Chapter Five
Greta
“YOU’RE THE ENEMY NOW.”
Luna folded her arms over her chest and glared at Meg. “I am not the enemy.”
Meg motioned to the cut Luna was wearing. “It’s only a matter of time before you say some shit like, ‘It’s club business,’ and then, the transformation will be complete. If I had a dollar for every time Lo said that to me, I’d be a damn millionaire.” Meg leaned against the kitchen counter and grabbed a piece of red licorice from the huge container she had brought over.
“I’m your inside informant,” Luna insisted. “King can be the one to tell you that it is club business, then I can tell you what that club business is.”
Meg rolled her eyes. “You’re full of shit, girl. Love ya, but you’re full of shit.”
“I am not the enemy, Meg.” Luna dropped her arms to her side. “If I am, then that means you are sleeping with the enemy.”
I put my elbow on the table and rested my head in my hand. Even if we were all just sitting around eating breakfast, things were always interesting.
Bear was upstairs taking a shower, and Meg, Luna, and I were just shooting the shit. Suddenly, Meg’s eyes bugged out and she stopped talking. Luna had been a member of the club for about a week now, and it seemed to have suddenly hit Meg that things had changed.
“Honey, I’ve been sleeping with the enemy before you were born. That’s the way I like it. I stay fully in the Lo Daze.”
“Then I don’t see what the problem is with me being a part of the club,” Luna insisted. “And the club is not the enemy.”
“Because now the enemy has inside information from us, and you even sound like the club now. I’m telling you; it’s coming where you tell me something is club business and to keep my nose out of it.” Meg shook her head and pursed her lips.
Even I was a bit confused about where either Meg or Luna was headed with this argument. “I highly doubt Luna is going to run and tell King everything we do,” I called. “I mean, he pretty much knows everything anyway. We could use Luna to our advantage.”
“Use me?” Luna spat.
Meg snickered and chewed in her licorice. “Now, that is a good idea, Gertie.”
“No one is using me,” Luna insisted.
Meg reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, honey; you won’t even know.”
Luna’s jaw dropped, and she stomped her foot. “This is unacceptable.”
“That’s what happens when you cross enemy lines,” Meg reasoned.
I heard Bear tread down the stairs. “Enemy lines?” he called.
Luna pointed wildly in the direction of Bear. “If anyone is the enemy, it is him!”
Bear looked over at me. “What did I miss?”
I shrugged. “Meg is convinced that Luna is the enemy and is going to tell the club everything the ol’ ladies do now.”
“Doesn’t the club pretty much know everything the ol’ ladies do?” he reasoned.
I clicked my tongue. “You and I both know that, but Meg swears there are things the club doesn’t know.”
“Knock, knock!”
“I thought you were keeping an eye on Greta while I was in the shower?” Bear asked Luna.
Luna threw up her hands in the air. “I was,” she insisted.
“Then why is there a chick and dog walking through the door?” Bear turned and nodded to Reva and a random dog walking into my house.
“That’s Reva and probably one of her clients,” Luna reasoned. “She’s hardly anyone who is going to hurt Greta or us. I knew she was coming over.”
“Right,” Bear drawled. He crouched down and called for the dog to come to him.
“Go get him, Boomer,” she laughed.
The large shaggy dog bound over to Bear and licked his nose.
“Don’t tell me you are working Sundays now,” Meg called. “Hero is going to have a fit if you’re always working.”
Reva laughed and waved her hand at Meg. “I am working, but it’s only one groom for Boomer. Besides, Hero is at the club. God knows how long he is going to be there. I figured I would pop over before headed to Hair of the Dog.”
“I should have known you were a dog lover,” I muttered to Bear.
Boomer sat down in front of Bear and remained still as Bear rubbed his chest. “What’s not to love about a dog? They’re the only animal that will love you more than they love themselves.”
“I never thought about it that way before,” I pondered. I saw dozens of dogs and animals a day, and I loved all of them, but it was my job to take care of them. I didn’t get to see them in their everyday life. Normally, I saw them at their worst and was there to save them.
Boomer turned and padded his way over to me. “You sure are a beautiful boy,” I cooed.
“You’re both dog whisperers,” Meg laughed. “I still remember how you were with Red when he was alive,” Meg sighed. “I’m pretty sure he loved you more than he loved me in the end.”
I smiled sadly. Oh, Red. The dog that had made me want to become a vet. “Don’t bring him up,” I called to Meg. “I’m gonna start crying, and then you’re gonna start crying.”
For nine years of my life, Red had been a part of it. He always followed me around and let me pet and play with him. Red had been the true definition of what Bear had said. That dog loved other people more than he loved himself.
“Boomer needs a bath and a little shaping, I’d say. There’s an Aussie underneath all of that floof.” I scratched his head, and he turned for me to rub his butt. “Yeah, he’s an Aussie,” I laughed.
Meg turned and grabbed a piece of bacon from the frying pan. “Come here, handsome,” she called.
Boomer bound over to her and sat.
“Only one piece, Meg,” Reva called. “I don’t want to take him back to his owner ten pounds heavier.”
Meg scoffed and tossed the bacon into Boomer’s mouth. “As if a piece of bacon is going to do anything other than fill his tummy.”
“Might make him shit,” Bear laughed.
Yeah, he was right about that. “Uh, I would have only given him half of that. I don’t think you want him to have the runs while Reva is bathing him.” I cringed and shuddered at a memory I had of a beagle my first year of vet school. “Maybe only a quarter,” I recommended.