Luna had the day off from her job as a front desk clerk at Lodgeport Inn, but every adult resident of Hope House was expected to participate in a rotation for cleaning and kitchen duty. Today was her turn to help make and serve lunch, then clean up afterward.
Remnants of the vegetable soup Aloni served clung to the bottom of the pot in a desperate attempt to not be separated. The burnt dutch oven was no fault of Aloni, but Luna. She’d promised to keep an eye on the soup, but her mind had been elsewhere. Fortunately, most of the soup was salvageable, though her ego not so much.
If she had to weigh her thoughts, they’d be equally balanced between Carl and Hope. For her own sake, she knew she had to put distance between her and Carl. Her walls crumbled around him, and that scared her. They’d already become closer than she’d ever intended. Somehow, she needed to extricate herself from the friendship.
Except, they kind of, sort of, shared a dog now.
How was that for creating space?
One thing was for sure—no one could ever accuse her of taking the easy way out. Complicating life was her specialty. Which is precisely why, even though she knew the smart thing to do would be to offer him full ownership of Hope, she would hold on tight to her claim.
She wanted the dog, had become attached to the scrawny thing. Giving her up wasn’t an option. There were other reasons, ones she couldn’t delve into, but they could stay in the far recesses of her mind for now. Forever, if she had her way.
Letting the pot fill with water for the third time, she squeezed a squirt of dish detergent into the stream of water and called out to Aloni. “This will have to sit for an hour or two. I’ll come back before dinner to finish it.”
Aloni dried her hands on a rag. “Don’t worry about that. The city called Nels into work. You would think after twenty-five years with the department of transportation he’d put his foot down and let the younger guys handle it, but no. Anyway, I’ll be spending the night here, so I’ve plenty of time to scrub a stubborn pot.”
“Thanks, but it’s my mess and responsibility. I’ll take care it.”
“I’d argue if I thought it would do anything good.” A smirk appeared on Aloni’s smooth skin. The gene pool had given her the gift of aging gracefully. “As it is, you’re the one person here who could out-stubborn me.”
Luna broke out into a full laugh. It felt good to laugh, really good. “Do you need anything? I can bring you sheets and a blanket.”
“No thanks, dear.” Aloni smiled. “This won’t be the first time I’ve stayed overnight. You enjoy the rest of your day.”
“You too. I’ll see you at dinner.” Luna waved goodbye.
She went to the pantry and pulled out two cheap plastic bowls to use as food dishes, unsure if Carl would stop by his house to pick up the items he’d purchased. Then she swung by the linen closet for items to create a makeshift bed for Hope.
Arms loaded, she made her way to Carl’s office. Her internal alarms went off when she saw the door opened, then calmed when she spotted him inside. Sounded again when she saw the worry lines around his frown.
Her first thought rushed to the dog’s welfare. “Is Hope okay?”
He rolled his shoulders. “Yes, but we overestimated her progress, or at least I did.”
“What do you mean?” She peered inside for a glimpse of Hope, dismayed to see her lying on the floor with that same blank stare on her face. “I thought she was trying to get up on her own?”
“She is on occasion which is encouraging but her mind is still in shock. Dr. Scott isn’t sure she’ll come out of it, but the next few days will be critical.” He knelt down beside Hope, and Luna saw he had stopped by his house for supplies. His rough fingers glided over Hope in tender ministrations.
Hope looked helpless lying on the dog bed, her limbs extended limply from her malnourished body. Luna dropped the items in her hand into a chair, then sat beside Hope and Carl. “What can we do for her?”
“Keep praying.” A sad smile surfaced. “Dr. Scott sent her home with a special food that we’ll have to spoon feed her, and we’ll have to give her water with a medicine dropper.”
“That doesn’t seem too difficult. Time consuming, but not hard.”
His cheek twitched. “I’ve been thinking, we night need to enlist help. She’ll need more care than I anticipated, and while I’ll do all I can, I can’t be with her non-stop. Neither can you.”
She wasn’t fazed and remained determined. “If Rachel is fine with Hope coming here during the day, I can get the ladies to help with her care. I know they’ll be willing.”
A relieved sigh slipped from Carl. His level of affection for Hope reached a place deep inside Luna, healed one of her many broken pieces.
Carl stood up. “There’s one more thing Dr. Scott said she needs.”
“What’s that?”
“Lots of love.”
Her heart constricted and grew at the same time. “That, she will never lack again in her life.”
