heard footsteps, and then the door swung inward. He could see the old woman had been crying, and when she saw Peanut standing on the threshold with her missing puppy in his arms, she threw her hands up in the air.
“Hallelujah! Thank you, Jesus! My prayers have been answered.” Then she held out her arms. “Mister. My poor little Mister. Come to Mama.”
The little dog whined as Peanut handed him over.
“Oh, Peanut, thank you, thank you. He was out beneath the umbrella doing his business when a big old clap of thunder sounded, and before I knew it, he was running. I tried to catch him, but the gate was ajar, and I’m not so spry anymore, and he was gone. I didn’t think I’d see him again.”
“You almost didn’t,” Peanut said. “I saw him running on the street in front of Broyles Dairy Freeze. Traffic just missed him, but when I stopped and called him, he came back to me and jumped right in the car. I think he was ready to come home.”
“Well, God love you, son. You don’t know how much this little mess means to me. Now I need to get us both cleaned up and dried off. Thank you again.”
Peanut grinned. “You’re welcome. You might want to have that latch on your gate looked at.”
“Yes, yes, I surely will,” Miss Earline said. “You be careful, and I’m sorry you got your nice suit all wet.”
Peanut laughed. “It’s my second one today. All the more business for the cleaners. You take care now,” he said, then closed the door behind him and ran back to his car.
He drove up to the back of the salon, got the sacks of food, and went inside.
Ruby looked up, saw him all wet, muddy, and bedraggled, and shrieked.
“What happened to you? I thought you were going to change into dry clothes before you went to get the food.”
He handed her the sacks and kissed her cheek.
“I did. This is the second set of wet clothes for the day.”
“What happened?” Ruby asked.
“Miss Earline’s little dog, Mister, escaped. I saw him running down the street in front of the Dairy Freeze, and by the time I got him in the car and then back home to her, this is the result.”
Ruby laughed. “Oh, honey. You are a good, good man. That little dog means the world to her.”
“I know. Everybody in town knows Mister. But he was so wet, I almost didn’t recognize him. So, rest assured your food is fine. It was in the front seat. Mister was on the floor in the back seat. Dog and chili dogs did not comingle.”
Ruby laughed. “Good to know. Now get yourself home and into more dry clothes. Just leave all the wet stuff in the utility room. I’ll get it to the cleaners.”
“Thanks, babe,” Peanut said, then winked at all the girls. “Enjoy your dinner,” he told them, and then ran out the back door into the rain.
* * *
While everyone else in Blessings was bemoaning the inclement weather, Cathy had pulled back the curtains in the living room so she could watch it. After all the years she’d lived in Las Vegas, a state with a startling lack of rainfall, a good downpour was an enjoyable experience.
It also gave her a good view of the street and her driveway so she could watch for Duke to return. Twenty-four hours ago, she hadn’t even known he existed, and now he had been to her house twice.
And so she sat within the quiet of the little house, lulled by the rain on the roof and watching it turning into a curtain between her and the world as it ran off the porch.
All of a sudden, a small, bedraggled figure walked into her line of vision, dragging what looked like a black garbage bag. She was leaning forward, trying to focus through the rain, when it finally dawned on her that it was a child.
Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she got up and quickly hobbled out onto the porch, staring in disbelief. She looked up and down the street, unable to believe a little guy like that would be out in this weather on his own.
She called out: “Hey!”
He looked at her without breaking stride and kept walking.
Cathy knew immediately something was wrong. And he was way too little to be in this storm on his own. She didn’t think twice as she hobbled down the steps and then out into the rain, moving