to say. “How is it, staying with your cousins?”
He shrugged. “It’s not fun, but they leave me alone. It’ll do until I can figure out my next move.”
My next move, like he had a plan.
I knew I should ask him about his father, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It opened up too much for me that was so neatly shut tight.
Instead, I offered, “I’m sorry about not taking Masher to Dr. Fischer. I knew she was your vet.”
He looked up at me and there was something about his eyes, suddenly warm and familiar. “It’s okay. I know why.”
The relief of that washed over me, and I felt like I could breathe for the first time all day.
Then David slid over on the bench to make room. I wasn’t supposed to be on a break, but I sat.
“My grandparents went down to their place in Florida,” he said flatly.
“I noticed I hadn’t seen them around.”
“They want me to come stay with them, but I don’t know. . . . On one hand, there’s the beach. On the other hand, there’s two old people who annoy the living crap out of me.” He swept a glance up and down my face. “Your grandmother is much cooler than mine.”
I’d never thought of Nana as “cool,” but apparently everything is relative.
David let out a long sigh, the kind that takes forever to wear out and seems to contain every emotion at once. Neither of us spoke again, and we both just gazed at nothing. The silence was almost comfortable now.
Finally, the front door opened and Robert appeared with Masher.
“We’ll call you with the results sometime tomorrow,” he said to David, handing him the leash. Then he turned to me and said, “Eve needs you.”
I bent down to Masher, who now had a small bandage on his right foreleg from getting blood drawn, and hugged him quickly.
“Bye, buddy.” I forced it to sound businesslike and cold.
“Bye, Laurel,” David said, as if answering for him. “It was good seeing you.”
I looked up, a little surprised, and then suddenly tired of always feeling that way about David. Some of his hair had fallen out of the slick-back and across his eyes, and I had a sudden urge to sweep it away. Those eyes were my favorite part of him, and I hated to see them covered up.
Wait—I had a favorite part of him?
“Let me know what happens, okay?” I said quickly, trying to de-focus from his face, sounding purposely vague. I wasn’t sure when I’d see either of them again. He could be back next week, or never.
David nodded slowly and smiled a bit, although sadly, and this was possibly the closest thing to a farewell that we could hope for.
I went inside and didn’t look back.
Chapter Fifteen
Masher, as it turned out, had the beginnings of arthritis; plus, he still needed vitamin K for another two weeks. The arthritis wasn’t related to the poisoning, but Dr. B felt it had probably come on recently.
“Stress can trigger it,” he was saying on the phone to David, down the hall but loud enough so I could hear his end of the conversation from where I sat at the front desk. I could tell that Dr. B was prodding for some more information, and I was hoping David wouldn’t offer anything up.
“Well, I’ll find a pharmacy near you and call in a prescription,” he continued, then added a reminder to keep Masher on the vitamin K until it ran out.
Then he was quiet for a few moments, listening to David. I wished I could hear a little of David’s voice on the other end of the phone, but I was too far away.
“Let me ask around for some vet recommendations in that area,” said Dr. B. “There’s got to be someone good you can go to so you don’t have to drive an hour every time he needs to be seen.”
Something in me lurched. Did David ask for that information, or did Dr. B volunteer it? Did David not want to come back here?
I couldn’t let it go. Every time I saw the bench outside, I relived those moments. David scooting over to make room for me. David and I sitting together. That comfortable silence and the strange almost-freshness of the air between us.
When Suzie asked me about work during one of our sessions, I found myself omitting the story of David’s visit. She knew I’d seen David and that we’d apologized, and that he had Masher