by Sue Pethick
“You’re right; he does look like a Rex. Do you know who the owner is?”
“No idea.” Wendell looked at Kieran. “He wasn’t wearing a collar when you found him, was he?”
Kieran swallowed, feeling the edge of the dog’s collar pressing against thigh, and shook his head.
“Well, that’s not unusual,” the vet said. “Lots of people around here don’t bother, especially if they let their dogs roam. It’s too easy for an animal to get it caught on something. Chances are he’s been chipped, but I haven’t got a reader here at the house. Most vets have one in their office, but with Christmas this week, a lot will be taking time off. If you don’t find Rex’s owner by the time he’s back on his feet, you can take him down to the Humane Society to get the chip read.”
“We’ll do that,” Wendell said.
“Meantime, I’ll call around and see if anyone I know has a patient reported missing.”
He opened a wooden cabinet behind him and took out a small silver tube.
“Here’s some ointment for the neck,” Ted told him. “The instructions are on the label. And I’ll trim up those back claws before you leave.”
Molly looked up from her knitting.
“The dog is welcome to stay with us,” she said. “Ted and I have an empty kennel out back.”
“That’s right,” the vet said. “We’ve got the room, and it’d be no trouble.”
Kieran gave his grandfather a panicked, pleading look.
“No, that’s okay,” Wendell said. “I think we’ll just take him home with us.”
Ted cocked an eyebrow.
“You sure your daughter will be okay with that?”
“Oh, sure. Renee won’t mind at all.”
* * *
Renee lugged the last of her groceries up the front walkway and shouldered the door open. The stores had been crowded with harried shoppers that day, all of them trying to do their Christmas shopping before time ran out, and she’d been shoved and jostled more than once as she’d made her way down the aisles. Nevertheless, it had been a relief to get away from the incessant calls and messages from Travis Diehl, and as she set her bags down on the counter, she felt almost, almost relaxed. Getting away from the house had been the right thing to do.
As she set the turkey in the refrigerator, Renee heard muffled voices downstairs. She’d noticed when she drove up that Wendell’s car had moved, the engine ticking as it cooled, and she suspected he and the kids had been out shopping for presents. No doubt, another bottle of eau de cologne would be under the tree this year.
Kieran came charging up the stairs, his footsteps reverberating throughout the house.
“Mom! Mom!”
He ran into the kitchen, his hair mussed and his clothes shedding a potpourri of dirt and leaves. Renee stared in horror at the muddy footprints on her clean floor.
“Take your shoes off! Look at the mess you’re making.”
“But, Mom! You have to come and see.”
“In a minute,” she said. “First, the shoes.”
As she turned him around, Renee got a closer look at his outfit.
“What have you gotten into? Is that tree sap?”
Kieran wriggled from her grasp and ran for the front door as Renee stared aghast at the damage to her house. She’d just finished mopping that floor. Now she’d have to do it again before Jack’s family got there.
She heard the thump-thump of Kieran’s shoes as they hit the tile entryway, then the muffled sound of a coat being shed. In seconds, he was back.
“Can you come now, please?”
“Okay, all right,” she said. “Keep your shirt on.”
She checked the bags to make sure there was nothing more that needed to be refrigerated or frozen.
“What is it you want me to see?”
He shook his head.
“I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise.”
Renee gave her son a skeptical look and followed him down to Wendell’s apartment, trying not to think about the trail of dirty footprints on her just-cleaned carpet. Cleaning a house with children in it, she thought, was like drinking water from a sieve.
Wendell was standing in the middle of the room wearing an expression that was somewhere between self-satisfied and apologetic, a look that said: I’m sorry, but I’m not really sorry. Renee was about to ask what had happened when her father stepped aside and pointed toward the couch.
“I can explain.”
At first, all she saw was a grey shape against the brown leather. Then the shape moved and two yellow disks appeared. Renee took a sharp breath and stepped back.
“What is it?”
“It’s a dog!” Kieran said, tugging her arm. “He got caught in a trap and I found him but I couldn’t pick him up so I got Grandpa and we took him to Doctor Ted’s house to get medicine for him and his wife said the dog could stay there but Grandpa told her you wouldn’t mind so we brought him home.”
Renee looked at her father.
“Oh, he did, did he?”
Wendell shrugged.
“Molly was just being polite.”
She closed her eyes and lifted her face heavenward. Their guests would be arriving in less than forty-eight hours, and she still had to finish cleaning, put the tree up, get it decorated, and do a full day’s work at the salon. The last thing she needed was a strange animal in her house.
Lord, give me strength.
“Come on,” Kieran said, urging her forward. “He won’t hurt you. He didn’t even try to bite me when I cut him down from the tree.”
Renee stared.
“What tree? Where were you?”
The boy shrank back.
“I-In the woods,” he said, darting a glance at his grandfather.
Wendell cleared his throat.
“We’ve already discussed this,” he said. “Kieran knows he shouldn’t have gone in there alone, but when he heard the dog and realized it was in trouble, he knew there might not be time to get a grown-up to help.”
