E is for Everett (Men of Alphabet Mountain) - Page 28

We began scanning the cages and my heart ached. I knew it was a no-kill shelter, but I still had the urge to take all of them home. I couldn’t, if for no other reason than I wasn’t at home all day most days. But it was difficult to see their faces and not want to let them out.

Then we came across a pup that absolutely stole my heart.

“Can I see her?” I asked, knowing already that the second I had her in my arms that it would be over.

She opened the door and reached in, but the pup backed up away from her. The woman repositioned herself and reached in again, but the dog seemed like he didn’t want to go. Grimacing, I touched her shoulder lightly.

“Let me try,” I said.

As soon as I reached in, the dog came to me, licking my palms and letting me pick her up. Barking happily, she licked at my face as I pulled her to me. Laughing, I looked back at the lady helping me, who was clearly happy to see the pup’s reaction to me.

“Looks like she likes you,” she said.

“The feeling’s mutual,” I said.

“Well, she’s six months old, a mix of lab and mastiff, and if you think she’s big now, just you wait,” she said.

She wasn’t kidding. She was a big dog already, though still very puppy-like. Despite her happy bark and licking, she had sad eyes and I noticed she had what looked like half a tail.

“What’s going on with her tail?” I asked.

“From what we understand, she was abandoned by her family and left in the woods. When she was found, she had recently had an encounter with a bobcat. She must have given that thing a good what-for, though. Most pups her age wouldn’t have survived that.”

“So, she’s a tough cookie,” I said.

“Absolutely,” she said. “But still pretty. Who’s a pretty puppy?” She scratched the dog behind her ears, and it stretched happily and let the woman pet her.

“What’s her name?” I asked.

“Well, that’s something you might need to think about. She’s already old enough to respond to the name she has, so renaming her probably won’t be a good idea. Her name is Lily.”

“Lily,” I repeated. “That’s a pretty name. A pretty name for a pretty pup.”

“So, you think you would like to take her home?” she asked.

“No,” I said. “I know I would. Let’s get the paperwork. We have some shopping to do and some cuddling to do when we get back home.”

“I think she will like that a lot,” she said.

“Me too,” I said.

14

HELEN

Running wasn’t my favorite thing in the world. Far from it really. Cardio in general wasn’t something that I tended to enjoy. Get me around some weights or jumping rope or climbing things, and I enjoyed it greatly and could do it for hours on end. But running? I hated running.

That was why I forced myself to do it. I needed to make sure I got the cardio that I needed. Otherwise, I just simply wouldn’t. I would keep avoiding it until the sun exploded. So, I kissed my dad’s head, made sure he had everything he needed, zipped up my jogging clothes, and went out for a run.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, my body sent signals to my brain that everything was a mistake. My feet hurt, my legs were instantly sore, and my hip had a weird burning, stretchy pain. It was my body doing everything it could to confuse me and get me to stop. I had to push through until my body gave up and accepted that no matter how much it protested, I wasn’t going to let up.

At first, I wound down the street and out through the neighborhood. The last few days had been a doozy, and as Sunday morning had dawned, I was officially moving into my new apartment that night. With the diner doing well, I told Mom to take the time off to be with Dad and that I could handle the place. She could come in on days Dad felt good and she wanted to get away, but there was no point in scheduling her. She was effectively semi-retired.

The jogging clothes and a handful of things in the Jeep were the last of my items that I was going to move. There were a few things I needed to pick up at the store, but I was going to do that later. For now, I just wanted to run around the old neighborhood for a few minutes and then I’d head down the trail toward my favorite spot by the creek before going back and saying goodbye.

When I turned onto the little paved path that led to the dirt trail in the woods, I realized that the sound of trees being cleared wasn’t filling the air around me. I was so used to that sound that it stood out when it wasn’t there. Instead, there was the quiet of a Sunday morning, and I happily jogged down to my creek.

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