Chestnut

by Jennifer Li Shotz

  Meg’s mom wrapped her arms around her. “Sweetie,” she said. “We know you’re sorry. And we forgive you completely. We should have been more open to discussing the whole dog thing with you much earlier.” She let go of Meg and looked at Meg’s dad. “We were just trying to keep you from getting hurt. But in the process, we forgot to acknowledge how grown-up you’re getting.”

  Her dad cleared his throat. “That being said, we . . . uh, we have something we wanted to tell you.”

  Her mom’s smile grew wider, and Meg’s heart began to pound in her chest. Her parents paused.

  “We’ve decided to let you keep Chestnut,” her mom said.

  “He’s a good boy,” her dad said.

  “And it’s obvious that you love each other,” her mom added.

  “He’s part of the family,” they said together.

  Meg’s eyes flooded with happy tears. “Really?” she asked, hugging them both. “Really, really?”

  “Really, really,” they answered, hugging her back.

  Meg couldn’t believe how everything had worked out. This was going to be the best Christmas ever!

  * * *

  For the rest of that day and evening, the tree farm was as busy as Meg had ever seen it. After lunch, Meg’s dad announced to the family that they had broken a Briggs family record for most trees ever sold, and Sarah high-fived Meg.

  “That’s because of you and Chestnut, Meggie,” Sarah said, grinning. “Nice job.”

  Ben put his arm around Meg. “Yeah, Micro,” he said. “You and Chestnut are like Christmas heroes.” He knelt on the ground and scratched Chestnut under the chin. “Plus, it’s pretty cool that we’re keeping Chestnut.”

  Ben was right. It was pretty cool, and—even though her family was still calling her by her nicknames—Meg had never been happier in her whole life. After the tree farm closed for the day, the family headed home to eat dinner and celebrate their successful season. Meg was excited to wrap the special presents she had made for the rest of her family. Chestnut trotted happily beside her. She had her family and her dog, and Christmas was just hours away. All was finally right in the world.

  But when they pulled into the driveway, there was a large black pickup parked across it. A man sat on the tailgate, wearing a bright orange hunting jacket. Meg couldn’t quite see his face because she was wedged in the back seat between her siblings and Chestnut. But she could tell from his body language that he seemed anxious.

  Meg’s dad pulled up beside the truck and parked. The family opened the doors, climbing out to see who the man was. As soon as Ben opened his door, Chestnut jumped out of the truck and ran over to the man, barking happily. Something about the way Chestnut greeted this stranger made Meg’s stomach turn upside down.

  The man jumped down from the tailgate and then knelt in front of Chestnut. He scratched the dog’s ears playfully, just like Chestnut liked. As the family approached, the man stood. Meg’s head was swimming.

  “Good evening, sir. How can we help you?” Meg’s dad asked, taking a step forward.

  Meg looked from her dad to the man, and then to Chestnut.

  “Come here, boy,” Meg said. She patted her thighs and looked into her dog’s eyes. Chestnut started to stand but hesitated and looked up at the man, like he was waiting for his permission.

  Meg felt something drop in the pit of her stomach. Chestnut knew this person, and she suddenly had a horrible realization who he must be.

  “My name is Rodrigo Melendez,” he said in a deep voice. He held his hand out to shake her dad’s. “I saw the story in the newspaper about the stolen trees and I was so happy to see a picture of Lobo here! I’ve been looking for him for weeks.”

  “I—I don’t understand,” Meg stammered. Her brain was having trouble keeping up.

  “Well, you see, Lobo is my dog.”

  “But he’d been abandoned.” When she’d found Chestnut, he was so malnourished and injured that she and Colton had been certain of this. If this man was, in fact, Chestnut’s owner, then he must’ve been the one who abandoned him. Meg’s fear twisted into something like anger. Even if he was telling the truth about who he was, there was no way she was going to give up her dog to this man.

  Mr. Melendez shook his head. “Of course not,” he said. “He was my best friend. Lobo ran off about a month ago, when we were out hunting about fifty miles from here. I’ve searched high and low, but I was afraid that the worst had happened. That is, until I saw his picture in the paper.”

