Wanted: House Sitter
Chapter 1
Authors Notes: I reserve the right to be listed as the author of this work, wherever it is posted. If found posted anywhere except Literotica.com with this note attached, this story is posted without my permission.
Karen and Dave looked over the ad, "House/Dog Sitter wanted, must be mature, experienced and reliable house and pet sitter living in the greater Portland area. Must be flexible, with excellent references. Pay commensurate with experience."
"I think we need more details, hun." Dave said sipping his coffee.
"We can add more if we don't get any responses, dear."
"Okay, so when do you want to start it?"
"Whenever you want to start dealing with the hordes of applicants I'm sure we'll have."
Karen looked at him with a broad grin, knowing he was going to be the one doing most of the interviewing.
A few days went by and Dave put the ad on Craigslist. They weren't in a big hurry since the cruise they were going on was almost six months away and it was only March. Their daughters would have watched the dogs, but each had moved beyond an easy drive to their country home and couldn't stay overnight due to their jobs. Coupled with the fact that the cat's litter box needed daily changes forced them into a corner.
It took a few days for responses to start coming in, some wanted the pets brought to them others were too young and dependent on their parents for transportation; still others thought they lived too far away. It took a few frustrated calls until Dave narrowed it down to three candidates.
He scheduled interviews on a Saturday when Karen could be there. They set up times and made sure the yard was free of dog poop. They wanted it kept that way figuring they would set the standard.
The first candidate showed up late, in a run down junker car, looked shabby and reeked of alcohol. He was quickly shown the driveway.
The second candidate was a young woman about the same age as their daughters, early twenties. She had a nice car, dressed well, and was very polite.
Karen and Dave were on the deck waiting and talking, they saw the dogs' reaction before hearing her car on the gravel path leading down from the main road and up to the house. When she stopped her car the dogs ran up to greet her, their tails wagging and their butts wiggling side to side in excitement. She opened her car door, stepping out to greet them completely "calm and assertive" as Cesar Milan would say.
She was in a flower print sundress, her jet-black hair swirling about her head as she bent over to greet Sadie and Gwen. The two dogs bathed her face with their tongues as they danced around her vying for her attention.
Karen tapped Dave's arm and pointed out the obvious, "They adore her."
"They are labs, dear they adore everyone."
Holding hands, Karen and Dave walked up to meet the young woman. She stood up from petting the dogs, her cheeks glistening with canine affection. To Dave her dark Polynesian complexion looked almost like a milk chocolate candy bar that had been left to warm in the sun, soft, sweet, and delicious. He kept that thought to himself as he let loose of Karen's hand to shake the young woman's.
"Thank you for coming I'm Dave and this is Karen. You've met Sadie and Gwen. Sadie is the yellow."
"Nice to meet you Dave, Karen; I'm Noelani. They are cuties; I have a male chocolate lab Ka-lee."
The dogs ran off to find things for their new friend to throw for them to chase. The trio walked out onto the broad expanse of grass that served as the backyard.
"This is nice, lots of room for puppies to explore." Noelani commented as she looked around.
"We have ten acres, five in Christmas trees, one is the pond, and the rest are just ornamentals and lawn." Dave replied.
"We love the quiet and privacy; it's our little slice of heaven. Noelani, right? Tell us a bit about you, experience, references?" Karen asked.
"Call me Lani, sure. I'm originally from Hawaii, moved here to be with my boyfriend. I'm going to community college getting all my general classes done then I'm transferring to a four year and I hope to become a Veterinarian. Here's a list of people I've sat for."
"That sounds great, Lani. Which school do you plan on going to?" Karen smiled hoping she'd fit into their plans as she glanced over the list then handed it to Dave.
"Oregon State, they have a Vet program and I want to stay in Oregon. I may apply to U.C. Davis but they are extremely hard to get into."
"Lani," Dave smiled thinking the same thing Karen was. "We are looking for a person who can house sit and watch the dogs and cat. We plan on being away a couple of weekends and assuming that works we have a week long cruise planned this summer so that person would watch them that week also. Is that something you might be interested in doing?"
"I think I'd like that, you have a great place out here and the dogs are so cute. I would need some notice prior to those weekends."
"Why don't I go get us something to drink, we can sit on the deck and talk specifics." Dave said.
They walked up to the deck; Dave went inside after getting the ladies drink choices. The two women sat out on the deck as the dogs played, listening to them barking and watching them chase each other. When Dave came back out with their drinks they talked for an hour discussing details and getting to know each other. When Lani left, Dave and Karen contemplated their talk and decided she would be a good match.
The third candidate was a young man in his twenties, the dogs weren't as friendly to him as they were to Lani. They were polite to him and after he left and a brief discussion together Karen called Lani to see when she'd like to return and bring her dog to meet Sadie and Gwen.
A couple of weeks went by until Lani could return with her dog. This time Samantha was visiting and got a chance to meet and talk with Lani. The dogs had an initial curious reaction to each other sniffing and posturing but after a few tense moments they ran off playing and chasing each other.
Dave introduced Samantha to Lani then walked back into the house to tell Karen she was there. He had some work going on in the shop and figured Karen could handle the talk. Samantha and Lani walked towards the pond, following the dogs. Karen joined the two young women as they discussed colleges, finding things they had in common and some quirks about the dogs Lani would be in charge of.
Samantha was impressed with Lani's knowledge of dogs and gave her mother an approving nod. They talked for quite some time about college, Oregon, and animals in general. Oregon State was Samantha's alma mater and she suggested some contacts to Lani. They walked around talking, stopping at one end of the pond and tossing tennis balls for the dogs as they chatted.
Since it was a warm spring day the three women wore shorts and tennis shoes. They soon discovered that rubber boots and long pants would have been better. Each time one of the dogs returned to drop one of the balls it shook and soaked them. Karen suggested wearing the rubber boots they kept on the deck tucked away for winter walking. Lani offered to get them and headed for the deck.
"She's pretty smart mom, I like her. She has an amazing smile and nice personality."
"I'm glad you like her, she'll be house sitting for us when we go to the coast and if things work out for the cruise too."
Their attention returned to the dogs with an occasional glance at Lani, each smiling with different thoughts about her presence there. Karen was happy she had applied and that Samantha liked her. She planned on having Samantha drop by unannounced the first couple of times Lani was there house sitting. Samantha liked her as a possible new friend; she found they had quite a few things in common. She thought she'd ask her if she wanted to go to a charity dog walk at the end of the month, taking the three dogs and her mom.
Samantha thought she was cute also, and maybe her boyfriend had some friends she could get to know. Her group of friends had run out of guys to set her up with and she hadn't had a serious boyfriend since graduating from college two years before.
Lani returned wearing one pair of boots and carrying two more pairs. Samantha and Karen both commented to her as she approached, grinning as they did.
"Very sexy look Lani, I should get my camera." Karen teased causing Lani to blush.
"The little yellows ducks on them are so you, Lani." Samantha giggled.
"They fit and they are functional, that's all I care about. I have small feet, what can I say? If you take pictures I'll call my lawyer because I know you'll use them as blackmail someday."
They all laughed as the dogs ran up once more shaking and getting them wet. Karen and Samantha used each others shoulders to help balance as they replaced their shoes with boots. Lani watched them change while tossing the balls for the dogs. Samantha volunteered to take the shoes back to the deck to avoid further soaking from the dogs.
"Lani, I wonder if you'd like to start house sitting for us. We're thinking about a trip to the coast in three weeks and that would be a chance to see how you like being out here before we do our long trip."
