River Lane

Chapter 12

  Chapter twelve

            The next morning I was glad that I hadn’t drank any alcohol because I knew the hangover I would have suffered, would be even worse after Claire’s kids woke me up.

            It was barely getting light outside, when I heard the bedroom door opening and all the sudden five rowdy kids were pouncing on me, singing happy birthday. Ganging up on me, they rolled me out of the bed and I landed with a soft thud on the thickly carpeted floor.

            They led me down the stairs where Claire was waiting with a giant stack of pancakes that had a large birthday candle stuck in the middle, the wax slowly melting down into the thick layer of maple syrup. It made me laugh. After pushing me to the table and making me sit down, they all gathered around me and sang happy birthday. Man I love this family.

            Just then Uncle Jared opened the door and through it came the padding of puppy feet, as a little blue heeler came running towards me, with a large blue bow tied around his neck. He had black covering the top of his head around his ears and eyes like a black mask. I knew right then what his name would be.

            “Oh my gosh! He’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! Thank you!” I was so shocked I wasn’t sure what to do. I was even more shocked by his reply.

            “I’m not the one to thank,” he replied. I was confused.

            “If he’s not from you then who’s he from?” Amazing how at times like this, such stupid things suddenly become importanat for everyone to look at, like the cowboy hats hanging from the deer on the wall, the shoes on the rack by the door, the pans hanging above the counter; Everything but me.  It really pissed me off, and it took a good minute before Jared spoke up.

            “He’s from Garrett. He picked him out in town. The morning he decided to leave, he told me he had already paid for him, where he was at, and asked me if I would pick him up and give him to you. I couldn’t tell him no.” I was dumbfounded. Garrett had been planning this for weeks.

            The puppy jumped up and started trying to lick my face. I loved him already, and the only thing I could think was how bad I wish Garrett had come by and given him to me himself.

            “Maybe you should call him and thank him,” Claire suggested.

            “Yeah, maybe,” I replied. The truth was I had tried calling him multiple times in the last two weeks, but most of the time had chickened out and hung up before he could answer. The one time that I had let it ring and it hadn’t gone to voicemail, it had been answered by a girl. I just hung up the phone. I knew he would recognize the number calling him. The truth was I was dying to talk to him, but couldn’t bring myself to do it. I think that letting him see the missed calls with my number let him know that I was thinking about him, without actually having to say anything. Some things are better left unsaid. Plus knowing there was a girl answering his phone meant there was a girl with him and that irritated me more than him not answering the phone.

            I picked up the puppy, slid on my cowboy boots, and slipped outside to do my chores. I packed him halfway to the barn, until he started getting antsy watching the other dogs. They swarmed around curiously. I let him down and watched as the other dogs checked him out. After about two minutes, they decided he was alright and he went to pouncing on them as if he’d been around forever. Walking towards the barn, I turned around and hollered before walking through the door:  “Bandit, come on!”

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