Lost and Found

by Chris Van Hakes

  “Okay, maybe he’s not so bad.”

  “She. It’s a girl.”

  The dog rolled over on her back and opened her mouth, her tongue hanging out in happiness. I think the dog had a crush on Oliver, closing her eyes in bliss when he scratched her belly. No female was impervious.

  “What’s her name?” Oliver asked.

  “I haven’t decided yet,” I said.

  “Let me know when you do,” Oliver said, and then stood up. The dog returned to all fours and watched Oliver retreat to his apartment, and gave out a low moan as Oliver disappeared.

  I leaned down and scratched behind her ear as she continued to stare at Oliver’s door, willing him to come back. “Don’t look needy, girl,” I said, and then dragged her into her new home.

  Oliver

  Delaney smiled up at me from the floor, where she was petting her dog. It was this ugly mutt, and she cooed at it like it was the most beautiful creature. I wanted her to look up at me with the same expression, and when she looked up at me again, my heart sped up, my palms went sweaty, and my vision blurred a little. I grinned down at her, bubbling with happiness, and then realized slowly, horrifically, what I was doing with Delaney.

  I escaped into my apartment and called up Michael. “I need to go out. Tonight. Come out to the Saturn with me.”

  “What’s the hurry?” Michael said slowly.

  “I just need a distraction.”

  “A distraction from what? Wedding stuff?”

  “Sure. Yeah.” I hung up the phone and closed my eyes, willing myself to think rationally, but instead I kept thinking of Delaney.

  Delaney

  Ursula frowned down at the card I’d passed to her across the cafeteria table. “Dr. Wild gave you his number?”

  “Yes. For you.” I’d just explained my mortifying experience after my physical, asking for Dr. Wild’s phone number on behalf of Ursula. It wasn’t something I was keen to experience again. “You better call him.”

  She sucked in a breath and her eyes darted around the room. “I don’t know. I’m…this is a little scarier than I thought.”

  “What is?”

  “Life,” she said.

  “Oh. Yeah, it is.”

  “But did he seem interested?” she asked.

  “Oh, yeah. He brightened right up when I mentioned your name.”

  “Maybe it was you he was smiling at, though.”

  “Ursula, don’t be ridiculous. How completely unprofessional is this guy? He wouldn’t date a patient.”

  “You’re right. He wouldn’t. He’s really sweet. And handsome. And he has these green eyes that are the color of sea glass and—”

  “Ursula, focus. Call. Arrange a date. Make happy time. Leave me out of it, okay?”

  “Okay.” She bit her lip, “Speaking of favors, I should talk to Oliver about being less of a jackass.”

  “He’s not that bad,” I said softly, remembering our dinner the other night. “Emily verbally kicked his ass the other day, actually.”

  “Good for her!” She fist pumped and then asked, “So, when can I come over and see your place and also verbally kick Oliver’s ass?”

  “I don’t know. He’s actually being a little nicer.”

  “Is he still calling you Skunk Girl?”

  My hand fluttered to my hair and I didn’t have to answer. “Ass kicking time. Name it,” she said.

  “You really don’t have to—”

  “Delaney, you did me a favor, now I’m doing you one. Name the time.”

  “Tonight? Seven?”

  “Tonight.”

  Six

  Delaney

  “Oliver!” Ursula said as we hit the top landing, Oliver leaning against his door, giving his cousin a sleepy smile.

  “Hey,” he said, and he wrapped his arms around her. “I can’t believe we live in the same city and we never manage to see each other. It’s ridiculous.” His eyes skated past Ursula’s shoulder as he gave me a small smile. “Hey, Delaney.”

  “Hey, Oliver,” I said softly.

  “It is ridiculous,” said Ursula. “The last time I saw you was with Dr. Wild at that—”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. “Don’t call him Dr. Wild. It just gives him an ego.”

  “I don’t know. It feels weird to call him Michael.” Ursula pulled away from her cousin’s shoulder and looked at me. “I hear you’ve been mean to my girl, O.”

  “I was.” He stepped away, leaning against the carved wood railing of the landing as he eyed us.

