Say No More (31 page)

“Oh, yes! Worshipped the ground the old coot walked on. That dog was never more than five feet from him if she didn’t need to be. They had their little routine every day. Up at dawn, outside for chores until noon, errands in the afternoon, then more chores after supper. You’d have thought they’d get tired of doing that day in and day out, but no, it was like something they
had
to do. He took that dog everywhere he could. Did I tell you they came to the library every week for a reading program? I almost couldn’t get Cecil to come at first. Turned out he had dyslexia. He was embarrassed about it, but it was something that actually helped him connect to the kids. And Halo here ... she was so tolerant of Rusty — he’s a little boy with Down syndrome.”

“That’s good to hear. I’m happy that she had a good life overall, even though there were some bumpy parts here and there.” She had been smoothing down my fur the whole time Bernadette was talking, but suddenly her hand paused, hovering over the place where my heart was. Her touch amplified my heartbeat. “Anyway, thanks for hanging on to her until I could get here.”

Bernadette plucked at the cameo on her gold necklace. “Lise, maybe it’s none of my business — and you just straight up say if that’s so — but why did you ever give her up? You don’t seem like the kind of person who would’ve done something so drastic without a really good reason.”

Pulling her hands into her lap, Lise sat back. A few moments passed before she answered. “It’s okay to ask, really. Truth is, it was the lowest point of my life. Like the whole universe was crashing in on me and I couldn’t catch a break. When I left Faderville to move in with my mom, I was pregnant. Cam and I had been trying for so long that knowing I was carrying his baby again, even after losing him so young and so suddenly ... I
should
have felt blessed, but I also felt incredibly sad that he would never know his own child. Then, there were the financial issues to deal with. Cam had accrued a huge amount of debt after a failed business venture. I never knew just how big those debts were until I was going over things with the lawyer after his funeral. It was a mess just getting straightened out exactly what I was or wasn’t responsible for. I had no choice but to sell our home. In the middle of all that, my dad passed away and my mom’s health issues got even worse. She had a mini stroke. For a while, she needed constant care. I couldn’t imagine leaving her in someone else’s hands. Here I was, seven months pregnant, and caring for a bedridden elderly person.”

She kneaded at her kneecaps. “Then there were Hunter’s heart problems to deal with. I was so worried about him. I took him to every specialist within an eight-hour drive. They all told me the same thing: not to worry. But it was all I did. He’d also become withdrawn. He was functional, but non-communicative. I took him to a counselor for a few months, but then the insurance money ran out and I just couldn’t afford it with all the legal fees and medical bills that were piling up.”

“How is he now?”

“Better, thanks. Still very quiet though. He manages well academically at school – he just keeps to himself. He’s had a few fainting spells, but nothing more serious. We lived just outside of Covington until my mom ... she had another stroke. That one left her completely incapacitated: paralyzed on one side, unable to speak. She couldn’t even use the bathroom or feed herself. I knew then that I couldn’t care for her anymore. It was more than I could handle. My sister and I found her a good nursing home after checking out nearly two dozen. I know I shouldn’t have, but I felt guilty about leaving her at Whispering Pines.”

“Sweetheart,” — Bernadette put a hand on Lise’s shoulder — “you did everything you could. You have two children and a life to get on with. I always tell my oldest, Paula, that if I ever become a vegetable with tubes and machines keeping me alive, I don’t want her loitering at my bedside out of guilt. Your mother, is she ...?”

“She died, yes. Two months ago. It was hard, but not unexpected. That’s when I decided to come back to Faderville. My mom’s condo sold last year, so I have the money from that and I’m looking for someplace to live. I thought maybe if we could have a dog again, it would help Hunter. He loves animals more than anything.”

Lise rose and pulled her gloves from her pocket. “I should probably go now. I start my new job Tuesday, so I have to do as much house hunting as I can before then. My friend Grace is watching Hunter and Cammie for a few hours and I have a couple of houses to go see. Hunter likes spending time with his sister, but they can get on each others’ nerves after awhile.”

At the sound of Hunter’s name, I emerged from beneath the table. Had it been him that I’d seen at the fairgrounds after all? Did he remember me?

I approached Lise and nosed the gloves she held bunched in one hand at her side.

