The Dog Walkers (ePub)

After finally grasping that David, her boyfriend of two years, has no interest in marrying her-or introducing her to his six-year-old daughter-Ali Doyle's emotions run rampant as she ends this romance and the notion of her life as Mrs. David Hendrix. This normally in control and reserved thirty-two-year-old woman becomes anything but.

Enraged and embarrassed by her behavior during the breakup, Ali sequesters herself inside of her second-floor apartment, terrified she'll bump into David at Genesis, a small company specializing in telephone software where she works as an engineer and he is lead counsel. So she feigns an illness, remaining safe at home.

However, Ali quickly realizes this is more than a retreat to nurse her broken heart and bruised ego. When she finally attempts to leave her apartment in Narberth, Pennsylvania, she freezes in the lobby, unable to walk outside of the building. For a while, Ali convinces herself that she's fine. But ultimately, she accepts she is not. Alone and unwell-she let go of all friendships when she began dating David and rarely speaks with her family since her mother died-Ali's isolation fuels her loss of self as well as her inability to leave the safety of her apartment.

Yet slowly, Ali pulls herself out of her misery. She begins reading inspirational books and watching dog walkers from the front window of her apartment. Somehow, seeing the men and women passing by with their dogs helps Ali feel a connection to the outside world, creating some sense of normalcy in her life. In fact, she invents backstories to these individuals and their pets, pretending she knows them. However, one morning Ali notices that an elderly gentleman is missing from the morning walk he takes with two older women. They have his dog, a beautiful golden retriever, but he is nowhere in insight. Peering from her window and watching the ladies' expressions, Ali knows something is wrong.

Without hesitation, Ali offers to take the golden retriever. While shocked with her offer, the women sense a mutually beneficial solution to Ali's and Josie's problems. Not only does Ali "adopt" a three-year old golden retriever, but she also finds herself with mentors-two widowed sisters-in-laws who, through their wisdom and compassion, assist in Ali's healing.

As Ali strives to rediscover her true self-through reading, meditation, and returning to running-she begins to blossom. She meets two sisters her own age and develops a strong bond with each, learning about true female friendships as she commits to run the Philadelphia Marathon with the younger sister. Yet, Josie is Ali's biggest teacher. This dog-along with an unknown voice inside of Ali's head-leads her to Nate.

While seemingly circumstantial at first, Ali finds herself face-to-face with one of her "Dog Walkers," an incredibly gorgeous man who walks past her, lost in his thought. After a second chance meeting, they connect. Eventually a dog walk "date" leads to dinner. Before she knows it, he's cooking dinner for her at his house. But he's not what she thinks. This pediatric oncologist is not some hot bachelor ... he's a widower ... and dad to Bobby, his five-year-old son.

Ali's life seemingly falls into place. She's thriving at work, enjoying new friendships, training for a marathon, and falling in love with Nate and Bobby. But when Nate asks her to move in with him, she panics, fearful she'll lose herself to a man, just as she had with David. Ali's worked too hard to revert to who she was. Struggling to remain her true self-the person she's recently discovered-she takes time to pause, reflect and decide what she wants.