The following Saturday arrived, and my mood was as bright as the sun. Tanika had asked for the morning off, and I’d agreed to cover for her. Two Brazilians and a chin wax later, I was on my way home again.
After feeding Shadow and Casper, it was time to cook. I tossed together something for dinner and threw it in the oven.
I loved the smell of home baking, but I also needed to air out the house. I flung open the windows, waved to Gladys, who was in her backyard pruning rose bushes, then dusted and vacuumed the house.
The oven timer dinged, and I pulled the self-crusting quiche out. It smelt divine and looked just as good. Acting like I was a master chef, I took a picture and sent it to Deanna. When a reply didn’t come, I cursed myself.
The only thing I’d probably succeeded in doing was being insensitive. She was at the cemetery, for fuck’s sake. Rather than do more damage by trying to retract the text or stumble over my words, I went and showered. I preferred to talk in person. It was easier to read tone and facial expression.
By five o’clock, I was going out of my mind. Deanna had said she would see me by four, and I’d heard nothing. Surely my stupid text hadn’t sent her running for the hills.
A smile tugged at my lips when I recalled one of the first texts I got from her. Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.
So, where was she? It wasn’t like Deanna to play the ‘silent treatment’ game. I grabbed my phone and blew up hers.
Where are you?
What’s going on?
Are you hurt?
Running late?
Did my dinner pic crash and burn?
I didn’t burn dinner, promise.
Another thought hit me. Maybe she was too upset to come over.
I give good cuddles.
I stared at the phone, willing a reply to appear. When none came, I took matters into my own hands. Within ten minutes, I was sitting in my car outside Deanna’s. The house was shut up, and there was no car or dog in sight.
Shit! Now what? I raked a hand through my hair, pulling on the strands until my scalp burned. Frustrated, I thumped the steering wheel. Where could she be? Acting on autopilot, I did a U-turn, pointing my car in the direction of the cemetery.
Before I could hit the gas, a car pulled up. I’d only met Tammy a few times, but I immediately recognised Deanna’s sister.
“Oh, thank God you’re here.” She looked on the verge of hysteria. “I didn’t know how to get hold of you.”
My heart was in my throat. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t freak out, but there’s been an accident.”
Why did people say that? Of course I was freaking the fuck out. Nothing good ever came from those words. “Is she okay?”
“She’s at the vet. Harley’s been hurt. I’ve come to get some clean clothes for Dee. She won’t leave him. The kids are going to be so upset. Fuck.” Tammy burst into tears.
“Hey.” I grabbed her by the shoulders. “Breathe.”
She blew out a breath.
“What happened?”
As soon as I had the details, I left Tammy to lock Deanna’s house and sped across town, breaking every speed limit and not giving a shit. I skidded to a stop and received the shake of a head and a smile from a cop I’d met at the ball.
“Roger,” I said, my voice frantic. “Where is she?”
“In the waiting room.”
I burst through the doors and immediately spotted Deanna. Tears streamed down her face, and pain sliced through my heart. I approached slowly. I didn’t want to spook her. “Deanna?”
She looked up, lip quivering. “They don’t know if he’ll make it.”
Emotion welled up inside me, but I kept it in check. I loved that dog, but I needed to be strong for Deanna. I sat beside her and pulled her into a hug, letting her cry it out. When the tears slowed, I asked the question that had been burning in my mind since I ran into Tammy. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“I haven’t called anyone.”
“But your sister?”
“The cops called her. She’s listed as my next of kin.” That made sense since she was the only family member who lived locally, and Deanna certainly wouldn’t list Charmaine as her emergency contact.
Deanna sighed. “You can’t do anything, anyway.”
“I can be here for you.”
“Thank you.” Deanna gave me a sad smile, and I wanted nothing more than to be able to take away the pain etched across her face.
The front doors opened, and Roger came wandering back in. “The dogs have been impounded, their owner arrested.”
Deanna nodded, but I doubted she heard a word he’d said. There was a faraway look in her eyes, her mind no doubt on Harley.
