that’s too bad. I was planning on just walking away with it.” They both laughed. “Nice to see you,” said Jenna. “How’ve you been?” “Just fine. You?” “I’m doing great.” They stood there for a minute, fidgeting. Jenna spoke nervously. “Um…Balto?” “Yes?” “I actually wanted to…ask you something. Ah…would you…I mean, will you…how would you like to come to my house tonight after dinner? I wanted to show it to you.” “That sounds great. I’d love to.” “Oh, and if you want to, we could go for a walk afterwards.” “Sure. What time do you want to come?” “Half past six?” “That works for me. I’ll look forward to it. See you then!” “Bye,” said Jenna, watching him as he left the market.

That night, Jenna waited out on the porch until Balto came. Pleasantly, he was on time again. “Hello again,” he said. “Hi. Nice to see you.” “Same here. Well, shall we?” “Sure. Come on in.” They went through the dog door, and Balto looked around. “This is pretty nice,” he said. “You’re right,” said Jenna. “I’m lucky to live here. Have you ever been in a house before?” “Nope. Well, I guess I should say not in one where someone’s living; I use abandoned places as shortcuts all the time. Other than that, the closest I’ve come is being in the carpenter’s workshop; he used to feed me sometimes.” They went into the living room. Balto walked around, looking at everything with much curiosity. “I’ve never really seen how people live,” he said. “In a more private setting, I mean.” “For me, living with them is a lot like what I remember of being with my family, except that trying to talk to them goes nowhere.” “Yeah, Boris noted that too.” Both of them chuckled, and then left the room. Jenna showed Balto Rosy’s room upstairs, then the family room, where pictures stood on some furniture articles. “Look here, Balto,” said Jenna. “That’s me as a puppy.” “Nothing’s changed,” he said. “Beautiful then, beautiful now.” “Thanks. Well, that’s pretty much it. Let’s head out, okay?”

Later that night, Jenna was talking with Sylvie; Dixie was at a party. “So, let’s see,” said Sylvie, “you’ve kissed him, gone out to dinner with him, danced with him, invited him to your house, gone on a romantic moonlight walk with him? There must be something about him, girl, because I never thought you would do all five of those things with one man.” Jenna laughed. “I know, I know! It’s so strange. I never thought I would want to date anyone again, and I certainly never expected to let anyone kiss me.” “And judging by the way you sounded when you told Dixie and me, you didn’t just let him kiss you; you wanted it.” “I did. Man…he so decent it’s hard to believe. I mean, he asks when he wants to kiss me or touch me. What man does that? I have never had a guy treat me with that much respect before. He doesn’t say offensive things, either. Apart from all that, he does nice things like bringing me flowers…he’s just so…so perfect!” Jenna giggled and flopped down on a rolled up sack. “Dang,” said Sylvie, “you look like you want to just float into the air.” “I do,” Jenna said, softly. “It feels so wonderful.” “What does?” “Everything. Everything about him. All I have to do is just look at him, and I get this…feeling.” “Feeling, huh?” “Yes. I’d describe as a lurch, like I’m riding on a sled that speeds up downhill all of a sudden. I mean, it’s really just like that! I look at him, and then, whoa! And when he looks at me, it feels like there’s a whirlpool in my stomach, and I want to kiss…” She paused, surprised at what she was saying. “…kiss him.” She began trembling. “Sylvie,” she said, “I think it’s finally happened. I think I’m…in love.”

Balto came back into town the next day, unable to resist his want to see Jenna again. He found her watching a friendly brawl between Nikki and Kaltag that the other dogs were betting on. “Hey there,” he said. “Hi,” she replied. “Did you want something?” “I was wondering if you could spare a minute to talk.” “Alright.” “Are you open on Saturday?” “Mm-hm. Do you want to go on a date?” “Yes. That was why I came to see you, actually.” “I’ll go.” “Okay, then. Meet me outside the boiler room before dinner. I’m going to bring some food.” “Where were we going?” “There’s a beautiful place a little ways outside the town I’d like you to see. I was figuring on going there, if you don’t mind.” “Not at all; that’ll be great.”

