I throw on leggings and a bra and go downstairs for coffee, which I desperately need. Libby is having a meltdown about not wanting to go potty, and Jack is screaming because he wants to go back into my room.
It’s loud and my head hurts. Rubbing my temples, I go right for the coffee pot, only to realize it’s empty.
“Oh, sorry,” Justin says, zooming into the kitchen. He’s getting ready to go to work. “Filled up my to-go mug and forgot to put in more water. Want me to—”
“I got it,” I tell him with a smile. “Don’t be late for work.”
“Thanks.” He breezes out of the house, handing off Jack to my mom.
“You’re up early,” she says with a smile.
“Kinda hard to sleep in.” I take Jack from her and make silly faces to try and get him to stop crying. He pulls my hair instead, but at least it gets him to settle down, right?
“I was clearing out the basement to make a little play area for the kids,” Mom starts as she refills the coffee pot. “And I came across a box of old photos. There are some real gems in there. The box is in the living room.”
I take Jack and go into the living room to look through the photos as I wait for more coffee. Sitting front and center on top of the pile is my senior prom photo. Owen’s arm is around me, and he’s looking away from the camera and at me.
Man, we look so young. And happily in love.
Because we were.
Jack toddles off, finding the toy bin in the corner of the room. I sit on the couch and flip through the old photos. There are more of me from high school, and as soon as I flip to a snapshot from graduation, my stomach starts to feel funny.
Oh, how I’d give anything to be that carefree again. Though I wouldn’t want to go back to high school. In the photo, I’m standing in between Logan and Owen. Logan’s girlfriend at the time is on his other side, and both of Owen’s arms are wrapped around me. Our friends hated how affectionate we were, and that continued on through college, even when we were going to different schools.
That I can’t keep my hands to myself phase never ended for us.
I flip through the photos, laughing when I see one of us on a family vacation from the early nineties. Mom’s hair was amazingly poofy.
Suddenly, one of the dogs barks, startling me and setting Tulip off in a panic. She tears across the living room, seeking shelter under the coffee table. Chewy barrels after her, knocks over a lamp, and barks. Tulip shoots forward but is caught by Ray, the other—and bigger dog.
Tulip yowls and Ray pounces again, landing with both paws on my poor little cat. It’s pure chaos for a minute, and I might have screamed a time or two. But by the time we get the dogs off Tulip, it’s obvious something is wrong with her.
I’m in tears as Mom wraps her in a blanket and rushes with me out the door, speeding through town to get to the vet. An hour—and a large bill—later, I leave my cat under the vet’s care.
She has a broken leg, one bite on her neck, and is battered, bruised and stressed to the max. They’re keeping her under observation for a few days, and then when I bring her home, she’ll have to be kept calm and away from the dogs.
But even if she’s locked in my bedroom, the poor thing is going to be terrified.
“I’m so sorry,” Mom tells me as I pull my seatbelt over my lap.
“It’s not your fault. Carly should have trained her stupid dogs better.”
“I won’t agree or disagree,” Mom says gently. “But even the vet thinks they were just trying to play.”
“I know.” I rub my eyes. “She’s so little compared to the dogs.”
“We’ll figure something out. Maybe the dogs can stay outside during the day.”
“As mad as I am at them, I don’t want to stick those dogs out in the heat. Send them away to dog boot camp…yeah, that’s a good idea. Carly is lucky those things haven’t hurt one of her kids.”
Mom, who never wants to say anything bad about either of us—even when it’s obvious, shakes her head again. “I’ll suggest training. The dogs could learn manners.”
“They need more than manners.” I’m pissed, already out a thousand bucks and I know the bill will double by the time I get Tulip back, and know I’m going to blow up the moment I see my sister.
I look out the window at the barn and small pasture behind the vet’s office. For the sake of saving my relationship with Carly, I need out of that house.