Please, I want to see Hunter.

“Are you going to keep her?” Lise said, then quickly added, “I mean, I know you said you had some major surgery planned soon. I was just wondering if you had someone lined up to take care of Halo?”

I looked from Lise to Bernadette. Fingers outspread, she turned her hand so the morning light played off the facets of the jewels in the ring that Cecil had given her. Finally, she gathered up the teacups and set them in the sink. “Are you asking if you can take the dog?”

Suddenly, Lise looked very uncomfortable. Shaking her head, she tugged her gloves on. “Never mind. That was thoughtless of me. Halo probably means a lot to you.” She turned toward the door. “I’ll just go —”

“Wait.” Bernadette stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Sit down a minute. Please.”

Lise complied.

“I’m old. I’m falling apart. Well, more physically than mentally, but the point is I’m going to be out of commission for a few weeks. I’m actually allergic to dogs, too. Downing all that antihistamine is giving me brain-fog and making me want to nap five times a day. Anyway, what’s important to me is that Halo be well cared for.”

A flicker of hope lit in Lise’s eyes. “Okay, okay. I can do that. The kids will love having her visit. When do you think you’ll be back on your feet?”

“Visit?” Bernadette shook her head. “I’m not just talking about a visit, Lise dear. I’m talking about Halo becoming a
permanent
part of your family.”

“Permanent? You mean you’d ...? I don’t know what to say.”

Bernadette patted her arm. “Say yes. I can hang on to her while you find yourself a place. A little dog hair for a few more days won’t kill me. There are plenty of properties up for sale around here lately and the prices are good for buying. Have you taken a look at the old McCloskey place down on Birch Hollow? Nice big yard. They kept it in good shape, too. Shouldn’t need a lot of fixing up.”

“It was on the listings the realtor gave me. I’ll ask her if we can see it on short notice. Meanwhile, are you going to be here awhile longer? I’d like to bring the kids by to meet her first. Hunter probably remembers her, but Cammie ... She was bitten by a dog when she was three. It was a small dog, a Lhasa Apso, but she’s been scared of dogs ever since.”

“Don’t you worry. Halo’s a charmer.” Bernadette’s lip quivered the tiniest bit. “When would you like to come back with the kids?”

“Would eight o’clock be okay? I know it’ll be after dark, but I’ve got a lot to do today.”

“That’ll work just fine. I don’t have anything to do but catch up on my Hawaii Five-O episodes.”

“Okay, I’ll be back then.” Lise bent down, took my head in her hands, and kissed me on top of the head, just like Ponytail had done. “Halo, if all goes well, you’ll be coming home with us.”

A little bubble of happiness welled up inside me. I couldn’t help myself: I licked her face.

T
here was a time when I would have jumped on the couch to watch all day out the picture window at Lise’s house for Cam to come home. Right now though, I felt old. Older than I was. My left hip ached fiercely, my neck and spine were so stiff I could barely stoop to drink from my water bowl, my joints did not want to bend, nor my legs bear the weight of my body. So I lay under the table, wishing Bernadette would give me another pill so I could drift off to sleep until Lise arrived with the children.

If I’d had the energy to go to her, stare at her, run back to the cabinet where she put the pill bottle ― which incidentally was not the one she’d put it in before ― then I might have had my needs met. Instead, I had to suffer in silence, waiting for the hours to pass, for Lise to come, for Bernadette to remember how often she was supposed to give me those pills.

After Lise left, she mopped the kitchen floor, which meant I had to move to the living room. Then she took a nap, ate lunch, washed dishes, took a second nap, talked on the phone to Merle, packed a few more things in boxes, took another nap ...

I was only vaguely aware of her activities after that. I felt like sleeping all day myself. Mostly that’s what I did — until the pain woke me up. Twice she opened the back door to let me out, but I was too tired to bother. The third time I didn’t get up, she came to me and pressed two fingers to the leather of my nose.

“My, you’re hot! I’m going to call Dr. Chapman, see what she says. Or better yet, maybe Doc Samuels. He’s more of a large animal vet, but I think he’s the one Cecil used to use for the sheep. Dogs can’t be much different. I’d take your temperature, but I don’t know whether to stick the thermometer under your tongue or in your ear.”