He gave Kieran an encouraging nod.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Yeah,” the boy said. “Uh-huh. That’s what I did.”
Renee’s eyes narrowed. She knew when she was being played, but she also knew that if Kieran had actually saved this animal’s life, it was something to be praised, not censured. Her youngest had always had the kindest heart of her three children, and she wasn’t about to punish him for following it. Once this crisis was over, they could have another talk about the woods.
She took a step closer to the couch and saw the dog’s yellow eyes widen in apprehension.
“What happened to its neck?”
“It got hurt when he tried to get out of the trap,” Kieran said.
Renee looked at her father.
“Basic peg snare,” Wendell said quietly. “The rope caught on a higher branch and pretty much hung him. I’m surprised he made it.”
She grimaced. “Poor guy.”
Renee felt her resistance weakening. The poor dog looked pitiful lying there. She knew that if she had been been the one to find him, she’d have done the same thing. All they could do now was to keep the animal comfortable until its owner showed up.
“Have you contacted its owner?”
Her father shook his head.
“He wasn’t wearing a collar, but Ted’s certain he’s been chipped. He’s going to ask around and see if anyone’s heard of a missing dog. If the owner doesn’t turn up, we can take him down to the Humane Society after Christmas and have them read it.”
“After Christmas?” she said.
“It’s only three days.”
“Three and a half. We can’t keep this thing until then.”
Wendell’s face darkened.
“Why the hell not?”
Renee struck her forehead in exasperation.
“Dad, do you even hear yourself? Jack and Megan will be here tomorrow night. We can’t have a dog running around all over the house.”
&nbs
p; “He’s not running around,” Wendell countered. “Look at him; he can’t even walk.”
“That’s not the point,” she said through gritted teeth. “He’s going to scare the girls.”
“Not if they take after their mother, he won’t. Nothing scares that—”
“Dad!”
Kieran, who’d been watching their exchange with increasing alarm, began to cry.
“Please, Mom. I’ll take care of him, I promise!”
Renee closed her eyes again and massaged her temples, trying to stave off a headache. After last night, there just wasn’t enough fight in her to win a battle against the two of them. Chances were, the dog’s owner would claim it before too long, and in the meantime she’d just have to find a way to keep it in Wendell’s apartment. There was an old baby gate in the attic. If she put it across the top of the stairs, it would keep the dog away from the girls until she could find its owner and send it back where it belonged.
“Fine,” she said, giving her father a pointed look. “But let this be on your head.”
CHAPTER 25
Monday the twenty-third dawned cold and crisp. From the comfort of her warm bed, Renee peered through a crack in the curtains and saw striated clouds strewn across the blue sky like the feathers of some great, wild bird. She yawned and stretched, reluctant to leave the sanctuary of her down comforter. Tomorrow would be Christmas Eve, she thought. Tonight, Jack and his family would arrive, and the house would descend into chaos. She grinned. It was going to be wonderful.
Then she remembered the dog.
The big, hairy, dirty dog that had spent the night downstairs and would still be there when Jack showed up if they couldn’t find its owner before then. Her sister-in-law was a clean freak, and a strange dog was just the sort of thing that Megan would flip out over. Never mind that the poor thing was confined to Wendell’s apartment, the stairs blocked off with a baby gate, and that the animal was too weak to stand, Megan would clutch the girls to her chest like a mother hen who senses a fox on the prowl.
Renee sighed, wondering if she should have called to warn them. But what if she had and they’d decided not to come? The fact was, she needed the tumult and crazy joy of Christmas as much or more than her kids did that year. No, she told herself, it was worth taking a chance. Besides, there was one good thing about the dog. It had kept her from obsessing about Travis Diehl.
Fifteen months on her own might not have been easy, but it had taught her one thing: She could live without a man. When Greg left her, Renee had thought she’d never survive—not just financially, or because she’d become a single parent overnight, but because the prospect of being alone every day and every night with no one to share her joys and sorrows with had felt unimaginably grim. But she had survived, and although it still hurt, she’d survive this, too.
There was no rush getting to work that day; Dottie had sent her a text telling her that her first appointment had canceled. It wasn’t great news, of course, but the amount Renee earned for the extra color job she’d done on Saturday night more than made up for it. All things considered, she was happy to exchange the lost pay for some extra shut-eye.
Wendell was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee and working the daily crossword in the Bolingbroke Herald. When Renee walked in, he looked up sharply.
“Didn’t your alarm go off?”
“My first appointment canceled,” she said, stifling a yawn. “I’m fine.”
He scowled. “You’ve had clients hounding you all week for an appointment. Why didn’t they call someone on your waiting list?”
“It’s okay, Dad. I didn’t mind the extra sleep.”
She poured herself a bowl of cereal.
“Where are the kids?”
“Dylan’s at a team meeting, and McKenna’s still asleep. Kieran says he’s almost done cleaning his room.”
“That was fast.”
Wendell smirked.
“I told him he couldn’t play with the dog until it was done.”
“Good thinking.”