The hill afforded a picturesque view of the snowy landscape that was the frozen beach, stretching out as far as the eye could see in both directions, with the ocean extending beyond as the ice gave way farther out. The sun was going down, and the rainbow-colored reflections along the entire coast were marvelous. After they ate, Balto and Jenna were sitting next to each other, looking down the beach. “This is lovely, Balto, just lovely,” said Jenna. “This was a good idea.” Balto nodded. “That’s one good thing about living out here. I’m a lot closer to things like this.” He paused. “I don’t get to see real beauty as often as I’d like, though. But at least she’s here with me now.” Jenna looked at him and smiled. “I wish I could see you more often too.” She moved closer to him, rubbing against his shoulder. “Would you like a kiss?” “Absolutely.” She kissed his muzzle, beginning to breathe hard. “Balto…I have something I want to say.” “Alright.” “Um…” She swallowed, her passion burning fiercely. “The past few weeks have been just fabulous. You’ve been a wonderful man for me to be with. Actually…you’ve been better than any man I’ve ever known. And, well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, and…I found that…oh, Balto, I…I’ve fallen in love with you.” Balto was rendered speechless, caught entirely off guard by this admission. Jenna continued, her voice nervous and shaky, but undeniably happy. “You’ve won my heart. Now that I love you…I’m glad you didn’t give up. I know you kind of doubted yourself sometimes.” A wide smile made its way onto Balto’s face. “You mean that, Jenna? You really mean it?” Jenna nodded and slowly began to laugh softly with joy. “Yes. I love you.” They both sat staring at one another for a moment. “Balto,” Jenna said, “please, let me kiss…” “Okay.” They embraced and kissed for several minutes, their happiness spilling over even after they stopped. “I…I think I should head home,” said Balto. “Alright,” said Jenna. “Thanks for dinner.” “Thank you too, Jenna,” Balto said. “Thank you! Thank you so much!” He sprinted off through the snow, and Jenna followed him with her eyes, almost in a trance. 

The run back to the ship seemed like mere seconds to Balto. He was completely euphoric, oblivious to anything except the sweet memories of everything that he had experienced with Jenna over the past several days: her voice, her face, their walk, their dates, her kiss…her affirmation of love, just a few minutes ago. He ran up the plank. “Boris!” he called. “Boris!” Soon, Boris came running up onto the deck; he had been off the ship playing with Muk and Luk. “Huh? What? What’s going on?” “Boris, she loves me! She said she was in love with me! I’m so happy I feel like I’m gonna burst!” Boris began laughing. “Ha ha! My boy, good for you! No need to ask how you feel, eh?” Balto looked off into space. “Yeah, I know,” he said, quietly. It seemed to Boris that a mighty struggle was going on inside Balto’s head. Then, a look crossed Balto’s face, one of a deep love, so strong Boris had never seen anything like it. “Yeah…” Balto said. “I know.”

The next day, Balto walked into the dog’s restaurant, having been told that Jenna was eating there. He looked around, and sure enough, there she was, sitting at the very table they had used on their first date, talking with Dixie and Sylvie. He had to fight furiously against the hurricane of emotions that raged inside him just to be able to walk. Crossing the room, he stopped next to the table. “Ladies,” he said, politely. “Jenna?” “Hey, Balto,” she said, hugging him. “What are you doing here?” “I have something I need to tell you, and something I need to ask you.” “Okay.” Balto sat and knelt clumsily on one paw. “Oh…” Jenna gasped, her eyes growing wide. “I…I love you, Jenna,” said Balto, his voice so nervous and so gentle, “with all my heart. I always have, ever since the day I first saw you.” Jenna trembled, her breath coming in short gasps. Balto continued. “You’re the love of my life, and I would be…so very happy if you would share the rest of that life with me.” Everyone watched as he took her paw. “Jenna, will you marry me?” Jenna sat there for a moment, breathless, and finally was able to answer. “Yes.” At first it was a soft tone, then it grew to a joyous shout. “Yes!” She jumped off her chair and into Balto’s embrace. They laughed ecstatically as everyone else cheered. “I love you, Balto!” Jenna shouted. “I love you, too, Jenna!” Balto shouted. Both of them were sobbing with sweet joy. “Jenna, may I kiss you? Please!” Jenna put a paw on Balto’s lips. “No, wait, wait,” she laughed. “Let’s save it for the wedding!” “Sure! Anything you say, anything!” Suddenly, something flew in the door and nearly tackled Balto. It was Boris, laughing wildly. “Ha ha, Balto! I knew one day you’d get up the guts to ask her! So when is it, huh? When?” Balto and Jenna looked at each other. “Next week?” said Balto. “That’s great!” said Jenna. “I don’t want to have to be apart from you any longer than that!” They both laughed, and embraced again, nuzzling each other softly.

The week dragged, and dragged, and dragged…
Barely a minute went by when Balto and Jenna didn’t think of each other. They were in each other’s thoughts, hearts, even dreams. They saw each other as much as they could, but doing that did more to slow down the time than help anything. There were things to do, obviously; the two had determined that it be announced that they were getting married and that anyone who wanted to come should simply show up, but beyond that, everything had arrangements that needed to be made. It was decided that the ceremony would be held in