  “He’s really not so bad,” I said, smiling at Oliver. “Anymore,” he added with a smile, leaning even farther away from me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked him.

  “Sure. Why?”

  “You just seem like you’re trying to get as far away from me as possible,” I said.

  “Nothing like that,” he said, but he didn’t budge, and his eyes fell to my legs. “You always wear tights. It’s eighty degrees out and you’re wearing tights.”

  Ursula said, “How’ve you been, Oliver?”

  “Why’s she always wearing tights?” Oliver asked her. “Is she dating a tights fetishist?” He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, and Ursula shook her head and glared at him. He shrugged and said, “What?”

  “Noth-ing,” I said with a sing-song. “Want to come in?” At the sound of my key in the door, I heard the familiar whine of the dog, and then a scratch. “I can’t believe Mary let you keep a dog,” Oliver said.

  “Mary likes me,” I said.

  “Mary?” Ursula asked, and Oliver and I said, “Landlord,” in unison. The dog climbed up my legs with her front paws, and I snuggled her. Oliver walked into my apartment and crouched down to scratch behind the dog’s ears. If the dog could have purred, she would have.

  Ursula looked on in horror. “That’s your new dog? Whoa. Uh, Delaney, I think that thing might be rabid.”

  “Hush. This dog is my new family. You have to be nice, just like when someone has an ugly infant. You pretend. You smile. You go home and post ugly infant photos to Instagram with a very strong filter. You do not tell the child’s mother that her baby is rabid.

  “Besides, I think this dog was meant for me. Look at her.” I picked up the dog so she and I were nose-to-nose, my gray streak touching a patch of white fur on the dog’s head. “Don’t you think we look kind of similar?”

  “Jesus. No, Delaney,” Ursula said, sounding a lot like her cousin, and Oliver, grabbing a cookie from my kitchen said, “I told her, too. I think she’s in love with the thing.”

  I stood up and grabbed the leash, deciding to ignore my new family member’s detractors. “I have to give her a short walk. I’ll be right back. Make yourselves at home,” I said as I gestured to my red sofa with curlicue arms. “I can’t believe you still have this,” Ursula said, and Oliver gave me a questioning look.

  “I found the sofa on a street corner in college, and a friend with a truck hauled it for me. It called to me because it was beautiful,” I said. “It’s been in storage for years.”

  “You do love beautiful things,” Ursula said. “Like Cliff.” I stepped on her toe as Oliver looked at me for elaboration, and when I gave none, he sat down.

  “Free is my favorite price,” I said.

  Ursula shook her head. “Delaney’s always finding things. She found me. She found this sofa. Did she find you?” She narrowed her eyes at her cousin.

  “Sounds familiar. And nope,” he said, giving me a broad smile. “I found her.” I stepped out the door with the dog’s leash in my hand and said to him, “And I didn’t even know I was lost.”

  When I returned, I found Oliver and Ursula deep in conversation.

  “I’m sorry to miss it, but I just won’t be able to go to the wedding,” Oliver said.

  “But you have to go, O,” Ursula said.

  “What are you two talking about? Who’s getting married?” I asked cheerfully, but Oliver’s face fell when he saw me and his mouth clamped shut.<
br />
  “Boring family stuff. Don’t worry about it,” Ursula said.

  “Oh, okay.” I was missing something very important. I busied myself by cutting the cinnamon buns I’d baked yesterday and making a new batch of maple icing.

  “So, let me get this straight,” Ursula said as she followed me and rested against my kitchen counter, stealing a swipe of icing from the bowl. Oliver was right behind her, doing the same thing. Ursula turned to Oliver and asked, “How could you be such a jackass? You’re so sweet and kind and I always wanted you to be my brother. How could you be mean to someone as nice as Delaney?”

  “No, no. You first. Delaney said you like Michael. I don’t think there are enough vomit noises to convey my feelings,” Oliver said.

  “Whatever,” Ursula said. “Dr. Wild is amazing and—”

  I started the burr grinder for a fresh pot of coffee, so I missed the first part of Ursula’s explanation, but when I glanced over, her cheeks were pink. “Since you two were in med school together.”

