Austin stuck his head in the room. “What can I do to help?”
“Nothing. I’m going to have to just get dressed and run.” She grabbed her uniform from her suitcase and ran into the bathroom. Two minutes later, she ran a hand through her hair and called it good.
By the time she made it to the back room that housed the housekeeping carts, she was ten minutes late. She rushed into the room and looked on the chart to see her assignment. Her cart was the last one. She clocked in and grabbed her cart.
This time she was cleaning rooms in the 300 block. She rushed to that side of the resort, one wheel catching on the seams in the sidewalk and running askew, which made it harder to push the cart.
She entered room 302 and propped the door open with her cart like she had done yesterday. She’d gotten pretty good at stripping the beds, and she reached for the corner to yank on the sheets. Something furry rushed at her and Dani screamed, jerking back.
A tiny Yorkshire terrier barked at her, the long fur on the dog shaking as the dog defended his territory. Dani’s heart raced and she placed her hand on her chest. “Oh, goodness. You scared me,” she said to the dog. And then she looked around for the owner. Had she forgotten to knock on the door and announce that housekeeping was entering?
“Housekeeping,” she called out, but no one answered, and the dog kept barking.
Well. The owners must be at breakfast or something. She would just have to work around the animal. She put her earbuds in and shooed the puppy away from her work area. After the beds were stripped and the new, clean sheets put on, she turned to grab the vacuum.
The dog might be startled by the loud noise. Maybe she should put the puppy in the bathroom while she vacuumed the room. She searched for the tiny animal, but the dog was nowhere in sight.
“Here, doggie,” she called, pulling out her earbuds. No sound came. No barking. Nothing.
An eerie feeling overcame her as she looked under the beds. The dog wasn’t there. And then she remembered the door propped open by her cart. Oh, no. She couldn’t have.
She rushed to the door and sure enough, she saw the little terrier running in the grass, heading toward the trees that lined the south side of the resort. He gleefully barked as he grew farther and farther away from her. Dani’s mouth went dry and she dropped the vacuum extension rod and ran after him.
“Come back,” she called, sure that wouldn’t do a thing. She didn’t even know the dog’s name. She was right. The dog didn’t stop, or even look in her direction.
How could she have done that? Why didn’t she think about the door being open? If she lost this guest’s dog, she would be in so much trouble. It was one thing to have to replace the carpet. There was no way to replace a beloved pet.
Acid burned in her stomach as she ran after the incredibly fast dog. “Here, puppy! Come here,” she called. Curious patrons gazed at her as she stupidly ran toward the trees, the dog now no longer in sight.
She pushed harder, rushing into the small copse. She came out the other side and balked. The dog was rushing toward the busy street outside of the resort. “Oh, no!” Tears stung her eyes. “Come back. Please!”
Austin appeared beside her. “What happened?”
She spun around, her heart in her throat. “I let the dog loose. He’s heading toward the street. I don’t know what to do!”
Austin made a ring with his fingers, then put them in his mouth and whistled. The dog turned to look at him. He whistled again, louder. Then he patted his legs. “Come here, pup.”
For a second it looked like it would work, but the dog hesitated, then started walking the other direction, sniffing the grass.
“I can’t get him to come to me,” Dani said, her knees weak.
“Go back to the room. See if there are any dog treats in there.”
She nodded, glad to have something to do. “Okay.” She ran faster than she had in her life. When she got to the room, she found a carton of dog bones sitting on the desk. She grabbed it and ran back to where Austin waited for her.
Handing him the box, she prayed this would work. Austin whistled once more, then shook the box. “Treats,” he called, and the dog froze, his gaze snapping to them.
“Come on, get the treats.” Austin shook the box again, and the dog shot across the grass toward them.
Dani almost cried, she was so happy when the puppy reached them and Austin was able to scoop him up. “Oh, my goodness. I can’t believe that worked.”
“Hey,” Austin said. “I know a thing or two about dogs. I had three growing up.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’m just so relieved. I thought for sure I was going to kill their dog.” Tears blurred her vision as they walked slowly back to the room. “I was going to die if that happened.”
“It’s okay. Crisis averted. You’re fine.”
She glanced around, sure someone had caught her stupidity on camera somewhere. Luckily, no one seemed to be holding their phone in that way. She rubbed her temples as Austin moved the cart and then walked into room 302, letting the dog down onto the carpet.
“I’m so stupid.” Dani sunk down on the bed. “I can’t do this job.”
“You’re not stupid. Anyone could have made that mistake. I’ve stayed at many hotels and resorts that didn’t allow pets. You didn’t know this one allowed them.”
Dani thought back to the times she’d spent at the Billionaire Club. Maybe she had seen people with pets there. She just hadn’t paid much attention. She should have known better. Her hands shook at the thought of what almost happened. “I could have killed someone’s dog.”
“But you didn’t. And you learned not to prop open the door.”
She looked up at Austin. “Why are you being so nice to me?” She hadn’t meant to blurt that out, which just embarrassed her more. But she did want to know. Everyone who was nice to her wanted something.
He seemed taken aback by her question. He just stood there, blinking at her. “I don’t know,” he finally said.
“Sorry, that was rude.” She stood and smoothed out the polyester shirt Kay had given to her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. I’m a disaster. Which, by the way, is another name given to me on social media. Danica the Disaster.”
He flinched. “Ignore the social media.”
“I wish I could. I still haven’t watched the latest…” She sucked in a breath, not meaning to say anything about that embarrassing video. The last thing she wanted was for Austin to go look it up and watch her making a colossal fool of herself at this very resort.
“The latest what?”
“Never mind.” She grabbed the vacuum. “I should get back to work. Thank you so much for helping me get the puppy back.” She practically shoved him out of the room.
“Sure.” He gave her a small wave as he left.
She sighed and plugged in the vacuum. Another crisis averted. For now. Hopefully Austin wasn’t the kind of guy to go searching her name on the internet. Although she had to shoot her mouth off and tell him about the awful names she was called online. Pretty stupid.
Maybe he’d never go looking. She crossed her fingers and plugged in her earphones. She needed some BTS therapy now.