I spent the next twenty minutes coaxing Bonnie Jo to eat two of the apples and several carrots, and she finally lifted her head and seemed to perk up a little. When she wandered off to munch on the grass around the tree, I let out the breath I'd been holding.
Uncle Mike put a hand on my shoulder. "Good job, honey. We'll keep a close eye on her. It would be good if you could come out and visit more often, until she's feeling better. She always responds to you."
There wasn't a hint of criticism in his voice about me not coming to visithimmore frequently. That wasn't his way. Uncle Mike was, and always had been, the steady support at the center of my life.
He'd retired from a long career as an engineer, and he could fix absolutely anything. Cars, farm equipment, faulty faucets, you name it, he'd get his handy tool belt out and make it work again. There's no way I could have restored and maintained my little house without his help and supervision. He'd always insisted on teaching me how to do the things I asked of him, which I'd been impatient with in high school but was grateful for, now.
Speaking of fixing things…
"What's the big project you're working on?"
Uncle Mike got a secretive look on his face and brushed his thick white hair back from his brow, probably to avoid the question.
"I'll let you see when the time comes."
"Come on," I wheedled. "I won't tell Aunt Ruby."
"Nope. And you're terrible at keeping secrets. Remember when you were a kid, and you'd go shopping with Ruby, and I'd say 'I know you got me a boat, Tessie,' and you'd get all indignant and say 'It isnota boat, it's a red coat!'" He grinned at me. "Ruby would get so mad at me."
"I'm way better at secret keeping now. Just wait until you hear about it," I said glumly.
He raised an eyebrow, but I just shook my head. "May as well wait for Aunt Ruby, so I can tell it all at once."
We talked a bit, and I managed to get Bonnie Jo to eat a little more, and then we heard the sound of cars approaching. Jack and Aunt Ruby arrived at the same time, and Uncle Mike took one look at Jack's truck and flashed me a wounded look.
"Really? You didn't think to mention that anything had happened? Like, for example, the sometimes-furry bane of my existence was going to show up to eat me out of house and home?"
A twinge of guilt tightened my stomach into knots. Jack showing up was the least of what I hadn't mentioned.
Aunt Ruby jumped out of her car, slammed the door, and marched over to meet us.
"You didn't think I'd want to know about the deadbodysomebody left at yourhouse, addressed toyou?"
By the time she got to the second "you," her voice was so shrill that all the dogs in three adjacent counties were probably howling.
Jack, just now getting out of his truck with an armful of grocery bags, winced.
I threw my hands in the air. "It wasn't a body. It was only a finger!"
The expression on Uncle Mike's face told me I hadn't scored any points with that.
"Look." I sighed. "Let's go inside and figure out lunch, and we can discuss it after we eat."
"Beforewe eat," Uncle Mike said sternly. "You should have called us, Tess."
"I know. I just didn’t want to upset you. I figured I'd tell you about it at lunch."
Jack, standing in front of the house with bags that were almost certainly filled with various meats, smiled at Uncle Mike when we walked up.
My uncle aimed a narrow-eyed gaze at Jack. "Been gone a while."
"Yes, sir."
"Not much word."
"No, sir."
"Tess deserves better."