  “That’s—Ursula, Michael’s great but I don’t think you’re his type. I’ve seen the kind of girls he goes for and you’re just too sweet for him.”

  “Ursula can hold her own,” I said over the percolating coffeemaker. “Trust me. I’ve seen her in a bar surrounded by guys and—”

  “Stop talking right now. I need no mental picture of this,” Oliver said.

  I walked over to my tiny coffee table and rested the plate of cinnamon buns on the table. “She can hold her own, is all I’m saying. Tell Dr. Wild how great she is.”

  “Dr. Wild,” Oliver snorted.

  “I like him,” Ursula said.

  “It’s too weird,” he said, crossing his arms.

  “Oliver!” she screamed. “I’ve liked him for years. I liked him even when I was with Jeremy, and Michael was with that simpering girl, what’s-her-name.”

  “Fiona,” he said flatly.

  “Ugh. Fiona,” Ursula said.

  “The point is,” I said, “they’re both single and they both like each other and they should go out.”

  “Fine, but leave me out of it,” he said, leaning back against my canary throw pillow.

  “Fine,” I said. “Ursula, call him.”

  “Okay.” She looked down at her plate. “I just—I’ve never—I mean.”

  “You’ve never asked a guy out,” I said. She nodded and Oliver sat in the corner, arms still crossed, smirking. “We’ll figure something out. After Jackass leaves.”

  “Hey!” he said with fake hurt.

  “Yeah, yeah, like you’re surprised people call you that to your face.” Ursula rolled her eyes. “Speaking of, you are going to be nice to her from now on, right?”

  “You two can talk right to me. I’m in the room,” I piped in.

  “I am nice to her. I’m even concerned for her safety every time I see her coming back from an insane run in the dark, where she’s going to get murdered.”

  “Oh, Delaney is fearless. On some things, anyway,” Ursula said.

  “What she means,” I said, “is that men fear me. No one is going to even attempt to murder me.”

  “Lane,” Ursula hissed.

  “What?” I laughed. “Not even a hardened criminal would venture jumping me. Oliver himself said I was ugly.”

  He simply frowned at this as Ursula glared at him. He was silent, his eyes focused on the coffee table.

  “It doesn’t bother me,” I said to Oliver. “We’re beyond that, right?”

  Oliver shrugged.

  “It bothers me,” Ursula said.

  “That’s because if someone called you ugly it would be a lie,” I said. “Unlike with me….”

  “Unlike with you?” Oliver asked, puzzled. Ursula fumed as she sat beside me.

  “Stop. We’re stopping this right now before I go find Cliff and punch him in the teeth.” Ursula stood up and walked into the kitchen. “I’m getting coffee.”

  Oliver stood, too, and said, “I should go.” He glanced down at the dog, who followed him out the door, looking up at him with love in her cloudy brown eyes. “Uh, Laney, could you keep your dog in the apartment?”

  “You can stay if you want.” I gave him one of my genuine smiles as I hooked a finger under the dog’s collar. “Stay.”

  “Do you have a name for the dog yet?” he asked.

  “I’m thinking of calling her Jenny.”

  “Jenny?” Ursula and Oliver said at the same time.

  “After my favorite author, Jenny Edmonton,” I said, and Ursula smiled. “This dog seems to know a lot about love.”

  “Puppy love,” Ursula said.

  “Maybe,” I said with a nod. “Or maybe something more. And she seems like a Jenny.”

  “Alright,” Oliver said, bending over to scratch Jenny under the chin. “See you later, Jenny.”

  “You’re not going to stay?” I asked.

  “I’ve actually got to go to work in an hour or so.”

  “Oh. Well.” I went back to the kitchen with Jenny in my arms and fetched a small Tupperware of cinnamon buns, keeping it just out of reach of the dog. “Here. Tide you over until the next time.”

  “Until the next time I insult you and you show me infinite kindness?” He shook his head and said, “I’ll see you later, Delaney.”

  “I’m telling your cousin to call Dr. Wild!” I called to his retreating back.

  He raised a hand, waving his middle finger at me, his only response. After he left, I turned to Ursula and said, “I’m fearless on some things?”

