Monday’s Mail
Meghan was sitting at the breakfast table when Tracy came in with her chin dropped down onto her chest. Amid feeding Lucas, Lila looked up and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Tracy gave a one-shouldered shrug and lowered herself into the chair alongside her sister. With a defeated sigh, she said, “I think I made a really dumb mistake.”
Lila narrowed her eyes and glared across the table. “Do not even mention going back to Philadelphia.”
“Mama, this has nothing to do with Dominic.”
“Well, what, then?”
Tracy turned to Meghan. “I put the wrong ad in the Snip ’N’ Save.”
Meghan chuckled and placed a comforting hand on Tracy’s arm. “Trust me, it’s no big deal. So one of our customers gets a free ad.”
“It was the ad about finding Sox.”
The lighthearted sound disappeared from Meghan’s voice, and her smile faded.
“I’d planned to run the ad anyway,” she said grimly. “So you just saved me from making the decision.”
With her heart pounding, Tracy poured half-and-half into her coffee and sat with her hands wrapped around the mug. A tiny splatter of cream had splashed onto the table, and she focused her eyes on it as she spoke.
“It was a half-page display ad with a picture of Sox.” She went on to explain how Sheldon had called at the last minute needing a half-page filler, and her first thought was that Meghan had mentioned running the ad.
Meghan pushed back her plate of eggs and tried to force a smile. “A half page? I don’t understand. The ad I had in the filler file was set up for a classified listing. There wasn’t any picture.”
“I know,” Tracy replied. “I redid the layout and took a picture with my phone. At the time, I thought I was doing something to help you, but then last night I realized . . . ”
She let the words drift away. There was simply no way she could explain that after seeing the dog and Meghan curled together, she’d realized how great a love they shared.
Aware of the agony her sister was feeling, Tracy added, “I tried to get Sheldon to pull it last night, but it was too late. This morning he sent me an e-mail saying the Snip ’N’ Save was already on press.”
Meghan again touched her hand to her sister’s arm, but this time her fingers were stiff.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I know what it feels like to lose a pet you love. If Sox belongs to someone else, it’s only right that I give him back.”
“I knew it!” Lila snapped. With an obvious air of annoyance, she scooped up the piece of egg that had fallen from Lucas’s spoon. “I should have squashed this on day one. I should have stuck to my guns and insisted you take that dog to the shelter. Now it’s going to be Clancy all over again!”
“No, it’s not, Mama,” Meghan replied, but her eyes were already watery and threatening to overflow.
The Snip ’N’ Save office was almost always closed on Saturday. The magazine went to the printer on Friday, so it was usually a slow day. A leisurely day meant for errands, a visit to the lake, or reading a book.
Today was different. Although it was still early, there was a feeling of unrest bristling around them. It was like the electricity that crackled through the air moments before a thunderstorm—it was there but not yet ready to make itself known.
Meghan scraped the remnants of her leftover egg into Sox’s bowl, then headed for the Snip ’N’ Save office. Tracy followed close behind, still apologizing for having done the wrong thing.
“Let’s take a look at the ad you ran,” Meghan said. “I’m sure it’s not all that bad.”
She was hopeful the picture of Sox was like so many of the others she’d snapped: an image that caught only the edge of his profile or the tip of his tail as he turned away. Tracy sat at the computer, and a few clicks later the ad was on the screen.
The picture of Sox was adorable. He was looking straight into the lens with a glimmer of expectancy in his eyes.
“I d-don’t get it,” Meghan stammered. “How did you get him to sit still for such a good picture?”
“I said, ‘Where’s Meghan?’ and he looked up at me.”
Meghan stared at her, then looked back at the computer.
Tracy’s shoulders slumped as she stared at the screen.