Roger tipped his head. “Look after her.”
“Always.”
Shortly after he left, the vet came out. Deanna sat up straighter, her expression full of hope and fear.
“We’ve done what we can, but he’s not out of the woods yet. The next twenty-four hours will be crucial. Go home and get some rest. We’ll call if there’s any change.”
“I’m not leaving him.” Deanna set her jaw.
The vet looked to me for help.
“Come on. You can’t do anything here. And you’ll be no good to Harley if we don’t get you cleaned up.”
My gaze landed on her bloody hands and torn clothes, and rage welled up inside me. I wanted to find the fucker who did this to Deanna and Harley and read him the riot act. If he couldn’t control his dogs, why let them off the leash?
Deanna got to her feet and swayed. I grabbed her. “Whoa. You okay?”
“Just a little woozy.”
I looked at the vet. “Do you do human transfusions?”
She smiled kindly. “No, and she’s not suffering from blood loss. She’s crashing after the adrenaline rush and possibly suffering from shock. Are you staying with her tonight?”
We hadn’t discussed that, but no way was I leaving her.
“I’m fine.” Deanna fished her keys out of her pocket.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I took them from her and handed them to the vet. “We’ll pick her car up in the morning.”
***
The trip across town was a new kind of painful. There was nothing I could say to make things better, and Deanna wasn’t talking.
Inside, I put her in the shower, my anger rising as I peeled off her bloody clothes. I tossed them in the laundry tub to soak and rushed back to the bathroom.
“Out you get.” I shut off the water, dried Deanna and helped her into the clean clothes Tammy had given me.
“What if he dies?” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “He’s my buddy.”
Pain carved my heart in two, but I refused to believe he wouldn’t make it. “He’s not going to die!” He had to pull through. Had to. There was no other option. You hear me, Harley?
“Sit.” I pulled out a barstool and sat Deanna at the counter. “You need to eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Tough.” I cut the quiche I’d made earlier, warmed a slice in the microwave, and slid that along with a hot cup of coffee across the bench. “Eat.”
With a faraway look in her eyes, Deanna did as she was told. I stuffed some food into my mouth and fed Casper and Shadow, who had been miraculously undemanding.
After eating, Deanna seemed to relax enough to talk.
“Want to tell me what happened?”
Her lip quivered. “It was awful. I went to see Bree, but I don’t let Harley out at the cemetery.”
Great, now Deanna had two tragedies to deal with on the same day. No! I couldn’t allow myself to think like that. It wasn’t another tragedy; Harley was a survivor.
“When we left the cemetery, I took Harley to Tamatea Reserve. I sat on the park bench and tossed a stick. We’d been there less than five minutes when I recognised a gang member walking his dogs. As discreetly as I could, I called Harley and clipped on his leash. Unfortunately, the guy spotted me before I could leave. His face twisted into an angry snarl, making him look even scarier than the gang tattoos on his cheeks already did.” She shuddered. “After calling me a pig, he set the dogs on me, and, of course, Harley got in between.” The tears started flowing again. “I can still hear his cries as teeth tore at his flesh. It’s a sound that will haunt me forever.” She looked at me with tears in her eyes. “I tried to help.”
I pulled Deanna close. “You were brave to get in the middle of that.” I’d seen dogs fighting, and I wasn’t sure if I’d have the nerve to intervene.
“Or stupid. I could’ve lost an arm.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No. I managed to drag the citronella spray I normally carry with me out of my pocket and spray the pit bulls in the face. An onlooker must’ve called dog control because they arrived minutes later.” Her smile fell. “But it was too late. The dogs had torn Harley’s leg to shreds and punctured his chest.” She choked on a sob. “I feel like I failed him.”
“To me, it sounds like you saved him.”
“I lifted him into the car and rushed him to the vet.”
That explained why her clothes were covered in blood, but it didn’t explain why the gang member sicked his dogs on her. “I take it the gang member’s known to you?”
“Yep, arrested him a year ago for GBH.”
