The tall, lanky man laughed. “Consider me asking for help withdrawn.”
Zoey tightened the slack on Buster’s leash when he returned to her side. “It was good seeing you. Have a great day.”
“You, too.”
Zoey left Kent at the dog park, and jogged off with Buster. The small dog easily kept up.
She only did one turn around the block before returning to her house to get dressed.
Making sure that Buster was occupied with his dinosaur bone before taking a shower, she then checked him again when she got out.
She ran a towel through her hair as she went to her bedroom, where she picked up her phone to make sure no one called when she’d been in the shower. Zoey saw she had a voice message.
Playing the message, she then played it three times to make sure she heard it correctly.
She was still sitting on the side of her bed when Buster padded into her bedroom. She gently rubbed his head as a lump formed in her throat, then cleared it so she would be able to get the words out, though she didn’t want to utter them.
“Good news, Buster. The vet found your owner, so you’ll be home before lunch. Isn’t that great?” Zoey tried to sound upbeat for the dog, despite it breaking her heart.
Buster whined, laying his head down on her knee.
“We are not going to be sad, are we? This is good news. I’ll get dressed, and then I’ll call the vet back and get the address. The vet said I could drop you off at his office, but I want to meet your owner. Hopefully, he or she will let me see you again.” Getting off the bed, she playfully picked up the bone Buster dropped when he had come into the room. “Come on; I’ll feed you before getting dressed.”
Picking out a brightly colored gauze skirt and a turquoise tank, she dressed before brushing her hair that fell to her shoulders in loose curls. She then wound several tendrils, using flower hair clips intermittently on the tendrils. Doing her hair always calmed her. The more intricate the design, the better.
“I’ve put it off as long as I can, Buster.”
Calling the vet, she spoke to the receptionist and asked for the address of Buster’s owner. When the receptionist gave her the name, Zoey thought she had misheard at first.
“Can you repeat that name again?” She wasn’t familiar with the address, but she was with the name.
“It’s Mrs. Grace Brown.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Mrs. Grace Brown.”
“Thank you.” She cheerfully disconnected the call, in a much better mood than when she first called.
“Buster, you sneaky dog, you weren’t lost; you were trying to get home to Mama.” She was relieved and fairly sure she could work out an arrangement to keep Buster occasionally. “Let’s go. Mama won’t know what to think when I show up with you. Let’s go make her day!”
Zoey heard the raised voices when she got off the elevator.
“Cole is not going, Penni. Quit bugging me about it.”
As she looked down the corridor, Zoey saw Casey, Penni and Grace’s friend, in the doorway of their office, holding a toddler who had a bandana wrapped around her neck.
Penni’s cajoling voice came from inside her office. “I’m only going to be gone for two weeks to visit Lily and Shade. Cole would love the scenery. It’s beautiful in Kentucky this time of year.”
“Cole is fragile. One hit on his head could be fatal. I’m sorry; I just can’t chance it.” Casey lifted her squirming toddler higher on her hip.
Zoey didn’t want to interrupt, sensing that Casey was becoming upset with Penni for refusing to take no for an answer.
“I would make sure to watch him every second,” Penni argued back.
“No, I would be worried sick about him.”
“Are you trying to imply I’m not responsible?”
“You’re not responsible; you’re accident prone. I prefer keeping him at home where I can keep an eye on him.”
“You might prefer it, but what about Cole? He wants to go.”
“Because you keep mentioning it to him every time you come over, which is why I’m here to ask you to stop! Stop putting the idea in his head!”
Zoey cleared her throat as she finally moved forward, trying to ease the escalating tensions of the two women arguing. She couldn’t see Penni from where she was standing, but she could see Casey, and she could see how upset she was becoming.
At the noise, Casey turned toward her, her angry face turning into one of greeting when she recognized her.
“Zoey, can you please tell Penni to mind her own business?”
“Morning, Casey. I would ask how you’re doing, but I can see you’re stressed. Take a deep breath. That helps when dealing with Penni.”
Casey gave a short laugh. “You can say that again. I feel like I’m hyperventilating trying to make her see reason.”