to her, about the antidote to sadness. As she recalled from growing up as Meredith’s only child, there were countless discussions about how to dispel self-pity and a feeling of hopelessness.
That night, after having a nice long talk with Landry and filling him in on all the goings-on in town, Kaylee called Mel. “I stopped by the bar today and Jack told me you have a lot happening.”
“It’s my busy season,” Mel said. “And I heard the book is done. You must be thrilled. And bored senseless.”
Kaylee laughed. “I haven’t had time to get bored yet. I did call to say I can help with some of your projects. You’re doing food baskets again, right? I could help with that.”
“That would be great! I’ll take you up on that offer.”
“And I wanted to know how Mallory is doing.”
“Pretty well, considering. She’s coping very well, getting a lot of support from her best friend’s family—that’s the neighbor she’s been staying with. Accommodations are a little tight. She has to share a bed, but they’re kids, they’ve done it before. There just isn’t room for her things, that’s all. But Jack and I will bring her to our house. It’ll be a full house—one of his sisters is coming with kids and grandkids. But we’ll manage.”
“Well, I was thinking about that. Do you think Mallory likes puppies?”
* * *
Mel brought Mallory over the next afternoon. “Mel said you wanted me to see something,” the little girl said.
“First of all, I’m sorry to hear about your mother,” Kaylee said, giving her a hug. “Did Mel tell you we have that in common? I lost my mother last year. I think I know how you’re feeling.”
“How I’m feeling is not that good,” she said. “But I’m taking it slow. My mom said, just take it slow because you can’t hurry your feelings. I don’t know what that means, but I’m doing it the best I can.”
“You’re doing fine,” Kaylee said. “Mallory, I was out for a walk and I found a mama dog. She was tied up to a tree and had four puppies with her. Someone left her there, abandoned her. So I brought her back here. I thought maybe you might want to see them?”
“Yes! Were they hurt?”
“No, just hungry. Landry has them in his kennel. I’ll show you,” she said, taking Mallory’s hand.
“I have a few phone calls to return,” Mel said. “Can I stay here and do that while you see the puppies?”
“Of course. But we might be a while.” She pulled Mallory along to Landry’s house and then through the house to the back door. Otis came out of Landry’s shop and greeted them. “Mallory, have you met Landry?”
“Yes, I’m pretty sure,” she said. “What are you doing in there?”
“Making pots and statues and wind chimes and all sorts of artsy things,” he said. “I bet you’re here to see the puppies. When you’re done I’ll show you everything if you’re interested.”
“I’d like to see it, if Mel says it’s okay.”
They found Lady in the backyard, sniffing around. “Lady,” Kaylee called, and the dog pranced right over. “This is Lady, Mallory. When I found her she was nearly starving but she’s looking so good now.”
“Why was she starving?”
“I don’t know because I don’t know what happened to her. I suspect her owners neglected her, didn’t feed her, didn’t take care of her. But she’s very well taken care of now. Let’s look at the puppies.”
Mallory gasped with pleasure when she saw the puppy pile inside the kennel. She immediately got down on her knees and reached into the space to touch a puppy. Then she pulled a hand back and looked at Kaylee. “There’s a cat in here,” she said, shocked.
“I know,” Kaylee said with a laugh. “That’s Tux. I found him, too. He was so young when I found him and when Lady and the puppies came here to stay, he crawled in and never wanted to leave. The puppies are going to outsize him pretty soon. He thinks he’s one of them.”
Lady joined them and got into the dog bed, lying down for the puppies to nurse. “I don’t think they’re going to be nursing much longer. They’re getting big and they need real food. Landry has started feeing them puppy kibble once a day. Lady will decide when she’s done nursing and just quit on them. Then we’ll have to try to find homes for them.”
Mallory picked up a puppy and cuddled him. “I guess that’s