by Marci Bolden
“Well, your mom is a midwife, and she’s already raised you. She knows what she’s getting into by taking on a baby.”
“But Dad doesn’t. He had a few stepkids from his first marriage, but they were older when he married their mom. Once they were divorced, he didn’t have much contact with them. He didn’t come back into the picture until I was an adult. He’s never had an infant full-time without any breaks. I’m not sure he knows what he’s getting into.”
“I doubt he’s as oblivious as you seem to think, Phil. For as long as I’ve known your parents, they’ve had infants tucked under their wings. They’ve had babies in and out of their house since they’ve been married. It’s kind of their thing. Some people foster kittens. Your parents foster struggling single mothers.”
“That’s not the same as having a kid twenty-four-seven.”
“But it’s a pretty good indicator of what’s to come. What are you really worried about?”
“It’s just…” He looked away from her, back out to the water. “All of this talk about how Mira needs a solid family structure… Mom’s right. Jessica needs someone else in her life. I listened to her talking about all the reasons she should adopt Mira, and each one hit a nerve. Every kid needs the best chance possible to grow up strong and independent and well-rounded. Maybe I am denying Jessica that chance by not having someone in her life to fill the void Katrina left.”
Mallory moaned and rolled her head back. “Oh, man. I thought it was just my mother.”
“What?”
She shook her head and started walking again, taking slightly longer strides to close some of the distance between them and Jessica. “You aren’t the only one who had an interesting parental visit this morning. My mom is all about how Jess needs a woman in her life to help her out.”
“Why would your mom… Oh, right. I’m sure Jessica has talked about this with Annie.”
Mal nodded. “She sure has. And Mom thinks that by dressing her up like a pony, I’ve proven I’m the one. Sorry. I’m not butting in on this dilemma of yours. I just didn’t realize Jessica’s lack of a mother was a universal conversation. Honestly, I thought Mom was overstepping. So this pool that our parents are tossing us into isn’t just about us, then?”
“Guess not.”
She looked up at him, and their gazes locked. Her heart did that funny little flip thing she seemed to be feeling more and more these days. Something strange was going on inside of her, and she didn’t particularly care for it. Instead of listening to instinct and moving closer to him, she looked at Jessica farther down the beach. “I’m here for Jess if she needs anything. She’s helped my mom in ways nobody else could. I know she’s just a kid, but she understood what Mom was going through when she got home from the hospital, and Mom needed that. I’m more than happy to return the favor. If she ever needs anyone to talk to about…whatever…I’m happy to listen.”
“Really? You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not at all. That girl’s a hoot.”
He laughed softly. “Yeah, she is.”
“Don’t feel like you need someone in your life just so Jess can have someone in hers. I’m happy to walk her through her teenage angst.”
“That’d be great.” His smile softened as he looked at her. “Thanks, Mal.”
Mallory couldn’t quite explain the level of relief she felt. Somehow, the idea of someone else being that person for Jessica didn’t sit right with her. She didn’t want to trust someone else with molding that girl’s mind. If anyone was going to teach her about boys and clothes and makeup, Mallory wanted to be the one. She felt she should be the one. After all, who else was going to go to comic book conventions with her?
“Dad!” Jessica screamed, breaking through the serenity of the moment. “Come quick!”
The conversation ended as they rushed to see what had Jessica so panicked. Mallory gasped as she came upon a dog lying on its side in the rocks, panting heavily, its eyes wide as it looked at them.
“Look at his leg. He’s hurt,” Jess pointed out.
The dog whimpered, as if to confirm her assessment. Fur from his back hip had been stripped, exposing bloody skin. The leg was lying in way that was clearly indicating the bone had been broken.
“Stay back,” Phil warned. “Jessica, keep back.”
Mallory pulled Jess against her as Phil slowly approached the dog. If the animal attacked, she was more than ready to get between it and Jessica. Her heart raced at the thought of Jessica getting hurt. Her instinct told her to leave the animal, call someone to check on it, just in case, but her heart broke as the dog whined again.
