Life After Love
Page 24
Remembering how pleased she’d been when first presented with the idea of an addition, Bea reveled in her look of pride and satisfaction. Allyn had moved in gradually over a period of several months, leaving her apartment for good at the end of February when her lease expired. However, she soon realized Bea’s second bedroom was too cramped and cave-like, not at all pleasant as a home office. This was a giant step for them—a permanent one, since Allyn had laid out over twenty thousand dollars for improvements on a house that was still in Bea’s name only.
That would change in about two months on the last weekend in August, which happened to be their one-year anniversary of running into one another at the Pak & Ship in Broadview. It was the day their lives changed forever, and they planned to commemorate it with a simple backyard wedding among friends, including Wendy, with Krystal nearby. As far as Bea was concerned, August couldn’t get here soon enough.
Allyn dropped a box of files on the corner of the desk. “This is going to sound weird, but I can’t wait to start work tomorrow morning.”
“You like it?”
“It’s awesome.” She kissed Bea on the tip of her nose. “Just like you.”
Kit groaned and yelled loudly so Marta would hear her in the kitchen, “They’re doing it again.”
“You should try it sometime,” Bea said, wrapping her arms around Allyn’s waist.
Marta appeared in the doorway with her purse slung over her shoulder. “You could have told them to get a room, but they already did that. We need to hit the road if we’re going to make it home in time for the Storm game.”
“You guys can watch it here if you want,” Allyn offered. “I owe you dinner. We can order a pizza and some wings.”
Kit snorted. “You’re not getting off that easy. Bea comes in every day bragging to Grady and me about whatever you cooked the night before. We want the works.”
“You’re on.”
Allyn insisted on cooking at least four nights a week because she enjoyed it, while Bea insisted on going out or ordering in for the other nights. They had a chance to fix the mistakes they’d made the first time around, and she didn’t want Allyn to fall back into the domestic role she’d had with Melody. Theirs was a partnership.
After Kit and Marta left, Bea spent another half hour setting up the computer, printer and phone while Allyn arranged her office supplies and files in a credenza that fit neatly beneath the window. The only other furnishing in the room was a stationary bicycle. Over the winter they both had added a few pounds, but the longer days of summer meant more playtime after work, and softball started up again in two weeks.
“You were right. It’s awesome,” Bea proclaimed. “I vote we call it a day.”
Allyn checked her watch. “It’s four o’clock. That gives us a couple of hours to check one more thing off our list.”
“Oh, no. Not today.”
“Today.” Ignoring her objections, Allyn went into the bedroom and changed her T-shirt, which had gotten dirty in the move. “Today!”
Bea sighed as she walked down the hall, her feet slapping the floor as though she were being pushed from behind against her will. “I can’t believe I let you and Wendy talk me into this already. You two make a diabolical team.”
“It’s for your own good.” She tapped Bea’s chest with a finger. “There’s a hole in there and we need to fill it.”
Dexter had indeed left a gaping hole, succumbing to lymphoma after only seven months, well short of the year Kyle had optimistically predicted. Their time together had been worth all the effort and expense, joyous until early April when his tumors returned and he began showing signs of distress. Her decision to let him go was resolute, but her sense of loss was still raw and unrelenting. She wasn’t ready for another dog. But Allyn and Wendy insisted another dog was ready for her.
Or ready for them. Allyn had stepped seamlessly into the role of caregiver for Dexter, and losing him was as hard on her as it had been for Bea.
“I don’t want another dog that looks like Dexter. I’m not replacing him.”
“Agreed. There’s no replacing Dexxie anyway. Maybe we should get a girl.”
“That’s a thought.”
More apprehensive than excited as they drove toward the shelter, Bea considered asking if they could postpone it for another month or two. Or six. Or more. But Wendy especially was insistent they adopt another right away.
“What is it with you and Wendy? Why can’t I have some time to grieve? It feels disloyal to Dexter to run out and get another dog. Like he was just a little gadget or something that broke, so I have to go buy another. He was more than that.”
“I know.” Allyn reached across the console and wiggled her fingers for Bea to take her hand. “Wendy was worried about you dragging your feet. I told her you might need some time, but she said you were capable of a lot of love. She didn’t want you to waste it.”
“I know exactly what she’s doing. She’s comparing it to all the time it took me to start dating again after her accident, how stubborn I was because I wouldn’t take any of those women seriously.” She curled her wrist to bring Allyn’s hand to her chest. “Turns out I was right to wait. Otherwise I could have been tangled up with the wrong lady when you came along.”
“Hmm.”
“See, I got you.” Bea pulled into the parking lot at the Seattle Animal Shelter, but didn’t turn off the engine. If Allyn conceded her point, she was prepared to drive back home without going inside.
“No, you didn’t. In fact, you made my point. So thanks for playing.”
“How do you figure?”
“What if I’d played it your way? Let’s say I decided not to go out with you last year because I wanted to brood a little longer over Melody. What do you suppose would have happened if she’d come back around after things fell apart with Naomi?”
That was, frankly, a terrifying prospect. Their window for being together had been quite narrow. If either of them had chosen to wait, they wouldn’t be sitting here together. Allyn would be back with Melody, and Bea would be mourning Dexter by herself.
“Our next dog is waiting for us in there right now, Bea. What if she goes home with someone else instead?”
Bea couldn’t begin to push back against an argument like that. With one hand, she brought Allyn’s fingers to her lips, and with the other, opened her car door. “Let’s go get her. Maybe she can be our ring bearer.”
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