by how hungry Cookie looked, he figured that wouldn’t last more than a feeding or two.
“Add more chow to the list,” he told Rain on the way to the car. “Same brand if possible. We don’t want to overly shock her system.”
“You know dogs?” As before, Rain hung back, letting Garrick transfer himself to the car before taking care of loading up the wheelchair and dog.
“Oh yeah. Like I said, my friends have a trio now. And growing up, we had a sweet little terrier with a fickle stomach. Mom took her in the divorce.” The memory made his stomach churn, even all these years later. “Then Dad got a cranky beagle who ate like a goat.” That memory was easier, and he made himself laugh, keep his voice light. Rain didn’t need to hear about his family drama. “Now he’s got two old grumpy farm dogs who tolerate horses far better than humans or other dogs. I’m not an expert or anything, but I’ve been around them plenty.”
“Good. A lot of people get scared of big black dogs like her. I don’t get it, but I’ve seen people cross the street to avoid certain breeds.”
“Like your grandma. But before you go pleading Cookie’s case to me again, I’m sure there’s a home somewhere out there for her.” Not Garrick. He couldn’t afford the distraction of a permanent pet, not when he needed all his focus for his recovery, and not when he wasn’t sure what kind of life he could provide himself, let alone an animal.
“Fair enough.” Rain sounded neither convinced nor like he was going to drop the subject more than temporarily. “Now, tell me how to get to this farm store place.”
Garrick gave the directions to the feed store a couple of blocks over. As Rain drove, Garrick fished out his wallet, emptied his cash. “Tell you what. Cookie and I will wait in the car. You’ve got a sixty-eight dollar budget to get her set for the weekend.”
“That might be enough for chow and a cheap bed,” Rain said happily, almost dancing in his seat, and damn if making him happy wasn’t fun and worth parting with the money.
“Try to get a few toys too. I don’t want her chewing my couch.”
“You’ve got it.” Rain deftly parked next to a line of pickups at the farm store. He opened the windows before he shut off the SUV. “You sure you don’t want to come in? It’s no problem getting your chair out and we can crack all the windows for Cookie.”
“Nah.” Garrick wasn’t about to explain that simply this amount of exertion had done him in for a while. Damn he missed his stamina. “She needs me to keep her company. You have fun. If you can’t find something, Morty at customer service is a friend of my dad’s. Great guy. He’ll help you track down the chow or whatever.”
And maybe that too was why he was staying put. He didn’t need another round of questioning from well-meaning folks who’d known him his whole life, sympathy a double-edged sword he’d had far too much of the past several months. But it turned out there was no escaping his life as not even five minutes after Rain walked away, he heard a familiar voice.
“Nelson? Been a long time, man.” Jimenez, one of his fellow smoke jumpers, came striding over, pretty blonde in skintight jeans trailing behind him. He was one of the rookies—
Wait. Not a rookie anymore. The new season was about to start. Jimenez would be an old hand by now, working all the fires Garrick had missed after the accident, all the jumps and climbs and everything else he missed with all his soul but couldn’t show. Keep it light, he reminded himself.
“Hey there. Yeah, been a while. How’s it going? Getting lots of jumps in? Heard you did some tourist work in the off-season.”
“You know it. Gotta get my air time.” Slinging an arm around his companion, Jimenez gave him an easy smile that faded into something approaching concern. “We miss you, man. Feels weird gearing up for the season without you. What’s the latest word on when you’ll be back at it?”
Wish I knew. Garrick swallowed hard. “Hopefully not long. I’m working hard at PT. Putting my reps in. Finally back home at my own place. Progress, you know?”
“That’s great.” Jimenez’s voice was just this side of too hearty. “You keep at it. Chin up. I’m sure they’re saving a spot for you.