“Hey, buddy,” Phil said gently as he crouched down.
“Strange dogs might bite, Daddy,” Jess warned.
“I’m being careful, Punk.” He slowly extended his hand. The dog made a sad sound as it lifted its head. “What happened to you?” He moved his hand along the dog’s long black body until the animal yelped. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “Mal, there’s a blanket in my trunk. Go grab it.”
“What’s wrong?”
Phil returned his attention to the mutt. “I think he got hit by a car.”
Jessica gasped dramatically. “Oh, no!”
“We’ll find a vet to take a look at him.” Phil tossed his keys to Mallory.
“Then can we take him home?” Jess asked.
“No,” Phil said without thinking twice.
Mallory didn’t mean to, but she pouted right along with Jessica. “Who will look after him if we don’t take him?”
“Yeah, Daddy,” Jessica chimed in. “Who will take care of him?”
Phil frowned at both of them. “He probably has a family. We’ll take him to the vet. They’ll find out who he belongs to.”
“Look how skinny he is.” Mal pointed to his visible ribcage. “He’s a stray.”
“Daddy,” Jess said in a soft, almost pleading voice, “what would Grandma do?”
Mallory tried not to laugh, but a burst of a giggle escaped before she was able to swallow it down.
“Grandma never leaves a stray behind,” Phil mumbled. “Go get the blanket, Mal. We’ll see what the vet says.”
Mallory leaned down and looked in Jessica’s eyes. “You stay back, okay. He seems nice now, but he still might be mean. Let Daddy take care of him, okay?”
“Okay,” she said with whispered seriousness.
“Don’t move unless Daddy tells you.”
“I won’t.”
Mallory rushed off, trotting toward where Phil had parked farther down the lakeside. She was breathless by the time she reached the trunk. She had to chuckle as she moved aside a pink gymnastics bag and a glittery tutu. Nobody could ever say that he didn’t let his kiddo try everything her heart desired. Some things seemed to stick more than others, but Mallory guessed that was pretty normal for kids Jessica’s age.
The more time she spent with Phil and Jessica, the more she realized Phil had been right. Not just about Jessica not letting her disabilities get in her way but that Mallory couldn’t get in the way of Annie learning to live with her disabilities. Who would have guessed that those two would have so much to teach and show her? She would be forever grateful to them for helping her learn how to not turn into an overbearing daughter.
As she ran back to the duo, blanket in hand, she was struck by something else. Jessica stood right where Mallory had left her, and relief washed over her. Somehow, she’d feared she’d come back to some horrific scene where the dog had just been waiting for her to turn her back before attacking. He hadn’t. Jessica stood, still as could be, as Phil talked on his phone.
“He called a vet,” Jessica said in a hushed voice as Mallory rejoined them.
Phil ended the call and accepted the blanket from Mallory’s outstretched hand. He rested his elbows on his knees as he looked up at her. “All right. Here’s the plan. You take Jess to the car and park it right over there.” He pointed to the road that curved in close to the lake.
Mallory gue
ssed the dog had been hit near that curve. Based on his extensive injuries, he couldn’t have walked far.
“You drive,” he said to Mallory then looked at Jessica. “You get in the passenger seat. I’ll sit in back with this guy. We’re going to take him to the vet and leave him. Got it?” He eyed them both. “We’re leaving him.”
Mallory swallowed the urge to argue. Taking Jessica’s hand, she pulled her along before she could argue, either.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” Phil said as Jessica tucked a blanket around the dog they’d rescued.
Mallory smiled without a bit of shame for her part in convincing him to bring the mutt home. “Look how happy she is.”
He couldn’t argue that point. Jessica had hushed and cooed and whispered to the dog from the moment the vet released his patient. Much like she’d learned from her grandmother, Jessica petted and hummed to soothe the stray. “She’s wanted a pet for as long as I can remember.”
“Well, this guy needed a home, and he’s so sweet.”
“For now. What happens when his cast comes off and he can actually move around?”
