He checked his watch. 2:52. Community Hope started at three.
He looked over at Daisy. “Should we wait or go in early?”
She undoubtedly had an opinion but didn’t offer it. He tapped the steering wheel. It had been an agonizing decision, whether to bring the dog. It was ridiculous, and probably sacrilegious, to bring a dog into a church. Plus, he didn’t want to get her hair all over his truck. He’d only barely gotten rid of all the feathers from when Bernard and Mr. Whiskers went a couple of rounds. But in the end, he’d pictured Morgan’s face and hoisted Daisy into the passenger seat.
This should teach that kid to make a snap judgment. Gerrit wasn’t unreliable and disappointing. He could come through for people.
As he was still trying to decide whether to wait for the clock to strike three, he spotted Rae heading for the front door of the building with some boy. They sure looked cozy, walking so close together. All smiley. Hadn’t she said she didn’t have room in her plans for a boyfriend?
He carefully slid out of the truck, mindful of his still-tender back, and walked to the other side to open the door for Daisy. He hadn’t even thought to bring a leash because she minded so well, but now he wondered if he was breaking some kind of doggie protocol by letting her walk about freely in public.
Too late now.
Daisy loved every minute of it as they entered the building and made their way to Room F. She held her head high and sniffed the air as if it had recently rained prime rib.
Gerrit made a mental note to make Hannie prime rib for dinner this weekend.
In Room F, Mark greeted him with wide eyes. “You’re here.”
Gerrit nodded.
“And you brought a dog.”
“She’s real good.” He scratched the back of his head. “She won’t cause any trouble.”
Mark clutched his clipboard to his chest. “But . . . dogs aren’t allowed in the building.”
At that moment, Rae noticed him standing in the doorway.
“Hey, Gerrit!” She hurried over to him and knelt beside Daisy, cupping the dog’s face in her hands. “And look who came along. Good girl.”
“Cool, a dog.” The girl who had been pouting during Gerrit’s previous visit joined Rae on the floor. “She’s so cute.”
Rae scooted over to give the other girl a chance to pet Daisy. The dog ate up the attention as if she’d been in isolation for a month.
“Daisy, this is Taylor.” Rae made a show of introducing her. “Taylor, meet Daisy.”
The girl leaned in, and Daisy gave her a tiny lick of appreciation.
Taylor squealed with delight. “She can be our mascot.”
Morgan slipped into the room and froze in his tracks at the sight of Daisy. He stared at her, and a small smile formed on his face. This was only the second time he’d seen Morgan, but Gerrit guessed he didn’t smile much.
Gerrit raised his eyebrows at Mark, daring him to put his foot down and ban Daisy from the building now.
Mark laughed and waved his clipboard toward the room in a grand gesture. “Well, Daisy, I guess it’s nice to meet you. Welcome to Community Hope.”
DAISY HAD ALREADY become a celebrity by the time Gerrit made his way to the back of the room, where Morgan sat hunched over a notebook. Everybody’s new furry best friend pranced right up to the kid with the black hair and nudged his knee with her nose.
Morgan pulled little speaker thingies from his ears. “Hello.”
Gerrit almost replied before he realized Morgan was not talking to him. How come Daisy made friends so easily?
He eased himself into a chair two seats away from Morgan to give him some space but not too much. Then he sat back to observe. Ha. This kid thought he’d never see him again, and here he was, with a dog. He folded his arms across his chest in a self-satisfied way.
Morgan closed his notebook and set it on the table. He tucked his earphone things into the pocket of his sweatshirt. He had to be overheating wearing that. It was a perfect spring day in the best of all places: the Pacific Northwest. Why didn’t he take it off?
Morgan put a hand on Daisy’s head and began a conversation, murmuring low enough that Gerrit couldn’t catch it over the din of the wild animals in the room around him. Gerrit didn’t interrupt. He waited.
Daisy listened intently, and if Gerrit didn’t know better, he would say it looked like she nodded once in a while, urging Morgan on. After a few minutes, Morgan moved both hands to Daisy’s back and gave her a good hard rub.
“I think she likes that,” Gerrit ventured.
Morgan kept his eyes on the dog. “Yeah.”
Gerrit scowled to himself. Would it kill the kid to show a little appreciation? He opened his mouth to say something else but nothing came out. What were teenage boys interested in? He had no idea. But this after-school program was meant to help kids with their homework, right? So they wouldn’t be held back? Maybe he should start there.
“How many classes are you failing?”
Morgan looked at him, a challenge in his eyes. “What makes you think I’m failing any?”
Gerrit sputtered. “Well, Rae said—”
“Rae talked about me?”
“No, not really. She talked about the program. How it’s for, uh, kids who need . . .”
Morgan glared. “I’m not stupid.”
Gerrit’s heart stopped beating. His lungs suspended their life-giving work. And the rectangular white table turned into a square wooden one where a young boy sat swinging his feet. Noah must’ve been about eleven. Hadn’t gone through his growth spurt yet. The fridge in the calf barn had gone on
