The outside of the house could use a fresh coat of paint, Addie mused, but she had no idea where she was going to find the odd shade of yellow it had been painted. Yes, there is some work to do, Addie thought, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.
It wasn’t the kind of house in which Addie had ever envisioned herself living. Of course, this wasn’t the town in which she’d ever envisioned herself living. The only place she’d ever called home was Chicago, and there, she’d only ever lived in an apartment.
The phone rang, and Addie shook herself out of her daydream.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Adelaide, honey.” Her mother’s voice was smooth and calm. “How are you? You were supposed to call last night.”
Addie swung her legs over the side of the bed. “I’m sorry, Mom. I was so tired, I must have fallen asleep.”
“What have you been up to?”
“Just unpacking, mostly. How is everything?”
“Oh, we’re good. You know Jerry. Retirement is boring him. I expect he’ll be back at work before the summer is out.”
“I still can’t believe he actually retired!” Addie giggled. “Is he marching around shouting orders at the cats?”
“More like marching around shouting orders at his wife,” Addie’s mother grumbled. “Once a marine, always a marine.”
Addie rolled her eyes, even though her mother couldn’t see her. “Oh, I know.”
“He said to tell you hello.”
Addie grinned into the receiver, picturing the gruff hug her stepfather had given her the day she left Chicago. “Tell him I said hello, too.”
“Addie, there’s something else. The reason I called. Jerry finally sold his house in Wisconsin.” Her mother paused, exhaling. “He wants to give you some of the money.”
“No way. I don’t want Jerry giving me any money. That’s his money.”
“I told him that’s what you’d say.”
“I have savings.”
“But he wants to do this for you,” Addie’s mother replied. “I know you have some savings, but that won’t last forever. It has been years since the last time I saw that house, but Addie, honey, it needed work. Even then.”
“I know,” Addie conceded. “But I think I can fix it up enough to sell.”
“I’m sure you can.”
“And I know that there are a few antiques that I can refinish and sell—some old furniture.”
There was a pause and her mother said, “You sound like Jonah.”
“Mom, I’ve got to let you go,” Addie said. “I’ve got a lot to do around the house today.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” her mother began. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset,” Addie replied. “Just busy. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“So you’ll take the money?”
Addie sighed. “As a loan. I’ll pay Jerry back. With interest.”
“Fine, fine.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Addie threw herself down onto the bed. She stared at the ceiling for a long time before sitting up, grabbing her jeans, and pulling them on. She felt bad cutting off the conversation with her mother. But it was just so hard to hear his name. So hard. She shook her head, and the shake resonated throughout the rest of her body. I’ve got too much to get done today, she thought. She rolled off the bed and headed to the hardware store determined to get started on the renovation of her new temporary home.
There was nothing that Adelaide Andrews hated more than feeling out of place. And once inside Linstrom’s hardware store, that’s exactly what she felt. The inside of the store looked nothing like what she was used to back home in Chicago.
“Can I help you with something?” A man in a red-and-white-striped apron appeared in front of her. “You look a tad lost.”
“I know what I’m looking for,” Addie replied. “But I don’t know where to find it.”
The man chuckled. “Is there a certain project you’re working on?”
“I’ll be refinishing some furniture soon.” Addie glanced down at her list. “I need to repaint the outside of my house. And I need to replace the showerhead in the bathroom. And I need to plant a garden. Also, how much would it cost to have my floors refinished?”
The man held up his hands and took a step back. “Whoa, whoa there, one thing at a time. Let me see this list.”
Addie handed him the list. “I’m in over my head, aren’t I?”
“Well . . . like I said, let’s just take it one thing at a time,” the man responded. “I think you could start with replacing that showerhead. You can find those over in aisle 13.”
“Okay, thanks.” Addie was relieved to have some direction.
“My name is Tom. Holler at me if you need help finding anything else.”
Addie waved at him and wandered off in search of aisle 13. As she stood in front of the different showerheads, she closed her eyes, trying to remember what her shower looked like. She wished she’d taken a picture of it with her phone. “Maybe I don’t need to shower,” Addie wondered aloud. “Maybe I can just run through the neighbor’s sprinkler.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s illegal in all fifty states,” said a voice behind her.
Addie turned around to see Jasper standing in front of her. “You might want to tell that to my eighty-year-old neighbor. That seems to be his favorite pastime.”
“That doesn’t make it any less illegal.”
Addie raised an eyebrow. “What are you, some kind of lawyer?”
“I used to be.” Jasper reached above her to pluck a showerhead from the shelf. “Here, I think this one will probably work for general purposes.”
“And now you just hang out in the hardware store assisting confused young girls?”
“Something like that.” Jasper’s face was expressionless, but Addie could tell he was trying to stifle a smile. “You aren’t so young.”
There was an awkward silence, and Addie was relieved that this time she wasn’t shaking Jasper’s hand as it happened.
“Well”—Addie held up the box with the showerhead inside—“thanks for your help, Counselor. I’ve got to go and find some hundred-fifty-grit sandpaper.” She brushed past him, clutching the box to her chest. She could feel his eyes on her, and she wondered what Jasper meant when he said he “used to be” a lawyer. No wonder he made her nervous.