  Chestnut licked the man’s hand happily, and Meg felt like she’d been punched in the gut. She could barely breathe.

  “Mom? Dad?” she managed to say. Her mom put her arm around her and pulled her in tight. Her dad’s face remained impassive, but Meg could tell that he wasn’t going to give up Chestnut without a fight.

  “It’s okay, Meggie,” her mom said. “Don’t worry.”

  “Do you have any proof that he’s yours?” Meg’s dad asked the man evenly.

  Mr. Melendez nodded, then took his phone from his pocket. “These are pictures I took of Lobo a couple of months ago, when we went hunting up in the mountains.”

  He handed the phone to Meg’s dad, who scrolled through the photos for a long time before handing the phone to Meg without saying a word. She scoured the photos for any sign, any detail that Mr. Melendez had gotten confused. Perhaps his dog had a different white paw, or differently shaped ears. She was certain that if she just looked hard enough, she’d find proof that this man was wrong—or even an imposter. But with each swipe, her heart sank further and further. It was undeniable. These pictures were of Chestnut. And he and Mr. Melendez had lived a happy life together. Something caught in her throat.

  Meg’s eyes froze on a picture of Chestnut, his nose pressed happily to the ground, his tail in the air the way he held it when he was tracking. She almost smiled in spite of herself. He really was a great dog. But the sorrow that was building inside her was too much to bear.

  Meg nodded, handing the phone back to Mr. Melendez.

  “Forgive me,” her dad said to the man. “You can understand why we’d want to be sure. Our daughter and Chestnut—sorry, Lobo—have gotten very attached to each other, and now that Lobo’s become a local celebrity . . . well, we just can’t be too careful.”

  “I understand,” Mr. Melendez said kindly. “I’d do the same for my daughter.” He turned to Meg. “He really is a pretty special dog, so I can understand how you’d come to love him very quickly.”

  Meg nodded, but she couldn’t find any words. What words were there anyway for something like this—for the sadness of finally being together with her dog, only to have him taken away from her? It all seemed like some cruel trick. After everything she and Chestnut had been through together, this was how it ended. Not with shelters or robbers or getting lost in the woods, but with this.

  She looked up at her parents, desperate for them to give her a reason why they should get to keep Chestnut, even if this man was his former owner. “So what?” she wanted to yell. Chestnut was her dog now. She loved him and he loved her. It was Mr. Melendez’s fault that he lost him, and Chestnut nearly died. She saved him. Didn’t that count for something?

  But her mom just looked at her with sad eyes, and her dad looked away, clenching his jaw.

  “Meggie,” her mom said quietly. “It’s time for Lobo to go home.”

  Her whole family was watching her, their expressions almost as miserable as hers. Finally, because she couldn’t manage to say anything to the man who had come to take her dog away, Meg knelt down in front of Chestnut. She hugged him tightly, then whispered into his ear. “You are the best dog ever. I’m so thankful that I got to know you. I love you, but you belong to Mr. Melendez, and I have to let you go.”

  Thick tears streamed down her face, and Chestnut turned to lick them away. She hugged him again, then stood, nodding to Mr. Melendez.

  “Thanks for taking such good care of him,” the man said. “You’re a great young woman.
” He shook her hand. Meg tried to smile at him through her tears, but it ended up looking more like a grimace. Then, he turned and opened the door to his truck. Confused, Chestnut looked at Meg, then at Mr. Melendez, then back at Meg.

  “Go on, Chestnut,” Ben said, because Meg couldn’t bring herself to say it.

  Chestnut stayed put, looking into Meg’s bleary eyes. He whimpered.

  After a minute, Mr. Melendez picked Chestnut up and put him onto the seat of his truck. He closed the door. “Merry Christmas, folks,” he said, his voice sounding a little sad. He walked around the front of his truck, hopped in, and pulled away.

  As Meg watched Mr. Melendez’s truck head down the drive, Chestnut popped up in the cab’s back window. He pressed his nose and paws to the glass. He barked loud enough for them to hear, even outside the truck. Meg wondered if she would ever feel merry again.

  ★ Chapter 28 ★

  * * *

  * * *

  Knock knock knock!

  The rapping on her bedroom door yanked Meg from slumber.

