront Tilly's fear of other people by exposure therapy.

Their once adorable puppy turned, literally overnight, into an animal sensitive to anyone other than them. They could no longer have people over because Tilly would launch herself and chomp down.

Grace feared they'd have to give her up now that she was pregnant, but knowing how hard work Tilly was, Grace knew that the only option would be to put her down.

So Peter researched. By research, he watched a few Ceaser Milan YouTube videos. And now he was about to open the rear door.

Grace knew this wasn't going to go well. These poor, innocent people didn't know what was about to happen.

Peter unhooked Tilly, wrapping the lead securely around his wrist. He tried to calm her, but the sight of other people was too much. Grace remained in the car, ashamed that once this experiment failed, she was going to have to press Peter to decide between this animal or their baby.

There was no way she was going to let Tilly near their daughter. Something was wrong with Tilly, more than a screw loose and more like wiring gone wrong.

Deep down, and the cause of her hesitation, was that she knew the decision Peter would make.