And for Addie, that was almost as bad as feeling out of place.
CHAPTER 4
TWO DAYS LATER, ADDIE SAT IN THE WAITING ROOM OF THE Dixon Veterinary Clinic. This was the day she was picking up the dog she’d found—the dog she thought would surely die.
“Addie!”
Addie looked up. Wanda waved her over to the reception desk.
“Addie, honey, how are you?” Wanda flipped her rust-colored hair behind one shoulder. “I’m sorry I had to skedaddle the other night. My four-year-old was driving the babysitter crazy.”
“Oh, that’s okay.”
“Hey, what are you doing tonight?” Wanda leaned over the desk excitedly. “Do you want to go to the county fair with me and Bryar?”
Addie furrowed her brow and replied, “Who’s Bryar?”
“Oh, Lord. I’m sorry. That’s my son!”
Addie searched for an excuse not to go. It didn’t seem like a good idea to make friends when she wouldn’t even be in town more than a few months. Friends meant connections and connections meant growing roots, which was certainly not Addie’s first plan. “I really have a lot of work to do at the house, and I shouldn’t leave a puppy alone, should I?”
“Well, it ain’t gonna take a week,” Wanda replied. “Besides, it’ll be fun. Old Man Alcee makes the best funnel cakes this side of the Mississippi.”
A funnel cake did sound pretty good. “Sure,” Addie said finally. “But just for an hour or two.”
“Great!” Wanda clapped her hands together. “I’ll take you on back to get your pup. He’s perked up some since you last
saw him.”
Addie followed Wanda into a sea of barking dogs. At the end of the hallway, Wanda pushed through a set of doors, and they were surrounded by kennels.
“This is where we board dogs that are staying with us,” Wanda yelled over the noise. “Your little guy is back here somewhere.”
Addie was anxious. She hoped she was doing the right thing by taking this dog home. Of course, she thought, what are my options? Let him die?
Toward the back of the room, Wanda opened up a kennel and reached inside. “Come on, buddy.”
Addie held out her hands. Wanda handed him to her, and in that instant, Addie was in love. He shivered underneath her arms, and Addie nuzzled him and whispered, “It’s okay now. It’s all okay now.”
When Addie got home with the dog, she carried him inside and placed him gingerly down on the dog bed she’d bought the day before. He was still shaking, and Addie was desperate to make him comfortable.
“Please don’t shake like that. I won’t hurt you.”
She sat back. He was just a puppy, but Addie knew that by the size of his paws, she probably shouldn’t be able to see each of his ribs beneath the skin. He needed to gain weight. There were several places on his body that had been stitched up, and the damaged ear had been repaired, leaving half of it. Every inch of his body seemed to be covered with a scratch or a stitch. Despite his pitiful appearance, his black-and-white coloring was beautiful. He had a little black circle around one eye on his otherwise white face and muzzle. She wanted to pet him but was afraid she’d hurt him—so much of him was broken open and raw.
She stroked the top of his head, staring at his mangled ear. It looked like it had been torn off. Several places on his skin had bite wounds and tear marks. It didn’t make any sense to her. Why had someone shot him? Why had someone dumped him? More importantly, why had Dr. Dixon not seemed surprised to see a dog in such terrible shape?
Addie realized it wasn’t just the pain of the stitches that was causing him to shake. It wasn’t just the new house, the new bed, the new surroundings. He was terrified of her. He was terrified of what she might do to him. She thought about everything she’d heard about pit bulls over the years—the locking jaws, their genetic predisposition to be vicious, and how many communities had banned them. After she’d left the wounded puppy at the clinic, she’d rushed home and done some research on pit bulls, and she now knew enough to know that the first two, at least, weren’t true at all. Looking at him, at his sweet face, she couldn’t imagine that he would hurt anyone.
It was then that she noticed he was no longer shaking. He had fallen asleep beneath her touch. “I think I’ll call you Felix,” she whispered. “That name means ‘lucky’ and that is for sure what you are.” Addie was ecstatic to have found Felix. She could always take him back to Chicago with her when she was done selling her aunt’s house, but she was happy that she wouldn’t be totally alone while she was here. Even with the bite marks and half an ear missing, he was the cutest thing she’d ever seen.
She thought about what “back to Chicago” really meant. Most of her friends were married with children and living in the suburbs, something she and Jonah swore they’d never do after they got married—leave the city. Yet here she was, miles away from everything and everyone she loved. Jonah wasn’t with her. She was alone.
Addie glanced down at Felix. Well, maybe she wasn’t entirely alone. Maybe this dog was kindred. He looked an awful lot on the outside like she felt on the inside. She had a feeling that Felix wasn’t the only dog to have been dumped bleeding and struggling for his life. There was something fishy going on in the town of Eunice, and Adelaide Andrews was determined to get to the bottom of it, but first she had to get ready to meet Wanda since she’d agreed to go to the fair with her and her son. There had been no use trying to get out of it—she’d figured out quickly that Wanda was not a woman to be argued with when she made her mind up about something.
