“I also get that you don’t like people telling you what to do, but I’d like you to make an exception for a medically trained professional. I know Doctor Buckley told you to rest. I also know that bruised ribs hurt like crazy. We can either sit here for our chat, or head back up to those rocking chairs I saw on your front porch.”
“If you’ve truly had bruised ribs then you know that it actually helps to walk.”
I did know that. Despite my doctor’s orders, I’d run six miles the day after a roadside IED blew me six feet into the air. Wept the entire way. Sunny was tough. I respected it but I didn’t like knowing she was in pain.
“When’s your next check-up?” I asked.
“I get the stitches out in ten days.”
“Did I do that? When I tackled you?” The question blurted out before I could catch myself.
“No. It happened when I was pushed to the ground.”
I nodded and released the breath I didn’t realize I was holding.
“How’s it feeling, really?”
“Like someone poured liquid acid on my skin.”
“Thanks for being honest,” I said and meant it.
“Thanks for carrying me to my truck last night.” She looked down.
My phone rang. I pulled it from my pocket, read the caller ID—Mom.I silenced it and slid it back in my pocket.
A spray of water rained against my back as one of the dogs shook the river water from their coat.
“Tango,no.”
“Tango?” I wiped the speckles of mud off my pants. Wasn’t like they’d been washed in a month, anyway.
“That one is Tango and the black one is,” she slid me the side-eye. “Max.”
“Max?”I couldn’t help but laugh. The dog that stealthily stalked me from the side had the same name as me. “Never been so proud to have a dog named after me.”
“Afteryou? Maybe I should have named him Zeus after your ego.”
I chuckled again.
“The third one is?—”
“Wait. Hold up. I want to know more about this Max. Where does Max sleep?”
“In my bed.”
“Oh,really?”
“Yes. Really. Anyway, as I was saying?—”
“At the foot of the bed or under the covers?”
She rolled her eyes. “At thefoot.”
“I’ll have to work on that.”
She shook her head, the grin morphing into a full-blown smile. I wondered if it was the same smile she’d flashed atthe judge to get out of her latest ticket. It was mesmerizing…and almost enough for me to ignore the fact that she allowed dogs in her sheets.
Almost.