  “Well,” she said around a mouthful of carbs, “it’s eighty degrees and you’re wearing tights.”

  “Sometimes they’re leggings,” I said. She stared. “You’re right. And I’m glad you’ve become fearless around carbs.”

  “Too much temptation,” she said, smiling, with frosting on her lips, looking like a gluttonous angel.

  “Plus, money can’t buy happiness, but it can buy baking ingredients, and that’s as close as I can get,” I said.

  “Oh, I think you can get even closer,” Ursula said. “Now, turn on the TV. I need some crime scene dramas to go with these cinnamon buns.”

  I snuggled Jenny in my lap, and clicked on the TV, feeling at least the approximation of happiness. I tried not to analyze why I always buzzed with this strange feeling whenever Oliver showed up. I settled into the sofa next to Ursula to focus on the next Law and Order rerun.

  Oliver

  My brother rarely ever called me, partly because in the last few years he was in the U.S. less and less, and hardly ever in an area with a working cell tower. I was surprised he wanted to settle in suburban Chicago with Mia, but he’d been ecstatic when they purchased their little two bedroom duplex. I knew their move-in date was approaching, so it wasn’t that surprising when I saw my caller ID. “Hey, Brad.”

  “O,” he said, his voice hoarse.

  “You getting sick? I hope you took Lariam. And your tetanus booster’s been updated, right?”

  He laughed. “You sound worse than Mom. I’m fine. I’m in Chicago, so I don’t think I need the Lariam.”

  “I didn’t realize all the traveling was over.”

  “We’re closing on a house, remember? And my trips wrapped up last month.”

  “I do remember. But stay up on the tetanus. Just in case.”

  “Uh huh. I just have a sore throat. Been working a lot.”

  “Digging a well? Building a school? Saving the universe?”

  “Lots of paperwork, actually. And training a temp.”

  “A temp?”

  “For when I’m gone, the wedding and the honeymoon. You wouldn’t believe where Mia wants to go.” Just at the mention of her name, I felt my insides twinge.

  “Where?” I asked.

  “Banff. We finally get a break and instead of going somewhere relaxing, she wants to scale mountains.” He laughed again, his voice gruff.

  “That sounds like Mia.”

  “Speaking of, she’s ki
nd of freaking out because you didn’t return your RSVP card. The wedding’s making her nuts, so I told her she probably just lost it. She nearly threw me under an oncoming bus for telling her so.”

  “Oh.”

  “So, are you bringing a date? That’s all I really need to know. You don’t want to know how much each plate of terrible wedding food costs her parents.”

  “Listen, Brad—”

  “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t bring a date. If you’re seeing someone, I’ll pay pretty much anything to meet her. So would Mia. She can’t shut up about getting you a girlfriend.”

  “Yeah. Uh.” My mouth went dry.

  “So you’re bringing a date?”

  I cleared my throat and summoned up some courage. “Brad, the thing is, I can’t come to the wedding. Work has been crazy lately and I just don’t know if I could get the time off.”

  There was silence on the other end of the line. Then, finally, Brad said, “This is my wedding. You get that, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “My wedding. You’re supposed to be my best man.”

  “I didn’t know that you decided that.”

  “I did. I know you told me you didn’t want to, but I thought you knew I was serious. It’s just me and you in this family.”

  “I thought maybe Malcolm or Ralph would be doing that. I really can’t make it. I thought Mother would have told you already.”

  He raised his voice. “You’re my brother.” Then he hung up the phone, and I was relieved, because I was his brother. The last place I could be was watching him marry the love of my life.

  Seven

  Delaney

  Early Saturday morning, I was stretching on the sidewalk outside the Victorian, ear buds already in and MIA thumping in my head when I screamed and jumped.

  “Jesus!” I said as Oliver smiled down at me.

  “I told you. You could get attacked out here.”

  “Yeah, but you failed to mention you were the one who was going to attack me.”

  “I’m not here to attack you. I’m here to run with you.”

  I took in his shorts and plain white t-shirt and then looked back at his smirking face. “Why?”