Page 3 of Immortal By Morning
“Thanks. You’re a star,” Gina said, some energy returning to her voice now that the subject was changed.
“That’s why you pay me the big bucks,” Abril teased.
“Yeah. Remind me to give you a raise when I get back.”
“Yeah, yeah. Go have fun,” Abby responded on a chuckle.
“I plan to,” Gina assured her, and then added, “Ciao.”
“Ciao,” Abril said with a smile and had started topull the phone away from her ear when Gina suddenly cried out, “Oh, wait! I almost forgot what I was calling for in the first place.”
Eyebrows rising, Abril paused and said, “Yes?”
“I was calling to check on Lilith.”
“Ah.” Abril smiled, not at all surprised to hear that Gina was concerned about her baby. The woman doted on her pup like most people did on their children.
“Is she okay? Is she eating well? Is she missing me?” Gina asked and Abril didn’t miss the note of hope in her voice.
“Yes, of course she’s missing you,” she said, glancing around now for the dog in question. “She starts barking and jumps up to run to the door every time she hears a vehicle in the driveway, only to drag her butt back and flop down onto her bed when it isn’t you but a courier, or the construction guys.”
“Aww,” Gina said, a smile in her voice. “Well, give her a cuddle from me and tell her Mommy loves her.”
“Will do,” Abril said absently, turning to peer around the empty front yard of the three-acre property when she didn’t spot the Lab by the pond or anywhere else to the side of the hole and excavator.
“Have a good day. Talk to you tomorrow.”
“Mm-hmm,” Abril murmured and slid the phone into her pocket when the dial tone sounded telling her that Gina had hung up.
Fretting over whether she really had turned on the collar for the wireless fence as she’d meant to do, or had somehow done it wrong leaving Lilith free to run off, Abril started toward the back of the house. She intended to check there for her before panicking and widening her search to the neighborhood.
Rather than going all the way around the huge excavator, Abril took the lazy route, walking between it and the hole. The path got narrow where the vehicle sat, and she reached for the large bucket to hold on to it as she made her way past, but her hand never made contact with the cool metal. Before it could, the ground she was walking on suddenly gave way beneath her.
Fortunately, they hadn’t got far in digging out the foundation before the machine had broken down that morning. The hole was about ten feet long and twenty feet wide, but only three or four feet deep. This was a good thing, Abril decided when she came to a halt at the bottom of the pit. While the sudden fall was a shock and knocked the breath out of her, she wasn’t hurt as far as she could tell.
Abril took a moment to regain her breath, and then blinked her eyes open when a bark preceded a wet tongue scraping across her cheek. She’d found Lilith. Abril put out a hand to the eager dog to keep her from licking her again.
“Thank you. I’m okay, sweetie,” she murmured, petting the animal with one hand while urging her away with the other. “Let me get up.”
Whether Lilith understood her words was debatable, but at least the Lab gave up trying to lick her to death. Turning away, the dog trotted to the far side of the partially excavated area that was closest to the house. Breathing out a sigh of relief, Abril struggled to her feet on the soft, uneven ground and tried to brush off the dirt now covering her coat and jeans. Unfortunately, while the rain earlier had been brief, it had still managed to drop a lot of water. It had turned the dirt to mud that was not brushing off. Instead, itwas smearing on her beige wool coat and faded blue jeans.
Cursing, Abril gave up trying to remove the muck and glanced around for Lilith. She relaxed when she saw that the dog was busily digging in the dirt close to the wall.
“Helping the construction crew, Lilith?” Abril asked, looking around to try to find the best way to get out of the hole without bringing more dirt down on herself. Where she’d fallen seemed like the best place to get out. The rest of the sides to the hole were pretty straight up and down and closer to five feet than the three or four she’d first thought. Where the ground had given way, however, the side was now sloped. It was also made up of soft, loose dirt. She could get out that way, but suspected she’d have to basically crawl to do it.
Grimacing at the thought, Abril glanced to where the Lab was still digging. Slapping the side of her leg, she called, “Lilith, come!”
Lilith did not come. She didn’t even glance around at the call. Abril scowled at the dog’s lack of obedience. The pup was usually pretty good about listening and happy to follow her about, but right now she was ignoring her completely and continuing to dig almost feverishly, something she had apparently been doing for some time. Her golden fur was drenched in dark earth; on her paws, lower legs, and face. There were even a couple of splotches of it on her back.
Muttering under her breath about having to bathe disobedient pups, Abril slid her now cold hands into the pockets of her coat to keep them warm, and headed over to collect the dog.
The construction had been planned to start last fall, the end of September to be exact. The renos hadn’t started until the end of March. Now it was the last week of April when the days fluctuated between warmish and cold and back. Today was really cold, but not cold enough to freeze the muddy earth she was presently squelching through.
“Lilith! Stop and get over here!” Abril ordered more firmly, retrieving the leash from her pocket when she felt it in there. When her latest command had no more effect than her others, Abril’s muttering changed to complaining about unruly puppies who didn’t listen and made their humans traipse through nasty mud that was ruining their shoes. That carried her across the remaining distance to Lilith.
“Bad puppy,” Abril growled as she bent to latch the leash to her collar. She’d tried to put a firm note into her voice, but it obviously didn’t fool the dog into thinking she was no longer the pushover she usually was for the furball. When Abril straightened and tried to tug the Lab away, Lilith resisted.
“For heaven’s sake, Lilith!” Abril said with exasperation, and yanked on the leash. “Come on. Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here.” Not above bribery at this point, she tacked on, “I’ll give you a treat. Two treats even if—Holy shit,” Abril breathed when Lilith suddenly stopped her digging to move closer to her, apparently ready to give up in exchange for the promised treats. Now it was Abril who wasn’t leaving. She simply stood there, gaping with disbelief for several minutes.