“I’m so sorry,” she said mournfully. “I should have realized . . . ”
Sheldon was the one who did the final layout. Meghan sent him the ad files, and he paginated them, placing the individual ads so competitors were not side by side. He put the filler ads in wherever they were needed, so there was no telling where the Sox ad would be. She’d never before asked to see a prepress proof and wasn’t going to make Tracy feel even worse by calling for it now.
Although the Snip ’N’ Save wouldn’t arrive in the mailboxes of the Magnolia Grove residents until Monday morning, a worrisome look was already etched on Meghan’s face.
Late Saturday afternoon, the delivery service dropped a package on the front porch. It was the same thing they delivered every Saturday: thirty proof copies of the latest Snip ’N’ Save. Meghan usually carried the package into the office and left it to be opened on Monday, but this time she tore into it immediately.
She pulled out a copy of the magazine and leafed through it page by page, searching for the ad. When she got to the last page without seeing it, she breathed a sigh of relief. But then she flipped the magazine over, and there was Sox, looking back at her and cuter than ever.
Thinking he was doing her a favor, Sheldon had placed the ad on the back cover directly above the address box. People couldn’t miss it if they tried.
Meghan felt an icy tremor slide through her heart and spiral into her stomach. The only thing she could do now was wait.
Determined to make the most of what could be their last days together, Meghan took Sox for a long walk on Saturday evening. She skipped dinner, then stopped for a cup of ice cream and sat on the bench in front of Friendly’s. Sox waited until she was nearly finished, then looked up and swiped his tongue across his lips. Meghan set the cup on the sidewalk and watched as he lapped up the last of their summertime treat.
On the way home, they walked past the lake. Something drew her to the spot where she had been sitting the day she saw him in the water. Meghan lowered herself onto the grass, and the dog squatted beside her. For a long while there was only the faint chirp of crickets and the occasional splash of a bass jumping in the water.
As Meghan tried to remember that afternoon, darkness settled into the late-evening sky. She could recall the storm, how it had come up so suddenly, and how, as she tried to reach Sox, he disappeared from view, then bobbed to the surface again. Her heart began to pound as she recalled the blinding rain and the desperation of those last few minutes. Even now she could not remember climbing out of the lake. She searched her thoughts but could find only snatches of fear and the sting of rain against her skin.
Almost as if he, too, could sense the memory, Sox scooted closer and began licking her arm.
They sat that way for a long while, Meghan trying to remember the moment she stepped from the lake and Sox reminding her of how he’d been there when she opened her eyes. When she could find no other answers, she looked into the sky and saw one star blinking brighter than the others.
“Daddy,” she said, “were you there for me that day?”
The star blinked again, but there was no answer, just the rustle of a breeze stirring the oaks and the far-off call of a cricket.
By Monday, Meghan’s nerves were worn to a frazzle. She startled at the slightest sound and found it impossible to focus on a simple task. Three times she tried to line up the text for the Tots ’n’ Tykes ad and mistakenly hit “Delete.”
When Bruce Prendergast called to ask if she’d like to attend the upcoming Chamber of Commerce meeting, she asked why, forgetting the project they’d discussed.
“Why?” Bruce echoed with an air of annoyance. “Well, I would have thought the holiday festival was as important to you as it is to the chamber.”
Meghan quickly came to her senses.
“It absolutely is,” she said, then brushed the issue aside, claiming she’d been distracted by a family problem.
“I certainly hope nothing is wrong with your mama,” Bruce replied. “She’s a fine woman. A sweetheart if ever there was one.” After a brief moment of hesitation, he added, “You tell Lila that if she needs help of any sort to give me a call. You be sure to do that now. Tell her Bruce Prendergast was asking for her.”
Ignoring the way Bruce seemed to have more than a passing interest in her mama, Meghan said, “I’ll do that,” and hung up.
Although he’d not mentioned it, earlier in the week Bruce had run into Lila as she was taking Sox for his afternoon walk. They’d stood and talked for a good thirty minutes, and the whole time he kept remembering how it was when they’d dated back in high school. All those years ago, he’d thought they might one day marry, but then George happened along, and that was the end of their relationship. The sweetness of Lila’s kisses was something he had never quite forgotten.
