The four huskies were mid-leap, paws out-stretched. It was only a matter of seconds before they would make contact with Sarah.”Boys, sit!” Bent ordered. His voice was calm, but commanding. The dogs immediately sat right back down on their haunches. Sarah hadn’t even realized she’d flung her arms up to protect herself. After all, the dogs were huge and she was all dressed up. She recalled Erna had used a special device to control the animals. She looked for a similar device in Bent’s hand. But she didn’t see one. Wow. He really could control his dogs easily. Just like he had stopped Trash, when her own dog had tried to jump on him. She quickly patted each of the dogs on their fluffy heads. There was Grumpy. His large ears were alert, listening. His furry nose actually seemed to be sniffing angrily, as if he was in a bad mood.Sleepy sat beside Grumpy. His eyes were almost closed, even now. His big head rested on his paws.Happy’s tongue hung out. He licked at Sarah’s hands as she rubbed him under his furry chin.When she got to Bashful, she saw that the dog’s eyes twinkled wonderfully in the overhead fluorescent lights. “Oh, Sarah, that dress is sexy as crap on you,” Elly breathed. She’d stood up from the kitchen table and walked over to stand in front of Sarah. She touched the light fabric of the gold dress. “Wherever did you find this? It’s gorgeous.” Sarah smiled at her. She realized Elly was trying really hard to be nice. She recalled Dalia’s words, that Elly was afraid she would steal Bent away. “I got lucky, I guess,” Sarah admitted. “Found it at a little boutique on the Avenue.” Elly’s eyebrows shot to her forehead. “What? Seriously? That’s amazing. Field hockey, as you know, took up all my time. So I gave up the idea of shopping locally. Had this beauty shipped overnight from online.” Elly wore a dark, silky purple dress. There appeared to be actual peacock feathers sewn along the sides and onto the strappy shoulders. Elly’s hair was pinned and curled elegantly.”Your dress is absolutely lovely,” Sarah said, truthfully. She had to admit, she’d never seen Elly look better than she did at the moment. “Oh, and smell!” Elly sang. She held her wrist out to Sarah. Sarah bent and sniffed her wrist. She recognized the perfume immediately. “Do you like it?” Elly asked, laughing. “I confess. I loved your Ralph Lauren perfume soooo much, I bought an identical one!” She did a little twirl. “Now you and I will smell exactly the same!” Sarah tried as hard as possible to not burst out laughing. When she raised her eyes to Kurl and Bent, she saw the boys were attempting to hold in their own laughter. But Kurl cracked up anyway. “Sarah, come here. I want to see what Elly smells like.” He made a grab for Sarah, but Elly stepped in his way. She put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “Shut it, Kurl. You know I’m awesome.” She tossed her blonde hair and turned back to Sarah. “When I see a good thing, I make sure to follow suit. It’s just in my nature.” She smiled sweetly. “It’s fine,” Sarah said, waving her hand. “It’s a compliment that you like my perfume.” She allowed Kurl to take her arm and hug her tightly. Wait…was she hugging Kurl? When did he start…hugging? Sarah giggled against his ear. “I missed you, Little Bunny,” he whispered. “That dress looks smashing on you.” She let her head drop onto his shoulder. “Aw, someone’s going soft,” Sarah teased. She wrapped her arms around his waist. His tux felt cool against her cheek. She recalled spying on him while he tried on his tux at the tailor. Somehow, it made her feel guilty. She buried her face deeper into his shoulder, liking the feel of his hands on her back. “I got you a little something,” he snickered. “It’s not much, but I figured girls like this kind of stuff…” He broke away from her to walk over to one of Bent’s fridges.