Page 43 of Between the Shady Groves
“Have either of you heard of anyone missing their dog?”
“I don’t think so,” Claire said, glancing at Grace.
“No one mentioned it at Bible study today. I would have thought that that would be a good place for someone to ask, if they were looking.”
“I have a stray dog coming around the back of the bakery, and it seems like she’s pregnant. I’m not an expert on dogs or anything, but she seems close.”
“You always liked animals. And babies especially,” Grace said, and Lauren thought about the kittens.
It was true. She was always taking in one stray or another and enjoying it.
Of course, when she had a roomful of puppies, she was taking on the responsibility for trying to find them homes. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to do that. Maybe it would be best if the dog never did learn totrust her. But they’d gotten dog food today at the grocery store, and she was going to give it her best effort.
“All right. I suppose I better get up and get back to my husband and children.” Claire stood, and the others followed suit.
“Is your ex-husband really not wanting them at all?” Grace asked as they moved to walk back down the trail.
“Nope. He had them for two weeks, and he basically called begging me to take them back. He said he’d see them at Christmas. And I was fine with that. In fact, it made my summer.”
“There are so many fun things to do with kids beside the lake,” Lauren said.
“And we are pretty much trying to do them all. I’m remodeling the kitchen and painting the outside of the house. It’s definitely a full summer.”
“I think it’s important to stay busy. And keeping kids occupied is a good way to keep them out of trouble.” Lauren believed that to be true. It was what her mom always said. That’s why she had worked in the bakery after school. But she never really thought of it as a job. Because her mom gave her lots of leeway to be creative, and she was allowed to experiment with different things. That was how she got so good at making Nutella banana bread and the cheese bread which was her signature.
Her mom had definitely encouraged her creativity while gently guiding her away from things that were not good for her.
They stopped at the gate and embraced.
“Thanks for meeting. We’ll see you next week, same time?” Lauren said, realizing they hadn’t really settled that.
“If not before then, that sounds good to me,” Grace said, and Claire agreed.
“I can pretty much make any time, as long as I know ahead of time, so I can make sure that the kids are good.”
Lauren felt light and happy as she walked down the sidewalk. Maybe things were going to work out after all.
Twenty
“Are you ready to go?” Lauren asked as she finished wrapping the loaf of Nutella bread she was going to deliver to Skyler before she and Cannon took a walk along the beach.
“I am,” he said, looking up from his phone, then clicking a couple more times before he turned it off and shoved it in his pocket.
“I can carry that,” he said.
He’d finished putting the security system in the day before, and she’d allowed him to sleep on the couch that night. But that wasn’t where he wanted to be.
“How do you feel about calling Josiah and seeing if he’ll let us take a look at the house? I was thinking that we should grab it while it’s available, because it’s so close.”
“Really?” she asked, sounding surprised.
“Unless you wanted a place further out? But then there would be a longer commute for you to come here.”
“I guess we could rent out the apartment upstairs.”
“Yeah. Or we can keep it for out-of-towners who want to visit, or we could even add to the bakery, have a sitting room upstairs where people can take their baked goods and read or something.”
“That would be perfect if Matteo was still opening a bookstore.”