All day long whenever the Snip ’N’ Save phone rang, Meghan’s heart rose up into her throat. She answered in a voice so emotionally charged, customers assumed they had reached a wrong number. Eloise Hempstead hung up and called back twice before she realized it was Meghan, and Jack Campbell apologized, saying, “Sorry, wrong number. I was calling the Snip ’N’ Save.”
By dinnertime Meghan’s stomach was twisted into a knot. When Lila set a plate of meatloaf smothered in gravy in front of her, she just sat and stared at it. Lila, worried that they would go through months of turmoil like they had with Clancy, insisted Meghan eat.
“I won’t have you getting sick again,” she said.
“I’m not getting sick,” Meghan replied, but after a spoonful of mashed potatoes, she pushed her plate back. “I need some air,” she said, and stood.
With Sox at her heels, she grabbed the yellow tennis ball and headed for the backyard. Sitting on the steps, she tossed the ball across the yard. Sox eagerly chased it, then carried it back and dropped it at her feet. They did this over and over again until the ball rolled under the mulberry bush. By then Sox had wearied of the game anyway.
The moon was high in the sky when Meghan finally came inside. One last time she checked both the phone and website for messages. There were a few, but not one of them mentioned the dog. She had made it through the day, and Sox was still hers to keep.
The knot in her stomach loosened, and she grabbed a chocolate chip cookie on her way upstairs.
That night when Meghan climbed into bed with Sox snuggled next to her, she allowed herself to believe their finding one another was something that was meant to be.
“It’s possible Daddy did send you to me,” she whispered affectionately.
As she drifted off to sleep, Meghan could have sworn she heard a voice say, “Probably.”
The call came in shortly after ten on Tuesday morning.
“I’m calling about the dog you found,” the man said.
Meghan’s breath caught in her lungs, and several seconds ticked by before she could answer.
“Did you see the picture in the Snip ’N’ Save?” she finally asked. It seemed obvious that he did, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask if Sox were actually his dog.
“Yes, I did,” he answered. “It looks a lot like Missy but not exactly. Missy is a border collie pup. She’s wearing a pink collar and—”
“Missy?” Meghan cut in. “The dog you’re looking for is a female?”
“Yes. She got out of the yard on Saturday—”
“This past Saturday? Three days ago?”
“Yes. The boys were playing, and they left the gate open.”
Meghan’s heart started to beat again.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “but this dog isn’t Missy. This one’s a male, and I fished him out of the lake almost three weeks ago.”
The man gave a sigh of disappointment. “Darn. I thought maybe you’d found her.”
“Have you checked with the ASPCA?”
“Yes. No luck there, either. She’s got a microchip, and we’re offering a one-hundred-dollar reward. I take it the dog you found didn’t have a chip, huh?”
Meghan swallowed down the lump rising in her throat. “I hadn’t thought of having him checked for that.”
“Please do,” the man said. “If a family goes to the expense of having a microchip implanted, that means they love the dog. It’s almost guaranteed there’ll be a reward for returning him. Why, I’d pay anything to get Missy back. Our boys are sick over losing her, and my wife is beside herself.”
“I know what you mean,” Meghan said grimly. “I lost a dog I loved, too.”
“Well, then, you understand.”
Feeling his pain tug at her own heart, Meghan offered to run a free ad with Missy’s picture in the Snip ’N’ Save.
“Maybe that will help you find her,” she said.
He thanked her and promised to send Missy’s picture that afternoon.
You might think Meghan would be happy after dodging another bullet, but she wasn’t. The thought of Sox possibly having a microchip implanted by a family who loved him settled in her brain and refused to let go.
She looked down at the dog lying beside her desk and said, “This isn’t something I want to do, but I won’t be able to live with myself if I don’t.”
The dog whined and dropped his head down between his paws.