Mallory eyed the dog. “I think if he were aggressive, he would have shown it by now. Even the vet said he was a good dog.” She sat on the couch next to him and watched just as closely as Jessica kissed the black head she’d been patting. She might not say it, but she was feeling protective, ready to intervene in a moment’s notice if needed. She’d been that way ever since they’d picked up the damn dog. She might be trying to convince him that the dog wasn’t mean, but she hadn’t stopped anticipating his every move.
Phil agreed with her assessment. If the dog were aggressive, it would have shown by now. He’d been put through quite a bit since they’d found him by the lake. Even when he was broken and raw, he let Phil pick him up and carry him without so much as a few whines and whimpers. The entire trip to the vet had been him looking up with thankful eyes, not a bit of hesitation or suspicion to be seen. Simple, pure gratitude.
He tried to focus on the dog and not notice how close Mallory was, but with every passing second his comfort with the stray grew and he was able to focus on something else. Like the woman sitting next to him. “I’m turning into my mother.”
“Hardly.” She laughed. “Taking in a stray dog is a far cry from adopting a baby.”
“Shh.” He glanced at Jess before whispering, “I’m not telling her about Mira until everything is finalized.”
Mallory put her fingertips to her lips. “Sorry.”
“I just don’t want her to get excited about the idea in case the adoption falls through.”
“That makes sense.” She watched Jessica for a moment before tilting her chin so she could eye him. “Do you think it will? Do you really think she’ll back out?”
“Who knows. Lynn—Mira’s mother—isn’t exactly known for her reliability. She could be feeling this way now, but the reality of giving up her baby could change her mind. That’s a big decision.”
“Did, um, did Katrina give up her rights or did she just leave?”
“Oh, no. My mom had seen that type of situation more than once. She was on top of it. We had an attorney about five minutes after Katrina left the hospital. As wonderful and sweet as my mother can be, she does not mess around when it comes to her tribe. Our attorney tracked Katrina down with paperwork in hand. Her options were to foot her share of the medical bills or sign the papers. Just like that, she gave up her rights, my name, our marriage, our life. Everything. She walked away like we never happened.”
Mallory put her hand on his and squeezed it gently. “I’m so sorry. It should never be that easy for a mother, or a wife, to walk away.” Looking at Jessica, she shook her head. “Who could give up on that sweet angel?”
Phil stared at where Mallory was touching him until she pulled away. “I think that was part of the reason we stayed in Seattle as long as we did. Part of me was hoping she’d come back. Not for me.” He nodded toward his daughter. “For her. I get why Katrina left. It was hell not knowing if Jess was going to live through her surgery. Raising her has had certain challenges that most parents probably don’t face. So I do understand why she left. I just don’t understand how she could stay away forever.”
Mallory shrugged and sat back, apparently accepting that Jessica was safe with the dog. “My dad isn’t even listed on my birth certificate. That space is just blank. I know his name is Steve Riley, but I never met him. I thought about looking him up, but Mom swears we were better off, and I believe her. If he’d been worth a damn, he wouldn’t have run away when Mom told him about me. And if he wanted to find me, he could have. I was born right here in Stonehill where my family has always lived. Mom’s full name is on her business, and her shooting was all over the news last year. If he wanted to find me, he could. Clearly he doesn’t.”
Phil grabbed her hand, just as she’d done to his, only he didn’t squeeze and let go. He held her hand intentionally. “That’s his loss, Mal. Not yours.”
She nodded. “And not being here for Jess is Katrina’s loss. Not Jessica’s. Look at her. She’s like the dog whisperer.”
He smiled as the pup sighed with what could only be described as contentment as Jessica pulled the blanket around him and promised he was going to be okay. He started to remind his daughter not to put her face next to the dog’s, but when she planted a kiss on the black head, she received a lick in return and a beaming smile broke on her face. “They’re going to be inseparable, aren’t they?”
“I think so.”
