Karma's A Bitch (A Pet Psychic Mystery)
Page 19
Karma had gotten up and ambled over on his three good legs to greet them. The young girl kneeled down and slipped her arms around him.
“Wow, he doesn’t usually greet people like that,” I smiled. “Your daughter must be a real dog person.”
“Yes. She’s been begging me for a dog forever,” the woman said. She seemed nervous. “Is he dangerous?”
“No, he’s a big love…besides, he doesn’t have any teeth.”
“Oh, okay.” She held out her hand to me. “You left a message on our phone. I’m Nina Fowler.” I took her hand, every hair standing up on my arms. “This is Mariah.” She nodded down at the girl.
I glanced from her to Mariah and back, my eyes blurring with tears. I stood up and gently hugged her. “Thank you for coming. I know he’d want Mariah to have his sketch book. Follow me.”
I walked her to the counter where I had stashed the book. When I held it out to her, she closed her eyes for a moment as her fingers clutched it. I couldn’t help but notice she was still wearing her wedding band.
“There’s an envelope of money in the back, too. He wrote Mariah’s name on it.”
She flipped back to the envelope then met my eyes. “Can I ask you how you got this?” Her voice shook. “How did you know him?”
“I only knew him for a week, really. But that was long enough to know he was a good person that deserved better. You knew he was homeless?”
“Yes,” she kept her voice low, wiping at a tear that slipped out. “He left us because he was afraid he would hurt us. Not on purpose. But, he was a haunted man. He couldn’t be indoors or control the day terrors. What happened? How did he…?”
“That’s a long story.” I glanced over at Mariah, who was watching us, one arm draped over Karma. “One I’d rather tell you when your daughter isn’t around. Can you stay? I’ve got plenty of room in my townhouse upstairs and I can fill you in on everything tonight. Also, your husband was cremated but the ashes are still in storage. If you’d like, we can give him a proper goodbye. Maybe have a sea burial?”
“Yes,” she was holding back sobs now, “I would like that very much and I think it would be good for Mariah to have closure. Thank you.”
***
So that’s exactly what we did. Frankie worked her own particular kind of magic and chartered us a yacht for the next evening. A different kind of energy brought as all together this time—relief and love and gratitude.
Nina and Mariah got to meet Mad Dog’s Pirate City family and we even got G onboard—with the promise of cookies, of course. She shared with us the person Mad Dog was before the war; the kind, sensitive happy family man. I was glad his little girl got to see how much he meant to us all. We had a celebration of Mad Dog’s life before we let him go.
At one point on the way back, with the salty breeze and the lights of St. Pete dotting the perimeter of the Bay, Will stood behind me and slipped his arms around me.
“So, what was it you wanted to share with me?”
“Oh.” My heart sank. Yeah, that. Did I still need to tell him everything now that the case was solved? I didn’t feel up to it, that’s for sure. “Nothing important.” Maybe another day it would be important, but right now, I didn’t want to risk losing this oasis of happiness we had found.
“Okay but you owe me a dinner and an explanation.” He squeezed me tighter. “How did you know about that townhouse being connected?”
“Women’s intuition.” I held onto his arms, his warmth and the moment, burning each into my memory.
***
For the two days Mad Dog’s family stayed with me, I noticed Karma never left Mariah’s side. I had a decision to make.
We said our goodbyes outside the boutique Wednesday evening and, with a heavy heart, I made the only decision that made sense.
“Nina, I think you should take Karma home with you, for Mariah.”
She began to shake her head in protest and I stopped her and turned her around to look at the mastiff with her daughter. Mariah had her arms wrapped around him, her head buried in his fur. “That dog belongs in your family. He attached himself to your husband…and now your daughter. He belongs with her.”
I noticed her shoulders fall. Then a mixture of laughter and tears burst through; all the emotions from the past few days pouring out into the universe. “What do you feed a giant, toothless dog?”
I laughed then, too. “Anything from the blender.” Then I went and kneeled down in front of the little girl. Mad Dog’s little girl. I studied her for a moment in the fading light. She had his eyes and hands. More than that, though, she had his soft spirit. He wasn’t gone. He was right here, in front of me, holding onto Karma with different arms, same heart.
“Mariah?”
She looked up at me, eyes rimmed red. “Yes, ma’am?”
“If Karma went home with you, would you promise to take very good care of him?”
Mariah’s eyes widened and she glanced at her mother.
“Your mom said it’s okay.”
A grin slowly lit up her face. “Yes, ma’am!” Then she flung her arms back around Karma, giggling and wiping at her nose.
A wave of joy washed over me, making my scalp tingle. Karma looked up at me, tongue hanging, eyes squinting. Yeah, he was definitely smiling.
I bent down and pressed my cheek against his forehead one last time. “You take good care of Mariah, boy. I’ll miss you.” One last kiss and one last smile through the tears.
It was tricky getting Karma up into the jeep with his cast, but the three of us managed and they were finally all packed in, ready to go home. I slipped my hands under Karma’s ears. “Thanks for everything, boy. You take good care of your new family now.”
His eyes sparkled happily as his tongue licked the tears from the unbandaged side of my face.
I kissed his nose then reached over and slipped a check into Nina’s bag. “That’s for the vet bills. You come by anytime for a visit and to stock up on more treats, promise?”
“Promise,” Nina said. “Thank you, Darwin…for everything.”
Sylvia slipped her arm around my shoulder as we watched them pull out onto Beach Drive, their headlights disappearing around the corner. I wiped at my eyes and cheek. I think I slobbered more that day than Karma ever had.
“Come on, we get some chocolate scones,” Sylvia said, dabbing a finger under her eye.
I glanced at her. “Sylvia, are you crying?”
“Ack,” she waved, “something in my eye.”
I slipped my arm through hers. “Yeah, I’ll miss the big guy, too.”
She sniffed and I heard her say a little prayer as we made our way down the sidewalk, under the streetlights to Cassis.
“Well, I’d say our first few months open have been a success. What do you think?” I asked.
“I think I hope we have continued success with snowbird season but not quite so much adventure.”
I threw my head back and laughed at the sky. When I did, I swear a star winked at me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shannon Esposito is a Florida author who believes in the power of an open mind. Exploring the unknown through writing fiction is her idea of magic. Her novels are sometimes steeped in science and sometimes wrapped in the paranormal but, as in real life, the heart of all stories is the mystery.
murderinpardise.com
*Author's note: If you enjoyed this story, please leave a quick review on Amazon. It truly will make my day!
Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
ABOUT THE AUTHOR