  “It’s Christmas, Micro!” Ben called from the hallway. “You going to sleep through presents?”

  Meg sat up. Christmas would help make everything better . . . even the empty place in her bed where Chestnut should have been sleeping. A pang of sadness plucked at her heart, but she pushed it aside. Today, she was going to enjoy the day with her family. No matter what.

  As she pulled on her bathrobe and slippers, she could hear her family moving around downstairs. Sarah was laughing at Ben, who was singing, “We wish you a merry breakfast, we wish you a merry breakfast, we wish you a merry breakfast, and a happy brunch, too!”

  Then Meg heard the mudroom door open and close. She heard her grandma’s voice call out “Merry Christmas, my loves!”

  Meg didn’t want to miss another minute, so she rushed out of her room and down the stairs, two at a time. “Merry Christmas, Gigi!” she called out, sliding across the wooden floor to wrap her grandma in a hug.

  Gigi kissed her head and said, “Merry Christmas, my Meggie.” Then she looked at Ben. “Benjamin, will you please go out to my car and bring in the gifts?”

  Ben nodded happily, then pulled on a Santa hat and his boots. “Ho ho ho, Grams!” he said as he gave her a hug in passing.

  Meg’s mom and dad were in the kitchen, and Meg was thrilled to see them in their rumpled pajamas and bed-head hair, wearing big, happy smiles. It felt like a long time since they had been able to relax and enjoy themselves. Her dad filled the coffeepot with water, while her mom set out a plate of muffins and sweet bread. The house began to fill with the smell of coffee brewing. Meg took a deep breath, enjoying this moment with her family.

  “Hey,” Sarah said, putting her arm around Meg’s shoulders. “I’m really sorry about what happened with Chestnut. Are you doing okay?”

  Meg nodded, though for an instant, her sadness hit her like a wallop. She pushed it away. “I’m . . . I’m okay. I miss him, and I’ll never forget him. But I know that giving him back to Mr. Melendez was the right thing to do.”

  Sarah hugged Meg close to her. She kissed the top of Meg’s head. “You’re growing up so fast, Meggie. I’m really proud of you. And you’re just about the coolest person I’ve ever met.”

  Meg could barely speak through the tightness in her throat. “Thank you,” she squeaked as she hugged her sister back. There was a lot she wanted to say to Sarah, about how much she admired her and how much she meant to her. But for now, a thank-you was enough.

  Ben carried in the bags of presents and arranged them under the Christmas tree. He tracked in fresh snow, and when Meg looked out the window, she saw that the farm was coated in a fresh layer of soft, fluffy white. The scene outside their window looked like a Christmas card. Meg loved the farm so much, and she was grateful for another year that she had gotten to spend living there.

  Her dad put a log on the fire and took a deep slug of his coffee. “Well, are we going to open these presents or just spend the day staring at them?”

  Meg’s mom laughed and kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas, honey,” she said. Meg’s dad kissed her back.

  “Ewww,” Ben groaned, but Meg knew that he was teasing. They were all happy to see their parents smiling again.

  Once Meg’s mom had brought her grandma a cup of coffee, they all sat down around the tree. Ben was grinning. “I get to be Santa this year!”

  Their dad cleared his throat. “Weren’t you Santa last year?”

  Ben started to argue, but Sarah interrupted. “In the name of peace and harmony, I’ll give up my chance to play Santa this year.” She bowed magnanimously to Ben. “Don’t say I never did anything for you.”

  Meg cleared her throat. “And in the name of peace and harmony, I’ll pretend that I’m still a little kid for one more year, so that Ben can be Santa.”

  “Nah, Micro,” Ben said as everyone laughed. “You’re too grown-up for that. You go ahead . . . Santa.”

  Beaming, Meg took the first gift from her brother and delivered it to their grandma. “This one is from Ben, Sarah, and me. Merry Christmas!”

  Gigi opened her gift and cooed over the framed photograph of her three grandchildren. “Oh, I love it. Thank you!”

  Meg passed out gifts to her parents and siblings, smiling as each one oohed or aahed. Sarah loved the new purse that her parents had bought for her, and Ben was super excited to try out his new basketball shoes. Her parents loved the gifts from their children, and everyone especially loved the special ornament that Meg had made for each of them.