He rubbed his thumb over Mallory’s hand. He wasn’t flirting exactly, but he felt connected to her in that moment and was determined to stay connected. When she tightened her hand in his, his heart sang and any hesitation he might have had at keeping the dog was gone. That had nothing to do with the dog and everything to do with how this moment—he and Mallory watching Jess with their new pet—seemed to be everything he’d ever missed out on. “Have you decided on his name, Jess?”
She finally tore her attention from the dog and looked at Phil. “I think we should call him Lucky. Don’t you?”
“I think that’s perfect.”
“I had a rabbit named Lucky when I was a kid,” Mallory offered. “Of course, that was for a different reason.”
“Because rabbit’s feet are lucky,” Jessica said.
“Exactly.”
Phil didn’t want to break up the unexpected normalcy he was feeling, but his watch vibrated as the hour changed, and he realized how late it was getting. “It’s time to say good night to Lucky, Punk.”
“Dad,” Jessica whined dramatically. “He’ll be lonely if I leave him.”
Regretfully, he took his hand from Mallory’s and pushed himself up. “He’ll be fine.”
Jessica turned to Mallory, clearly seeking support, but Mallory just lifted her hands helplessly. “You can’t stay up with him all night.”
Jess stuck her lip out a bit but kissed her new best friend’s head once again and stood. “Sleep tight, Lucky.” She hugged Phil but then shocked him by walking to the couch and throwing her arms around Mallory’s neck. “Night, Mal. Take care of Lucky for me, okay?”
Mallory hugged her tight. “I will. Night, Jess.”
“Thanks for taking me to the lake today and for staying with us at the vet’s office and for helping us buy stuff for Lucky. I’m glad you were there today.”
“Me, too.”
“I’ll be right back,” Phil said to Mallory. He followed Jessica toward her bedroom. “Teeth brushed, hair brushed, jammies on, and in bed in ten minutes.”
“I know, Dad,” she said with the same exasperated tone she used every night these days. She used to get upset if he didn’t follow her around, telling her what to do. Now she seemed to have no use for his reminders. Leaning on her bedroom doorjamb, he watched her open one of her dresser drawers and pull out a nightgown. “Stop growing up so fast, Punk.”
She turned back to him, her face dead serious. “I ca
n’t control how fast I grow.”
“Well, try.” He crossed the room and put a kiss on her forehead. “See you in the morning.”
“Is Mallory going home?” she asked before he reached the bedroom door.
He turned to face her. “She’ll go home sometime. Why?”
“She said she’d look after Lucky.”
“He doesn’t need someone to watch him all night. He’s gotta get some sleep, too.”
“Will you sleep on the couch so you’ll hear him if he needs help?”
He started to argue, but he actually could see her logic. The last thing he wanted was for the new dog to pee in the house. Considering the dog was obviously a stray, Phil doubted he was potty-trained. “Yeah. I’ll sleep on the couch. Night, Punk.”
“Do you like her?” she called before he could leave.
Biting his lip, he turned, frustrated that she was keeping him from returning to Mallory. “The dog?”
“Lucky is a boy,” Jessica reminded him. “I mean Mallory. Do you like Mallory?”
He nodded. “She’s nice.”
Jessica frowned at him as if he were the one being difficult. “But do you like her, Daddy?”
Oh, crap. Here we go. Stepping back into her bedroom so Mallory didn’t overhear, he said, “She’s my friend, Jess. Just like she’s your friend.”
“That’s all?”
“Yeah. That’s all.”
“I saw you holding hands on the couch.”
“Friends can hold hands.”
She dropped her shoulders, looking like he’d just stomped on all her hopes and dreams. “What’s wrong with her?”
He laughed softly at her posture. She appeared to be completely fed up with him. “Nothing.”
“Then why don’t you like her?”
“I haven’t known her very long, Jessica.”
“That’s not true. We met her when Dianna and Paul got married forever ago. Dianna is Grandma’s best friend in the whole world, and Paul is Mallory’s uncle. We were at the wedding. You talked to her. Remember?”