She shrugged, not looking overly impressed with the situation she was in.
Ditto, kid.
“Okay, let’s head out.”
I grabbed her schoolbag and carried it while she followed me silently. When we got to my truck, I opened the back door and then hesitated.
“Uh, I don’t have a car seat. Do you need one of those?”
Shooting me another blank look, she shrugged again.
I ran a hand through my hair. “We’ll have to make do without one. Don’t tell on me, okay?” I said the last part with a smile, hoping conspiring with her would endear me to her a little.
It didn’t. She climbed in, buckled her seat belt, and sat ramrod straight in the seat, facing forward. I suddenly had a flashback to a movie I watched as a kid. The Bad Seed I thought it was called. A cute little blond girl with pigtails went on a killing spree. I cast a quick look at Cindy’s feet. Thankfully she was wearing sneakers and not tap shoes like the ones the girl in the movie used to bash people’s heads in.
I gave my head a slight shake to clear my thoughts. Jesus, I was getting dark. Who knew being a philanthropist made a person morbid as fuck?
As I got us on the road, I struggled to get my nerves under control. I was way out of my depth with this. There were so many things I hadn’t thought of.
What if she needed help getting a bath or getting changed? There was no way I could help her do those things. I wasn’t built for prison. I mean, I was maybe built for it physically, but mentally, I’d collapse like a Jenga tower. But, no, she was in second grade. Surely she could handle those things.
But then my worries became more practical. What if she got sick or hurt and I had to take her to the hospital? What if she sleepwalked and ran off into the night, never to be heard from again? The possibilities were endless. How did parents function with all these what-ifs rattling around in their brains?
“Do you like pizza, Cinnabon?” I asked to keep my thoughts from deteriorating further.
Crickets.
Why did people say crickets anyway? Weren’t crickets loud? Though I guess Cindy was loud in her own way: the silence emanating from her was damn near deafening.
“Why don’t we play a game? I’ll ask a question, and if it’s a no, you kick my seat once, and if it’s a yes, kick it twice. Sound good?”
I waited for a long moment before I felt two kicks on the back of my seat.
Jackpot.
“Great. Do you like pizza?”
Two kicks.
“Awesome.” Get a grip on the superlatives. “Pizza is one of my favorite foods. I like lots of toppings. Do you like toppings?”
One kick.
“Ah, a plain cheese kinda gal, huh?” What the fuck is the matter with me? “Guess we’ll each have to get our own pies for dinner, then. Can you eat a whole pizza?” I was teasing, knowing she couldn’t but I sure as hell could.
Still, I reveled in her reply of a single kick.
“That’s okay. The best thing about pizza is having leftovers.”
That was about as far as I could take that conversation, so I let silence reign for the rest of the drive to Harry’s. I ushered Cindy inside and handed her schoolbag to her.
“Your stuff is over there. Do you wanna see what your mom packed?”
Cindy hesitated a second but then gave a small nod. Progress! As she moved toward her things, I hustled to the back so I could let the dogs out. When I entered the sun-room, they all went a little crazy, probably anxious to be let outside. I slid open the deck door and let them bound out into Harry’s fenced-in backyard.
As the dogs did their business, I leaned against the wall and tried to get my head in the game. I watched Jetson and Bamm-Bamm chase each other around the yard. They were so funny, dipping their front legs and trying to juke each other out as the other gave chase. I was so absorbed by their fun, I forgot about Taz.
I quickly stood up straight and scanned the yard.
Where the hell is he?
After a few seconds, I caught sight of a wriggling butt. And that was all I saw because the rest of Taz’s body was wedged under their synthetic fence as he tried to dig under.
“Taz. No! Here, boy. Come here.” I ran toward the fence, but just as I got close enough to make a grab for him, he inched the rest of the way free and took off down the alley behind the house.
I could just barely see over the top of the fence and quickly lost sight of the dog. “Shit. Taz! Come back.”
I turned and glared accusingly at the other two dogs. “You were his diversion, weren’t you?”
They looked at me guiltily. Or maybe I was reading into it. It didn’t really matter at this point.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I groaned. “Fuck my life.” Taking a deep breath, I got myself together and then took off into the house. I grabbed a leash and started toward the front door, stopping in my tracks when my eyes caught on Cindy’s tiny figure in the living room.
“Uh, so, I…uh…” I pointed over my shoulder like a moron. “I lost one of the dogs. Well, I didn’t lose him. He escaped. While I was watching him. So I guess basically, I lost him.”
Cindy’s eyes were wide as if she didn’t know what to make of my rambling.
Join the club, kid.
I wasn’t sure what to do. I had to go after the dog, but I couldn’t leave Cindy in the house alone. Which I guess left only one option. “You up for a recovery mission?”
She looked alarmed.
“We need to go find Taz. Can you come help me? He probably likes you better than me, so he may come back if you’re with
