The Search by Ria

Author:Ria [Ria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-10-05T04:25:24+00:00

“I have the name and number of the vet who‟s covering for Mai. I have your number—

hotel, cell, Mai ‟s cell, Sylvia‟s cell. So does James. We have everything. In triplicate. Between us I think we can handle anything short of nuclear holocaust or alien invasion.”

“I know, but—”

“Shut up. Go away. If I‟m hauling four dogs home with me this morning, I need to get started.”

“I really appreciate it, Simon. I know it‟s a lot. James will pick my guys up—”

“After work. It‟s on the list, with the time, his cell phone, his house phone. I think all that‟s missing is what he‟ll be wearing. Beat it. I‟m finally going to have three days without having to listen to you.”

“You‟ll miss me.”

“No I won‟t.”

She laughed, then she crouched down to pet the dogs, to hug them. “You‟ll miss me, won‟t you, boys? Poor things having to spend the day with King Cranky. It‟s okay. James will save you later. Be good. Be good boys.”

She straightened. “Okay, I‟m going.”

“Thank Christ.”

“And thank you for letting them hang out with Jaws during the day.” She gave him a quick buss on the cheek, opened the car door.

He spun her around, yanked her into a long, hard kiss. “Maybe I‟ll miss you a little, if a stray thought of you happens to cross my mind.” He brushed her hair behind her ears. “Have a good time.” Then he grabbed her hand. “Really. Have a good time.”

“I will. We will.” She got in the car, then leaned her head out the window. “Don‟t forget to—”

He used the palm of his hand to push her head back in.

“Okay. Okay. Bye.”

He watched her go with the dogs plopped down beside him. “All right, guys, it‟s man-time. Scratch your balls if you‟ve got them.”

He walked back to the house, did a quick walk-through check. “It never smells like dog in here,” he muttered. “How does she pull that off ?”

He locked up, strode to the truck. “Everybody in. Going for a ride.” They scrambled up, except for Newman, jockeying for the passenger side or the narrow bench seat behind it.

“Come on. Gotta go,” Simon ordered as the dog sat and studied him. “She‟ll be back in a couple days.” He patted the seat. “Up, come on, Newman. Don‟t you trust me?” The dog seemed to consider the question, then apparently took Simon at his word and jumped in.

He had a stray thought of her—maybe a couple of them—as he worked through the morning. He ate lunch with his feet dangling off the porch of the shop, tossing bits of salami (Fiona wouldn‟t approve) to the dogs and watching them field. He took another twenty minutes, tossing sticks and balls on the beach, laughing his ass off when every one of them bounded into the water.

He went back to work, radio blasting and four wet dogs snoring their way dry in the sunlight.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.