“Sorry I’m late. Dr. Jones was on a rampage today. I swear the bitch needs to get laid or at least needs some antidepressants.”
“Oh, Alex, you’re fine, sugar-puss. I was just about to get rusty out and walk him but he ain’t feeling too hot today. I think the weather change has got to his hip.”
Alex hung her jacket up on the same hanger supporting the numerous leashes at the animal shelter.
“Thank you, Edna. I won’t be here tomorrow, it’s my day in the unit but I’ll be back on Saturday and I don’t mind spending the day.”
Edna turned from the cabinet she was retrieving supplies from. “Honey…what the hell happened to you that you want to hang out with me and a bunch of leftover dogs all day? I know I’m good company but damn. You’ve been here almost every day for the past three weeks.”
Alex only smiled and walked to the shivering, bald and arguably monstrous dog in the solitary cage in the corner of the room. “Oh. Wow. What the heck is wrong with this guy, mange?”
Edna unleashed a hardy laugh as she walked to Alex and the small, visibly shaken dog. “This is Brutis. Brutis is a Chinese Crested. They’re typically born with little to no hair and stay that way. He was in a foster home but they had to bring him back.”
“Oh. Wow. Poor little guy looks horrified.” Alex kneeled to the wagging dog as he rolled to his back and presented his belly in a submissive manner.
“Well his original owner was high on cocaine when he flung Brutis out the window of his Benz before totaling his ride into a neighborhood streetlamp while running from the authorities.” Alex looked to Enda in disbelief. “Had to pin both back legs and he’ll never walk right again. And who the hell knows what happened to him before he was tossed out of the window like a piece of trash.”
“Oh my god! That’s absolutely horrible!”
“Tell me about it. Sad thing is the sonofabitch is out on probation as we speak. I just don’t understand some people.”
Watching the small dog tremble, knowing it had had such a horrible life, Alex looked to Edna. “You say he’ll never grow hair? Like ever?”
“No ma’am.”
“Edna, may I apply to adopt Brutis? I’ve never owned a dog because I didn’t know how it would affect my brother’s condition but if he’s not going to grow hair and Dr. Jones agrees it’s not a bad idea I think he would be a good fit for me right now…I need something right now.”
“A dog is a big responsibility, Alex.”
“I know. I’ve been walking nine of them daily before I feed and brush them.”
“Okay girl. I’ll send the forms home with you tonight. I’ll be sad to see him go but I think he’ll be a good fit for you too.”
“Thank you, Edna.”
“Oh girl, car!”
Alex jumped and scrambled behind Edna, ready to scurry to the back room and out of sight.
“False alarm, Alex. It’s an Explorer, not a Civic.”
“Eh. Every time…”
“Honey he hasn’t been here since he brought you. I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon. You just keep parking behind the garage and doing your thing…but someday he’s going to be here…and you’re gonna be here…and these little ole dogs will go to howlin’ and singin’ and you two young’uns will realize that life is to damn short to cold-shoulder those you care about.”
“Nope…no, not this time. This time I messed up pretty good. I deserve the cold shoulder and much worse so I’ll take it and move on. I know this place is technically his stomping grounds so I don’t want to take that from him.”
“Oh honey, this place is a place for broken souls to start the mending process and for little hearts to feel secure and whole. There’s no room for stomping out here. And between you and me, this place was Nathan’s retreat. That boy loved these guys.”
Alex walked to the picture of Nathan on the wall. “Was Nathan always sad? I mean…could you tell he was sad?”
“Oh heavens no, child. Nathan Holloway was usually never seen without his smile. That boy was always laughing…and damn if he wasn’t a little smartass. Some of our best days out here were with him.”
“And then he was just gone? Just like that he was just gone without any warning?”
Edna’s face—weathered with smile lines—lost enthusiasm as she displayed a more solemn look. “Now…I didn’t say there was no warning at all. There were subtle signs that bite me in the ass now that my hindsight is perfect. But at that time I didn’t know. How could I have known a…a solitary tear here and there when he was alone was anything more than a fight with a girl? How was I supposed to know the long stares out into our open fields might have been when he was lost in deep thought and contemplating leaving us? He was so happy and when he was happy he was genuinely happy. But that boy had so many layers. I’m afraid that when he was sad he was just genuinely sad.”
“So, when you found out, when you heard the news—”
“Oh, Alex…don’t take me back to that day. Today’s been a good day and I just can’t go back there again right now. I’m gonna get back to the back, I have a momma chow that just might have us a litter of pups tonight.”
“Oh wow. New puppies? Hey, Edna, may I take Brutis for a walk?”
“You might as well if you’re planning on taking that handsome devil home.”
Brutis walked well on the leash as Alex led him down the path to the area she and Bishop had visited prior to their downfall. The leaves were turning and the rushing waters carried many of them away in the stream. It was beautiful, but the beauty was different—it was changed. It reminded Alex that time changes everything. He was not there with her, and the realization that he would never be there with her again was slow to absorb, yet she was now saturated with it.
She looked to her small companion, shivering near the clear water. “Do you wanna come home with me?” The dog merely looked toward Alex with his tail tucked.
“Let’s get you back, little guy.”