She checked the time on her cell phone and stood awkwardly in front of the bathroom mirror. Just like almost everything else in the house, the mirror was a throwback to another time—another life. She remembered standing in front of this mirror every day the summer she was twelve, wishing she was back home in Chicago with her mother. But now Chicago meant old memories; it meant Jonah. She shook the memories from her head and began to focus on tonight. And tonight, she looked okay, she guessed. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her thick, blunt bangs fell across her forehead, resting just above her eyes. She liked her hair this way—it pretty much always looked the same, but that meant there was less of a chance she could mess it up. She was wearing a blue-and-white gingham sundress with her favorite pair of white Chuck Taylors. Addie loved the way the sundress pushed up her boobs, which were her favorite feature. She was five foot five and a curvy size eight, but she had the breasts of a larger woman. Most of the time she kept them at least partially hidden beneath a cardigan, but it was too hot for all of that tonight. Besides, it wasn’t as if she had an actual date, so she didn’t know why it mattered so much to her what she looked like, but she was satisfied with her appearance nonetheless.
Addie looked down from the mirror when she heard her phone ring. “Hello?”
“Hey, hon. It’s Wanda. Bryar and I are here. Come on out.”
Addie padded into the living room where Felix was asleep. She hadn’t realized that a puppy could sleep so much, although a call to Dr. Dixon eased her concern. He’d told her that it was probably the first time Felix had a warm bed and food to eat. From the looks of him, he’d spent all of his short life outside, fighting for just about anything he could get to eat. He hadn’t really moved since she’d brought him home. She’d taken to carrying him outside because he wouldn’t walk around while she was watching him. His eyes were still so wide and frightened. Addie hoped he’d be okay for a few hours while she was gone. She put down a few old newspapers just in case he couldn’t wait until she got home. She wasn’t sure what to expect from him just yet. She just hoped the couch was safe. She’d heard horror stories about dogs tearing up furniture and flooring, doors, and even windows. Adding to her list of fixes around her house wasn’t her idea of a good time. She slipped out the front door, locking it behind her. She waved to Wanda and hurried out to the car.
“Hey!” Wanda shifted her huge Bonneville into drive.
Addie reached for the seat belt, and replied, “Hey! Thanks for picking me up. I know this is a small town, but I probably never would have found the fairgrounds.”
“Addie, this is Bryar.” Wanda gestured to the freckled redhead sitting in a booster seat in the back.
The little boy waved at Addie. “Hi. I’m four.”
“Hi, Bryar,” Addie replied. “I’m twenty-seven.”
“My mom is older than you” was his response.
“Not by much, kiddo.” Wanda snorted. “I’m just thirty.”
“You don’t look thirty,” Addie said. “Of course, I don’t know what a thirty-year-old is supposed to look like.”
“Me either,” Wanda replied. “I don’t know how they’re supposed to act, either. I live with a four-year-old. Other than the clinic, this is the first adult interaction I’ve had in months! Oh, the joys of single parenting.”
“Are you and his dad D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D?” Addie spelled out the word, not wanting to trigger a reaction from the backseat. When Wanda didn’t answer right away, she added, “I’m sorry. That’s totally none of my business.”
“Oh, no, no.” Wanda waved her off. “It’s fine. We were never married. His daddy is actually in P-R-I-S-O-N.”
Addie sat back in her seat. “Oh . . . I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. He’s an S-O-B.” Wanda winked. “As long as he stays where he is, everything is gravy, baby!”
From the backseat, Bryar dissolved into a fit of giggles, repeating, “It’s gravy, baby!” over and over.
Addie and Wanda both began to laugh and Addie felt herself relax for the first time in week
s. Maybe she could go out with Wanda from time to time. A little friendship wasn’t going to hurt anything, was it?
CHAPTER 5
BY THE TIME WANDA PULLED INTO THE GRASSY LOT AT THE fairgrounds, it was almost full. A man wearing a bright orange vest directed them to the nearest spot.
“Is this the parking lot?” Addie asked. “The grass?”
“Yep,” Wanda replied. “All the spots on the dirt are already taken. I hate parking in this grass. It ain’t been mowed in weeks. Watch out for chiggers.”
“Chiggers?”
“Yeah, you know, chiggers.”
“I don’t know what a chigger is.”
Wanda laughed over her shoulder at Addie. “I keep forgetting you’re a Yankee.”
“I’m from Chicago. That’s the Midwest.” Addie followed Wanda and Bryar into the throng of people, trying to forget she’d ever heard the word chigger. Ahead of them, the fair stretched out in a hazy display of cotton candy and dirt. Looking down at her shoes, she realized that white had not been the right choice.
“What do you want to ride first?” Wanda asked her son, looking down at him as they approached the ticket booth. “Anything but the Ferris wheel.”
“Mama! That’s my favorite!”
“No, sir,” Wanda replied. “You puke every time.”
Addie scanned the crowd looking for a food cart. The more she thought about eating a funnel cake, the more her mouth watered. There was a white cart to the right of where she was standing. “While you two duke it out, I’m going to go get a funnel cake.”
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