  “I think it’s time Santa opens a present, don’t you?” her dad said, winking at Meg.

  Meg sat down and her grandma handed her a large, heavy box wrapped in shiny blue paper with a fancy blue bow.

  “Here, Megs. Open the one from me.”

  “Oh, Gigi, it’s so pretty!” Meg slowly pulled off the tape so she didn’t rip the paper.

  Beside her, Ben groaned. “Slowest. Unwrapper. Ever.”

  “Shhh,” Meg said, grinning. “I like to save it for—”

  “Crafts,” Ben interrupted. “We know.”

  When Meg had finally gotten the tape peeled off, she removed the paper to reveal a box with a picture of a sewing machine on it. “Oh my gosh!” she gushed, standing to hug her grandma. “I love it! Thank you so much! I can’t wait to learn how to use it!”

  Her grandma smiled, her eyes crinkling at the corners. “I thought I could teach you how to sew if you’d like.”

  “Like?” Meg laughed. “I’d love!”

  Ben shoved a squishy package into her hands, wrapped in silver paper. “This is from me and Sarah,” he said. “I wanted to wrap it in a brown paper sack, so you’d open it fast. But Sarah wouldn’t let me!”

  After she gently removed the tape, Meg found a pair of soft purple mittens and a matching hat and scarf. They were the exact same color as her new coat and were decorated with shiny silver stars. “Oh, you guys. I love them, thank you!” Meg hugged her sister and brother, then wrapped her new scarf around her neck. “It’s so soft!”

  Then her mom held out a small box wrapped in red-and-white-striped paper. On top was a tiny green bow. As Meg took the gift, her dad said, “We know it isn’t exactly what you wanted, but we hope you’ll like it anyway.”

  Hesitantly, Meg removed the tape. Beneath the candy cane paper, she found a small black jewelry box. Slowly, she lifted off the lid. Inside, there was only a folded piece of paper.

  She looked up, meeting her mom’s gaze. Her mom nodded. Meg felt nervous and excited, though she wasn’t sure why. She unfolded the paper and stared down at the words in disbelief.

  GOOD FOR ONE DOG ADOPTION

  “Are you . . . Do you mean . . . ?” Meg ran out of words, and when she looked up at her parents, they were both smiling broadly.

  Her dad nodded. “We’re sorry about what happened with Chestnut, and we know how hard that must have been. But we can see now that you’re mature enough to handle the
responsibility and that you understand the risks involved with giving your heart to a dog. If you still want to, we’ll take you down to the shelter and you can rescue a pup that needs you.”

  “Yes!” Meg squealed. Her heart was still broken about losing Chestnut, but she was so thankful that her parents were finally seeing that she was growing up. No dog would ever replace her first in her heart, but she knew she could love another one just as much. Meg ran to her parents and wrapped them in a huge, grateful hug.

  * * *

  As her dad and Ben worked on making breakfast, Meg, her mom, her grandma, and Sarah took Meg’s new sewing machine out of the box and started setting it up. “Do you have any idea what you’d like to sew first?” Gigi asked.

  “I’d like to make some new curtains for my room,” Meg said, staring at the machine as Sarah read the instructions on how to thread the needle. As her grandma took the thread and demonstrated, her mom stood up and turned toward the mud-room.

  “Did you hear that?” she asked.

  As Meg looked up, she did hear something. It sounded like . . .

  “Chestnut?” she said, jumping up from the floor. “That sounds like Chestnut!”

  “Meg, it can’t be,” Sarah said as she stood up too. But Meg was already running to the door. She heard the barking again and she knew it was true. That bark belonged to Chestnut! She would have known him anywhere.

  Meg threw open the door and in rushed Chestnut, panting and excited. He jumped up, nearly knocking Meg down in his eagerness. She knelt down in front of him, hugging his wiggling body close to her. “Oh, Chestnut,” she said, burrowing her face into his fur. “What are you doing here?”

  “He must have tracked your scent, after Mr. Melendez took him home,” Ben said as he moved to close the mudroom door. “That’s amazing, Meg!”