Rose heard a terrible thing.
She heard her mother on the phone talking to Mrs. Owens, who lived next door. They were talking about Mr. Duffy.
Rose was sure of it.
This is what she heard her mother saying:
“And then Lorraine Reese had to honk her horn three times to even get in!”
“I know!”
“He did?”
“Charlotte’s bridal shower? Really?”
“I totally agree.”
Rose felt a little sick.
Her mother and Mrs. Owens were on the board of the homeowners’ association for Magnolia Estates. They had complained about Mr. Duffy before, but lately it was getting worse. They said he was sleeping too much and forgetting things, like not calling the sprinkler repair company when he was supposed to.
What if they fired Mr. Duffy?
Rose felt a little sicker.
She didn’t wait to hear the end of her mother’s conversation. She went outside and sat between Pete and Larry and watched Monroe Tucker spreading perfect circles of dark brown mulch around the dogwood trees in the front yard. That familiar cloud of worry hung over her. The more she thought, the more she worried. And the more she worried, the darker and bigger the cloud became.
It was bad enough that Mr. Duffy was so sad about Queenie. But now it seemed as if his sadness was making him old and forgetful.
And if he was old and forgetful, he wouldn’t do a good job as gatekeeper for Magnolia Estates.
And if he didn’t do a good job as gatekeeper, he would get fired.
And if he got fired, Rose would miss him more than anything.
She tried to imagine not having Mr. Duffy to visit every day, but she couldn’t. So she just sat there on the steps between Pete and Larry, watching Monroe Tucker spread mulch.
Suddenly the whirring of a skateboard interrupted her gloomy thoughts. Mavis was speeding up the driveway toward her.
“Hey,” Mavis said, jumping off the skateboard.
“Hey.”
“What’s the matter?”
“Everything.”
“Like what?”
Rose told Mavis about her mother’s phone call. “What if he gets fired?” she said.
“He won’t.”
“How do you know?”
Mavis rode the skateboard around in a circle and said, “I just know. Let’s go have a club meeting.”
So Rose followed Mavis down the driveway to the vacant lot across the street. They sat on the fallen pine tree, and Rose listened to Mavis explain what she called her “surefire plan.”
“First,” Mavis said, “we find a dog.”
“What for?”
Mavis slapped her forehead and said, “For Mr. Duffy. Duh!”
“But he doesn’t want a dog.”
“He’s just saying that.”
“Where would we find a dog?” Rose asked.
“That’s easy,” Mavis said. “There’s dogs all over the place.”
Rose was not too sure about Mavis’s surefire plan.
“Then,” Mavis went on, “Mr. Duffy will be so happy with his new dog that he won’t be sad and forgetful. And everybody in Magnolia Estates will be happy, too.” She brushed the palms of her hands together. “Easy peasy,” she said, smiling a very satisfied smile.
Rose wanted to believe that Mavis’s surefire plan was a good one.
She really did.
But a little doubt was stirring around inside her.
Then, while she was trying to make the doubt go away, Amanda Simm suddenly appeared out of nowhere and said, “I know where there’s a dog.”