“In plain English, please.” I smiled, delighted when Deanna managed a small smile in return.
“Grievous bodily harm.”
“Sounds like a peach.”
“This is my life. I’m constantly on alert. But today, I dropped the ball. My mind was elsewhere.”
“Understandable after being to the cemetery.” And I was not going to let her fall down that rabbit hole. “Did you tell Bree all about me?”
She snorted, blowing out a snot bubble. I grabbed a tissue from the box by the microwave and handed it to her.
“Thank you.” She blew her nose and fiddled with the tissue. “I did, actually.”
“Ooh…do tell.”
“I said I met this wonderful woman, and I don’t want her to have to worry about me, so it wouldn’t be fair to enter into a relationship with her.”
“That’s bull-ship.” I nudged her shoulder. “And one that floats.”
“I don’t even want to ponder that one.”
“My ship doesn’t float.”
“Don’t.”
I poked her in the ribs. “Does yours? Do you check before you flush?”
“I am not having this conversation with you.”
“But you’re laughing.”
“Your gutter humour is deplorable.”
“True.”
“You’re not going to try to deny it?”
“Nope. Guilty as charged.”
Deanna’s phone went, and we both froze.
She chewed her lip. “I’m too scared to answer it. What if it’s bad news?”
“Then we’ll deal with it. Together. I’m here for you.”
Deanna’s throat worked, and I felt that swallow like a boulder scraping out my oesophagus.
“Hello?” Deanna said, her gaze locked on me. “Yes?” Her lip quivered. “No! Thank you.” She ended the call and burst out crying. She went to say something, then clamped a hand over her mouth as if that would hold back the pain.
My heart was breaking, the not knowing killing me. “What is it?” I refused to entertain the idea Harley wasn’t going to make it. “Is he…” I swallowed hard. “Alive?”
“Yes!” She laughed through her tears. “He’s alive. He just came around, but he’s got a lot of stitches and isn’t very happy.”
“You do realise he’s going to be a conehead for a while?”
“Don’t care.” Deanna stuck her chin in the air. “And don’t pick on my dog.”
“Hey.” I held up my hands in surrender. “I’m not picking.” I pecked her on the cheek. “I’m relieved. I’m as fond of him as I am of you.”
Her face fell again. “As I said, this is my world. Are you sure you want to be a part of it?”
“Just you try to shut me out. You’ll have a fight on your hands.” I kept my tone light, but I was deadly serious. “I don’t do the silent treatment, and when I didn’t know what was going on, I came rushing over.”
“Ah, I wondered how you ended up at the vet’s, and Tammy went AWOL.” Her eyes went wide. “Shit. Tammy.”
“Please don’t.”
She shook her head, smiling once again. “I better call her.”
“Would you like me to?”
“Thank you, but no.”
After Deanna called Tammy and her parents—Tammy had already let them know what had happened—I led her down the hallway towards the bedroom. “I don’t have a spare toothbrush, sorry.”
“Good, because I need sleep.”
“Don’t think a bit of bad breath will stop me from kissing you silly.”
She blew into her hand and sniffed. “I don’t have bad breath.”
“Good.” I wrapped a hand around her waist and planted a kiss on her lips. “We’ve swapped spit now, so you can use my toothbrush.”
She screwed up her face. “I think I’ll pass.”
“Thank God for that.” I swept my arm across my forehead, pretending to wipe away some sweat. Some things were not made to be shared.
After Deanna used the bathroom, I did the same. She was already in bed when I entered the room. I held out my closed fist. She opened her hand, and I dropped two painkillers into it.
“How’d you know my head’s pounding?”
“I was having phantom pains.”
“Really?”
“No.” I slid into bed beside her, feeling all kinds of protective. “When you hurt, I hurt.”
She blinked hard, tears threatening to spill again. “Hold me.”
No more words were needed. I spooned Deanna from behind, holding her close as she cried herself to sleep and wishing I could take away the pain. No doubt that wouldn’t ebb until she saw for herself that Harley was alive.