Olivia scooted closer to me across the mattress and rub my hair to comfort me.
“It will be okay,” she said soothingly. “It will.”
I appreciated her being there for me and doing everything she could to make me feel better. But I wasn’t completely convinced. I didn’t know if she could really tell me that for sure. This wasn’t a situation she had ever been in, and neither of us had any idea how it was going to actually turn out. But for now, I was willing to hold on to it and convince myself she was right. I could pretend it was all going to be okay. As long as it got me through Monday and the conversation I had to have with Quentin, that’s all that mattered for now.
37
Quentin
Getting Rosie was definitely one of the best decisions I’d ever made, but I was learning she had some unintended consequences. She kept everybody in the complex so happy and reduced stress and anxiety so much, Mom didn’t have as much need to bake anymore. Rather than running off to the kitchen and finding solace at the bottom of bags of flour and sugar, she just came to my office and spent some time relishing the never-ending supply of puppy kisses Rosie was more than eager to give her. Then what time she did spend in the kitchen was divided between producing sweets and goodies for us and baking up batch after batch of homemade puppy treats.
I couldn’t really blame her. Rosie just got cuter by the day, and they loved her visits. She would lick and cuddle as long as somebody let her or until she toppled over into one of her frequent naps. That was one of my favorite things to watch her do. I loved to see her play and bounce at work, but when she stretched out, her soft little belly up toward the sky, and fell into a deep sleep, it made me feel happy and contented. I liked knowing she was happy with me and I was giving her a good life. She was doing so much for me, the least I could do was try to give her something in return.
But I was definitely missing my sugar fix. It was probably better for my health, but I didn’t really want to think about that. I first got to work in the morning or wandered into the kitchen in the middle of the day looking for something to give me an afternoon boost, I wanted to find a platter of lemon bars or a freshly baked plate of cookies. Instead, I discovered a heavily picked-over tray of apple turnovers and three different types of dog biscuits. She’d even taking the time to use different shapes of cookie cutters for each of the flavors and was standing over one of the plates applying icing.
“Are you putting icing on a cookie for my dog?” I asked.
Mom looked over her shoulder, then turned around and grinned at me.
“Yes, I am,” she said. “I found a puppy-friendly recipe that’s good for her coat and her little digestive system. And it’s delicious, and that’s the most important part.”
“Did you taste it?” I asked.
She gave me a glare and whipped back around to finish the cookies.
“Yes, I did. It’s made completely with human food ingredients, so why shouldn’t I? I had to make sure it tasted good for her. Princess Rosie deserves the very best,” she said.
I grabbed one of the apple turnovers and balanced it on top of a cup of coffee, scooped up a handful of the other dog biscuits, and headed to my office. Rosie happily trotted along at my heels. She and her leash had come to a begrudging agreement, but I barely even needed to use it anymore. She quickly adapted to just walking along beside me and unless I told her it was okay to run, she stayed close by. I walked into the office and was surprised as hell to see Merry there waiting for me.
“Hi,” I said, walking over to my desk and setting down the coffee and turnover. Opening the lid of the cookie jar I’d gotten for Rosie’s treats, I dropped the new cookies inside, then fished one back out. Rosie went over to her corner of the office and started examining her bed and each of her toys. She did the same thing every morning. Everything was always in the exact same place where she left it the night before, but the first thing she did when she got into the office was sniff and examine everything as if to confirm it was right.
When she was satisfied, she got onto her bed, circled around a few times, then plopped herself down. I set her cookie down in front of her, and she set her paw on the end of it, making it stand up so she could chew on the other end. That would keep her content for a little while. Now that Rosie was situated, I looked over at Merry.