Page 35 of Hound Dog
I merely cocked an eyebrow. “Only three pets out of almost twenty? What’s to stop her from adopting more once you go back home?”
Haylee sighed heavily and lowered her voice to a whisper. “I guess nothing. But that’s also why I’m trying to convince her to sell this house and downsize.”
I snorted. “Good luck with that. Meryl loves this place. It’s all she talks about when she visits my mom.”
Her hand fell to the doorknob to a back door, and she paused. “Meryl visits with your mom?”
“Every Wednesday.”
Her brow crinkled. “I didn’t know that.”
“They used to do dinners every Wednesday, but Meryl started bringing takeout over instead when my mom got sick…”
Shit.My words faded away and I cringed, looking up to find Haylee’s shocked expression. “Your mom’s sick?”
I nodded. “Cancer.”
Her frown twitched deeper. “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
I did my best to shrug nonchalantly. “Why would you?”
“Is she… How’s she feeling?”
“She has good days and bad days. But since her double mastectomy, she’s been doing really well.”
“Remission?”
“Not yet, officially. But we’re hopeful.”
Haylee exhaled a relieved sigh. “Good. Good.”
I ran my hand over a teetering stack of old suitcases—the leather kind that you’d find in an antique store. I wasn’t sure if they were there for decoration or just hadn’t been unpacked yet from a trip. Knowing Meryl, they could be either.
“So… what about the hedgehog?” I asked, in an effort to change the subject.
Haylee’s frown flickered, shifting into a small smile. What started as a chilly welcome thawed into something sweeter. Something kinder.
The camaraderie of having a parent with cancer, I guess.
She tilted her chin toward a large plastic ball rolling directly toward us. It smacked right into my toe and two black, beady eyes blinked up at me.
I bent to pick up the ball and peered at the hedgehog inside.
“She could probably keephim,” Haylee said. “He’s not exactly a handful.”
“He’s pretty damn cute,” I said.
“Yeah, she’s trying to use him as leverage to keep another dog, though,” Haylee answered. “But that’s Meryl for you.”
“I heard that!” the older woman’s voice echoed from the doorway. Even though I nearly jumped out of my skin, Haylee just rolled her eyes playfully.
“Of course you did,” she laughed. “You hear everything, don’t you?” Then, crossing to her aunt, Haylee took her arm and gently walked her to the reclining chair in front of the TV. “What are you doing up?”
“I had to pee! And I’m bored in my room. Remington Steele is on at two.”
“I told you to text me, and I would help you—”
“The day I require help to pee is the day you can put me in a home!”
