“You’re my rill dad, aren’t you?”
A pain pierced his chest.
“Absolutely, positively.” He hugged her tight and kissed her cheek. “I’m your real dad.”
“That’s good, because I didn’t want to go with those people and leave you.”
“Nobody will ever take you away from me, baby.” Her innocence cracked his heart.
“Skipper died, didn’t he, Daddy?”
“Yes.”
Her beautiful amber eyes filled with tears. “Poor Marla. I bet she’ll cry forever and ever.” She twisted in his lap to sit sideways. “Can I hug her before I go to bed?”
He took a shaky breath. “Marla went home. Miss Emmaline went with her to keep her company.”
She sat back and stared at him goggle-eyed. “Why? What did you do, Daddy?”
Her childlike perception took his breath away. He dropped his head back on the chair. “I yelled at her. I was angry she let them take you. I’d cut off my other leg if I could take it back.”
“Don’t you love her anymore?”
How did this child know he was in love with Marla?
“I love her very much, but I don’t know if she can forgive me for the things I said.”
“She has to, Daddy. I want her to be with us.”
What could he say? He shook his head slowly and closed his eyes.
Amber slid from his lap. “I’m rill tired. I’m going to bed. Tomorrow we’ll make a plan. I’ll help you fix everything. G’night, Daddy.”
Dwayne kept his eyes closed and reclined the chair. “See you in the morning, sweetheart.” He couldn’t face going in that empty bedroom and climbing in that cold bed without Marla. No, he’d sleep in the chair tonight. In front of the fireplace. Alone.
Marla’s eyes opened before dawn. She rolled on her side, careful not to wake Charlene, and watched Miss Emmaline asleep in the other bed, Princess Elizabeth curled up close to her. After a few minutes, she slipped from the bed and quietly made her way to the bathroom to use the toilet without turning on the light with the loud, grinding fan. She’d flush in the morning.
She’d slept, but she’d had troubling, disjointed dreams. During the night she sprang to a sitting position when she heard Skipper bark. Tears poured from her eyes. She stared through the darkness at the shoe box on the table where his little body rested inside, wrapped in a tea towel.
Wrenching pain consumed her. She clasped her hands over her mouth and lay back, pulling the lumpy motel pillow over her head to muffle her sobs. Not just for her precious dog, but for those brutal accusations Dwayne had thrown at her. She hadn’t known the man at all. Charlene snuggled close and put an arm around her.
When their flight arrived at LAX the next afternoon, Miss Emmaline touched her arm as they reached the baggage claim area. “Look, dear. Those precious brothers of yours are waiting for us. Charlene must have called them.”
Wearing identical sober faces, Harry and Barry met them and silently embraced Marla then Emmaline. A new round of tears poured from her eyes. She hadn’t known there were so many tears in the world to be shed.
“Let’s go home, BS.”
The boys took their luggage from the carousel and led them to the short-term parking lot. Barry drove and Marla took the passenger seat. Harry sat in back with Miss Emmaline, Elizabeth’s carrier on the seat between them.
Her brothers’ silence comforted her. She knew how much they cared. Words were unnecessary.
They went to the condos first and the boys escorted Miss Emmaline and her bags to her new apartment. Marla waited in the car until they returned. Other apartments were occupied with returned tenants. Lights winked from several windows.
When they reached her house, the boys carried her luggage inside. She clutched the shoe box, holding her baby to her chest, unwilling to let anybody touch it. “You don’t need to stay, sweeties. Thank you for meeting us. I’d really like to be alone, if you don’t mind.”
“Dadley and Sil wanted us to call when you got here so they could come over.”
“No. Please, I don’t want them to do that. Tell them I’m fine by myself. I’ll go to their house tomorrow.”
“Okay.” They hugged her and left.
Marla locked the door behind them then closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool, smooth wood. Swallowing back tears, she headed for her bedroom. Skipper’s dishes sat on the floor next to the kitchen sink. A stab of pain pierced her stomach when she averted her eyes and kept walking, switching lights on in every room as she passed them on her way.
For some reason, as exhausted as she was, she needed light. Every light. Every room. She sat on the edge of her bed with the box in her lap and stroked it lovingly. Anguished cries escaped her throat so fast she didn’t recognize her own voice. How long would it take for the pain to ease?
Hand under her bed pillow, she dragged out Dwayne’s T-shirt, the one she loved to sleep in, clutched it to her face and curled on her side. Please, she wanted to stop loving him, stop loving Amber.
Some time later, she rose from the bed and went to the garage to find a shovel. Stopping at one of Skippy’s favorite spots at the edge of the flower bed, she dug a deep hole. The monotonous action of stomping on the back edge of the shovel and lifting the heavy, wet soil out of the ever-larger gash increased her breathing and eased the ache in her heart. She slumped on the grass to rest.
On her knees, Marla untied the knotted string then lifted the lid on the shoebox to stare at the wrapped bundle that a day ago had been her lively pet. She lowered the box in the little grave and sat back on her heels.
A sad smile cracked her face. Remembering Charlene’s words, “You and that dog,” she used her hands to scoop and push the dirt