Too bad the other two couldn’t be similarly motivated, Renee thought. There was still a lot to do to get the house ready for guests. If she hadn’t needed the money, she’d probably have taken the whole day off instead of just knocking off early, but between presents and food, Christmas had a way of busting the budget.
“I take it things have cooled between you and Mr. Diehl.”
Renee struggled to swallow the last bite of cereal, wishing her father hadn’t asked. She’d almost convinced herself it didn’t matter, but the sudden tightness in her throat had betrayed her true feelings. She poured herself a cup of coffee.
“Let’s just say he’s not the man I thought he was.”
“Sorry.”
“I should be home no later than three thirty. If you can get Miss Mac to move her things into my room and change the sheets on her bed, that’d be great. I’m not worried about Dyl’s room. If it isn’t clean, we’ll just shut the door.”
Wendell grunted.
“Jack’s email said they should be here by four. I thought I’d pick up some Chick-fil-A for supper.”
“Fine.”
Her father stared determinedly at the newspaper as she tried to catch his eye.
“I’d appreciate it if you’d try to be pleasant while they’re here.”
“I am pleasant, dammit.”
“Well,” she said, hiding a smile. “That’s good to know.”
She finished her coffee and put the cup and bowl in the dishwasher. He’d be all right, Renee thought. When push came to shove, her father would rein himself in—for the grandkids’ sake, if nothing else. If he and Jack could just manage to stay away from any contentious subjects, she was sure they’d all have an enjoyable Christmas.
Wendell was still staring at the crossword puzzle, shaking his head.
“What’s wrong?” she said.
“I can’t get this one.”
Renee sidled up and peered over his shoulder.
“What is it?”
“Six letters, starts with an E. The clue is: ‘Closer to base?’”
She thought about it for a moment.
“How about ‘eviler’?”
“Eviler, like more evil?”
“Yeah.”
He penciled it in.
“Well, that’s just stupid.”
* * *
The blue sky Renee had seen from her bedroom window was almost gone by the time she left for work. The feathery clouds had coalesced into an unbroken mass of white so thick it left a halo around the sun. As she walked out to her car, she inhaled deeply and wondered if they might be in for a white Christmas.
It was going to be a long day. In addition to five hours at the salon, she still had to clean the house and get everything ready for her guests’ arrival. Wendell would take care of the downstairs and pick up the last-minute grocery items on her list, but the kids needed to do their part, too. She was pleased that Kieran had already cleaned his room, but then he’d been excited about staying downstairs in his grandfather’s apartment even before the dog. McKenna, however, would no doubt be dragging her feet until the very last second. She hoped that Wendell would be able to light a fire under her before Renee got back from work.
There were patches of ice on the road that morning, making the drive to work treacherous and slow; she was still only halfway to the salon when her cell phone rang. It was Hank Fielding, the principal at Kieran’s school.
“Have you got a minute?”
“I’m on the way to work,” she said, “but sure. What’s up?”
“We’ve got a problem here concerning our new program. I’d like to ask you a few questions, if you don’t mind.”
“Is this about Kieran?”
“No, it’s about a rumor that’s going around. Someone’s been telling the parents that medicating their children is the ultimate aim of the program. So far, two families have withdrawn their kids, and I just spent twenty minutes on the p
hone trying to convince a third to stay on. I’m wondering if you know anything about that?”
Renee pursed her lips, wondering if this had anything to do with Marissa’s comments.
“Boy, I wish I could help you, but no one’s said anything to me about their kid’s being in the program. Did you ask them where they got that information?”
“I did,” he said. “They told me it was you.”
“Me?” She almost laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, ma’am. Both of the families who dropped out told me that you were the one who’d passed along the information. I have to tell you, Mrs. Richardson, I’m disappointed.”
Renee felt her lips tighten.
“You call and accuse me of spreading lies—without proof—and you’re disappointed? What kind of b.s. is that?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, his tone more conciliatory. “I’m only repeating what I was told. Under the circumstances, I thought it best to go to the source.”
“What source?” she said. “I don’t even know the other parents, and if I did, I sure as hell wouldn’t be spreading rumors around. Either they’re lying or someone’s been lying to them, and it sure as hell wasn’t me.”
Renee’s hands were shaking so badly she had to pull to the side of the road and stop the car. She closed her eyes, trying to calm the pounding in her chest. Whatever this was, she told herself, it wasn’t worth getting herself killed over.
Principal Fielding cleared his throat.
“Perhaps I need to look into this matter a bit further.”
She held her tongue.
You’re darned right you do.
“In the meantime, if any of the other parents contact you, I’d appreciate a call.”
* * *
The salon was busy, its parking lot jammed with the cars of clients desperate to have their hair done in time for the holidays. Renee drove into the empty lot next door, turned off the engine, and set her forehead against the steering wheel. The principal’s call had left her badly shaken.
It was devastating to think that anyone would accuse her of spreading lies, but she was especially hurt that Hank Fielding had believed them. She knew when she moved to Bolingbroke that the people there could be suspicious of newcomers, but everyone on staff at the school had been gracious and accepting of her family. The thought that there was someone out there trying to turn them against her made her feel vulnerable.