Page 120 of Nothing But It All
My spirits fly so high that I hit the brakes a little too hard. Snaps growls at the intrusion from his nap.
I pull in front of the truck so it can’t move without plowing through our car and then cut the engine. Lauren meets me with Snaps in her arms at the truck.
“He’s not in here, and the doors are locked,” she says, trying the passenger-side handle.
I look around the area. It’s one I’m not familiar with—I haven’t been here for years—and I have no idea where to begin looking.
Lauren turns a circle and takes it all in. “Do we just start shouting his name?”
“Maybe.” I shrug. “Maybe one of us should go back to the cabin and get the kids? We could cover more area that way.”
“Yeah. I’ll take—Snaps!”
Lauren’s voice borders on shrill as the dog leaps from her arms. He lands in the center of a mud hole but bounds out of it immediately and makes a circle around the truck.
“Come here,” I say, frustrated.“Snaps.”
Lauren starts to grab him, but he backs away with his little tail wagging like it’s a game.
“This is not funny,” she says, reaching for the dog.
He scoots back and barks at her.
“He just jumped out of my arms like a freaking rabbit,” she says, lunging for him.
Snaps is too quick. He’s on top of the picnic table before Lauren knows what’s happening.
“Fuck it,” I say, scanning the wood line. “There’s a path over there. See it?”
Lauren abandons her futile attempts at reining in the dog and follows my gaze. “Yes.”
“I’m going to—that fucking dog!”
Snaps bolts toward the path as if he comprehends English. His leaps and bounds would be impressive if I weren’t so frustrated.
“Snaps!” I shout, chasing after him.
Lauren struggles to keep up at my side. “This is why you ask your wife before you buy a dog.”
“I didn’t buy him. I told you—I rescued him. Snaps!”
“Whatever. Semantics,” she says, gasping for air as we enter the woods. “Would you say the same thing if I ‘rescued’ a cat?”
Fuck no. Cats are evil.“If I wasn’t staying at the shop, I wouldn’t have considered a pet.”
“Oh, so we’re back to this?”
Her cheeks are flushed, and her hair is matted to her head from the humidity. I’d stop and kiss the hell out of her if my life weren’t spiraling out of control in every other way at this exact moment in time.
The path is uneven, with roots popping out of the ground every few feet. Trees have fallen across the dirt, making it difficult to get through.
Unless you’re a small terrier.
“Snaps!” I shout, my voice echoing through the forest.
His bark is far in the distance.
“Do we yell for the dog or your dad?” Lauren asks, hustling next to me. “This would be really funny if it wasn’t happening to us.”
