“All right. Thank you, Seth, Leaf.”
“Talk to you soon,” Seth said, and Leaf ended the call.
Leaf gave him the space he needed right then. He felt insulted, even though his reasonable brain reminded him this wasn’t about him at all.
“You know her,” Leaf said quietly after minutes of silence. “She hates this stuff, and she has to be scared out of her mind to call you.”
“But why didn’t Dad call me?”
Leaf snorted. “As if she would’ve ever forgiven him.”
The man had a point there. Michael Kent wasn’t really a man who would go against his wife. Their love story was stuff of legends, and part of it was because Kathleen needed a keeper who wouldn’t suffocate her. Michael, on the other hand, needed someone who loved him unconditionally and let him work long hours. Seth assumed he’d been a bit of an accident, although—probably—a happy one in the end.
Grace, after checking with them on whether she’d found all the treats and Leaf confirming to Seth that she had, indeed, found five during the call, ambled over to them and climbed the stairs to sit at the top with them, then put her slightly slobbery head on Seth’s shoulder.
“Aww, thanks, girlie,” Seth murmured, reaching back to scratch her by the cropped ears. “You’re such a good girl.”
She had come to them as soon as her previous task, the treats, was done. She didn’t have to, and if she hadn’t sensed the mood her humans were in, she might’ve gone to sniff around some more instead. But she’d been trained to be a support animal, which was why she knew how to handle anxiety attacks, and Seth was so damn grateful for it.
“Do you think Dev would come watch the kids while we’re in Texas?” Leaf asked thoughtfully. “I mean, that’d be the easiest way to handle the trip, wouldn’t it?”
Seth pondered on it for a moment. “Yeah, I think so. He loves them and they respect him enough to be good. I’ll text him right now.”
Leaf went to let the younger dogs out, and Grace settled down behind Seth, warming his back with her body.
He texted Dev, asking what his plans were for the next week and if he could work from their place if they’d move a work computer there. They were texting back and forth when Leaf’s voice came from inside, answering his cell.
Seth hoped it wasn’t an urgent job. He didn’t think Leaf would leave for anything right then, but he also knew they’d both feel bad if their human needs would affect some poor dogs’ situation in a negative way.
Seth leaned back carefully until Grace’s tail thumped against the stair and smiled. She loved affection, and this was something she liked more than anything. Sometimes, when Seth was home alone with the dogs, she’d just come and sleep on the couch by his legs so as much of her as possible would touch him.
“Hey, sweetheart, can you ask Dev if he wants to meet my sister? Rain is stopping by on Thursday night. She’s going to a friend’s commitment ceremony in Kansas City this weekend.”
When Seth looked back, Leaf was still on his phone. He smiled. “Hey, Rain!” he called to her, hoping she’d hear him.
Leaf grinned, put the phone back to his ear, and went back inside.
Seth texted Dev.Do you want to meet Leaf’s sister? She’s coming to stay overnight on Thursday.
It took Dev thirty seconds to answer.Hell yes! What’s the plan?
Normally we just eat well, then sit for the rest of the evening in the backyard around the fire pit and smoke pot.
Sounds good to me. Can’t wait to see what you’re like while high.
A winky-face emoji accompanied the last text and made Seth smile. Yeah, it could be fun to get high with the DeWitt siblings and Dev. He hadn’t indulged in a while, and Leaf hadn’t either.
Seth got up and went to his study to email his boss for the leave next week. It was highly likely he couldn’t catch her in person, so better make sure she’d see his request for time off as soon as possible.
LATER THATnight, they showered separately and went to bed after making sure the house was locked down and the dogs were happy and in their beds. It was an evening routine for them, had been for a decade whenever they were both home, and it soothed Seth’s anxiety to go through it that night. He couldn’t really help the fact that his mind kept obsessing a bit over his mother’s illness. She’d said it was going to be fine, but he knew enough about breast cancer to know sometimes things were anything but fine.
He curled up against Leaf’s side and played with his chest hair. “I’m worried,” he admitted as he twirled the gray and black strands around his fingers.
“I know, sweetheart,” Leaf murmured, squeezing him closer.
“I think I might want to go talk to Rosalie again,” he said after a while, more thinking out loud than anything.
Leaf hummed. “I talked with Dev on our date. About some childhood stuff.”