Neither
, I wanted to tell her, but of course ... well, you know how it goes.

—o00o—

Cold metal pressed against my chest. Fingers probed me everywhere. My eyes flew open when something poked in my anus. I stiffened.

“There now,” Bernadette said, one hand firmly pressing down on my shoulder, the other snugly around my muzzle. “Doc’s almost done.”

I was lying on the cool linoleum floor, Bernadette squatting before me and old Doc Samuels kneeling toward my flank. Cecil had been old, but he was probably just entering grade school when Doc Samuels graduated college. The man had more wrinkles than a box of raisins.

“Running a fever, all right,” Samuels said. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He used to help Cecil medicate the sheep whenever one was sick, although sometimes the purpose of his visits was not always so hopeful.

Lambs, it’s said, are born with one foot in the grave. Peaceable creatures, driven primarily by fear of their predators, they are of an unusually delicate constitution. One day they’re bucking and leaping through the clover and the next a damp wind sends a sickness into their lungs that can’t be dislodged with any dosage of shots or pills. By the third day they are on their sides, wheezing, feverish and listless. Before that day’s done, they’re dead.

So you see, I was even less thrilled to see the vet making a house call than I would have been to see him at his office. The home visits were the serious ones. The prognosis was often grim. I’d stood beside Cecil as we buried more than one limp, tiny lamb or aged ewe.

Doc Samuels flicked his finger against a syringe three times, then depressed his thumb. Milky liquid squirted out the end of the needle.

“Hold her now,” he said. Memories of Tucker injecting me with the sleeping potion rushed back.

No!

I thrashed against Bernadette’s hold. She pitched her weight into me. I struggled to breathe. I tried to open my mouth to bite, but her hold on my muzzle was so firm I couldn’t even turn my head, much less sink my teeth into her hand. She was surprisingly strong. Or maybe I was surprisingly weak?

The needle pricked my flesh. I flinched. Liquid burned as it seeped into the muscles of my flank.

“Will that help with the pain?” Bernadette asked.

“That? No. That was just the antibiotic.” He rummaged through his bag of evil instruments, pulled out another vial, and drew its clear contents into a new syringe. “This one should help her sleep through the night. She’s developed a little post-surgery infection somewhere in her system. It happens. It’s a good thing you called when you did, though. The earlier we catch these things, the better. If she’s not looking more spry by morning, bring her to my office.”

Not the vet’s office, no
. I strained to lift my head to see what Doc Samuels was doing back there, but Bernadette still had a death grip on me.

Lise and the kids are coming tonight, I want to be —

Another needle jabbed me behind my shoulder blades.

“That should do the trick. Remember, call me if you need anything. I’ll leave the pills on the counter. Start them in the morning, but like I said, if she doesn’t look right, bring her in.”

“Thank you, Doc. I appreciate you coming out so late.”

I pried an eye open. The two of them stood by the back door. When had Bernadette let go of me? I hadn’t even heard them walk away. Through the curtains, I could see it was dark outside already. Where was Lise?

“No worries. Just part of the job. Keep her quiet for a couple of days. Oh, give her one pill four times a day.”

“Will do. Bye now.”

The back door opened and shut. Cool air wafted in.

Why couldn’t I get up? Why was I so tired? When were Lise and the kids coming?

I fought to keep my eyes open. I had to watch the door, so when they got here I could be on my feet to greet them.

My eyelids drifted shut. Sleep called. Just a short nap, maybe. Only a few minutes ...

—o00o—

Mroaaarrr, mroarrr, mroarrr
.

I woke up to blinding daylight, the hum of the vacuum cleaner, and the overpowering smell of Pine-Sol. Bernadette was cleaning. Again.

“You’re awake!” She clopped across the tile floor to me. Her sensible Dr. Scholl’s clogs had been replaced today by a pair of black leather boots with a low heel. Her gray slacks, an unusually subdued hue for her, even had the smell of ‘new’. I recognized the canary yellow blouse with the frilly collar, though. She brushed two fingers over my nose and cheerily declared, “Fever’s down. Let me get you something.”

A few moments later, the delectable aroma of bacon tickled my olfactory senses. I lifted my head. A bit stiff, but I didn’t feel like I was wading through a mud pit anymore.