Just Plea by Michael Stagg

Author:Michael Stagg [Stagg, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-05-22T16:00:00+00:00

“Roxie!” screamed Joe and came tearing over as soon as we came out the back door. James, Page, and Charlie weren’t very far behind.

I had brought Roxie over to Mark and Izzy’s the week Kira was out of town and she’d been a huge hit. As a service dog, she was naturally patient with the kids and her exposure to them made this a pretty safe situation, but I was caught there with the kids as Roxie became reacquainted with James and Joe and met Charlie and Page, who were already hugging her and nuzzling her neck.

I was standing there making sure nobody was poking anything that shouldn’t be poked or mouthing anything that shouldn’t be mouthed when I looked up and saw that Kira had kept right on walking toward the group of adults standing down by the lake. She smiled, waved, and said, “See you down there.”

A moment later, there was a shrieking “whoo-hoo” that let me know Izzy would handle the introductions.

I wasn’t sure that was helpful.

It took a few minutes for Roxie and the kids to settle down. Eventually, though, I was able to take her off lead, and she was free to roll and play fetch until her nine-year-old bones became tired of it. I did know that as long as I was in the yard, she wasn’t going to run away, so, with a last pet for her and claws of doom for Charlie and Page, I went down to the lake to mitigate whatever damage my brothers had done.

Kate and Tom and Izzy and Mark were standing around a cooler talking to Kira. My dad, the tan guy with the stark white hair, waved to me, then went back to supervising the hauling of skis onto the boat by Justin and Taylor.

Kate and Izzy were wearing shorts over swimsuits, while my brothers wore board shorts with an air of superiority.

“Tell the truth, Kira,” said Tom. “You lost a bet, right?”

She smiled. “No.”

“So, it’s community service?” said Mark. “How many hours do you still have to go?”

“Hush,” said Kate. “You’ll scare her off.”

“Thank you, Kate,” I said.

Kate smiled. “She clearly has a soft spot for abandoned puppies and wounded birds.”

“There was a time when you were my favorite.”

“Hey!” said Izzy, and gave me a back-handed slap, hard, in the middle of the chest.

I looked at Kira. “Kira, everyone. Everyone, Kira.”

Izzy waved a hand. “She’s already met everyone, and everyone can already tell she’s way too good for you.”

“Don’t tell her,” said Mark.

“You think she doesn’t already know?” said Tom.

This had gone far enough. I decided to play dirty. “Where’s Reed, Tom?”

Tom scowled and Kate frowned before he said, “She’ll be up this afternoon.”

“With her boyfriend?”

Tom’s scowl deepened.

Kate nodded. “Yes.”

“Did you give them directions? Wait, he’s a senior, isn’t he? Never mind, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.”

Tom stared. Mark laughed.

“Anybody want to take a once around the lake before I start pulling the gremlins?” said my dad.

“Want to go?” I asked Kira.

“Love to,” said Kira.

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