Izzy walked into the Starks' flat and dropped her bag. After a long day at work, all she wanted to do was relax and watch some TV.
As it would have it, Ireland, the Starks' Irish setter, came bounding out of the bedroom with his leash in his mouth. She couldn't help it. She smiled at the happy dog, took the leash, and snapped it on his harness.
He led her through hallway to the stairs and down them to the sidewalk out in front of the building. Once outside, he happily sniffed the ground once then started towards the dog park.
Arriving at the dog park, she allowed Ireland off his leash. The Irish setter took off after a squirrel that scaled a tree, leaving the dog baying at it on the ground. Izzy shook her head at the goofy dog, calling to him as she laughed.
"Ireland, leave the squirrel alone." The dog looked at her, wagged his tail and trotted over to her, plopping its shaggy self on the ground at her feet. She rubbed him. "I know you're a hunting dog, but please behave." He turned and licked her. "Ah, kissed from a mischief maker. Go on. Go play." The dog took off, only to be joined by another Irish setter.
"Is this seat taken?"
Izzy looked up from the manuscript she had been working on. Dayton Stark was standing behind her with a leash draped across his arm. Clad in jeans and a sweatshirt, he looked almost normal.
"Sure." She slid down the bench to allow him room. Easily able to ignore someone, she continued her manuscript.
"Whose dog?" he asked after several moments of silence.
"Your brother's. He's working and Tophyr's in Manhattan for the morning. I volunteered to walk him." She replied, her pen flying across the paper.
"I figured. My family breeds Irish setters."
"I wouldn't have guessed." She couldn't hide the sarcasm in her voice.
"Do you have something against me?"
Izzy sighed, capped her pen, closed her notebook, and looked at him, dark eyes flashing. "You have everything. Here I am trying to work on something that might help me out in life and you think I have something against you."
"What are you working on?"
Her lip curled at the change of subject. "If you must know, it's a novel."
"What's it about?"
"Don't worry about it."
"Seriously, I'm interested."
"Sorry, but I don't share what I'm working on. It's a personal choice of mine."
Dayton stared at her as she opened her notebook and began writing again. She was flustered and he didn't know why. It seemed to be it was him or it could be her situation she was in. He was never one to judge but he had seen someone get mad because they were less fortunate than he was. Maybe that was what was going on here.
They sat in silence as Izzy wrote and Dayton watched the dogs as the fought, chased, and romped in the green grass. Eventually Ireland trotted over and flopped down belly up. Izzy closed her notebook and stuffed both it and the pen in her bag. She clipped the leash to his collar and stood.
"Later." She said to him and walked away.
Dayton pulled out his cell phone and hit speed dial. This was going to bug him until he figured out what was going on. On the third ring, he heard the line catch.
"Hey, Dayton. What's up?"
"Nothing much. I just saw Izzy Peters. What's the deal with her?" he asked as he stood and leaned against the bench so another person could sit.
"Izzy? She's from Queens. She moved to Brooklyn about six months ago. She wants to be a novelist but she's having a hard time getting published. The last one turned her down flat because she didn't have a place to call home."
"That doesn't make any sense, Derek. She works at the Piermont Café."
"I didn't say it had to, Day, and she can't get an apartment because she can't afford one. She's become close friends with Tophyr and they share the same values, so much so that Tophyr has talked me into letting her stay with us until she can find a place of her own."
Dayton was still on the value comment. "Oh, Lord. Another Tophyr."
"Hey!"
"No offense."
Derek laughed on the other end. He enjoyed making his older brother squirm. "None taken. Just get to know her, Day. She's really cool person. She's just having a hard time."
"What if she doesn't want to get to know me?" Dayton asked as he clipped the leash to his dog's collar.
"Pester her like I did Tophyr."
"Seriously?"
"No joke. I got to go. I'll talk to you later." Derek hung up.
Dayton had the sinking suspicion Derek was going to do something.
He looked down at his dog. "What do you think, Dublin? Should we go after her?" His dog barked at him. "That's what I thought." Master and companion left the park.
"Dayton?" Tophyr asked as she pulled her long blond hair into a loose ponytail. "Yeah, he owns an Irish setter. Dublin. He and Ireland are from the same litter."
"Why was he at a dog park in Brooklyn? Don't they have dog parks in Manhattan?" Izzy asked. She had gone directly to the Howling Wolf Gallery that Tophyr owned and operated successfully. She had gabbed about Dayton since she walked in the door.
Tophyr looked at Ireland. The dog was happily munching on a Dentastick in his corner of the gallery that he had claimed when they first opened the gallery. "Put that poncho on and pull your hair up."
Izzy didn't argue, like she could with a strong willed Hurst-Stark. When her auburn hair was up, she looked at her friend just as Duke Lively carried a wall of balloons out and placed it on a drop cloth. "Why was Dayton in Brooklyn?"
"He lives here." Duke stated as he also donned a poncho.
"Thank you, Mr. Know-it-all. I was just about to tell her." Tophyr scolded.
Her best friend smiled cheekily."You didn't do it fast enough."
She frowned at him as he went to get the darts. "Dayton moved to Brooklyn about a year ago. He lives three blocks from us. You'll be seeing quite a bit of him." Tophyr looked at her friend. "What's your interest in Dayton?"
"I have no interest in Dayton."
"I don't believe you, Izzy."
Izzy gaped at her friend. "Why not?"
"Because Dayton told us of how you met."
"Did he tell you it was a year ago, just after he broke off his engagement?"
"I kinda guessed it. Just give him a try. He's not a bad guy. Like you, he too has had a hard life."
Izzy looked at her friends as Tophyr took a few darts from Duke and tossed them at the balloons. Paint cascaded down the wall and mixed together. For some reason, all that color reminded her of what she was going through at the moment.
She grabbed a dart and let it fly. Blue paint exploded from a red balloon, splattering on her and the other two. That made her feel good. She let more darts fly, making she feel even better.