More often, his face froze or his voice disappeared halfway through a sentence.

She remembered sitting beside Scout during her last visit to the kennel, watching Ben check the harness before taking the dog outside.

Scout’s dark coat had been warm beneath her palm, and the small pale scar above his ear was easier to see in person than in photographs.

Those were things Clara knew because she’d seen them.

Other details came from her father’s explanations.

She hadn’t watched Scout complete every training exercise.