“That is a question I am no more able to answer than yourself. There seems, however, only one plausible way of accounting for them—and yet it is dreadful to believe in such atrocity as my suggestion would imply.”
—Edgar Allan Poe, “The Gold-Bug”
Annie
It was not a beautiful day. The skies were overcast, as though the world was huddled under a giant soup bowl of thick gray oatmeal. We were about to get a taste of what menace Mother Nature had tucked deep inside her pockets. Hurricane Candace was going to wreak havoc on the Lowcountry. I could feel it in every last one of my bones.
Deb and I decided to take a walk despite Buster’s residency in the Salty Dog. I guess I was getting so used to him being around that I finally felt like it didn’t matter if I left him for a bit. I went out for groceries, didn’t I? And Lord knows, my cholesterol needed some exercise. Besides, he was fully occupied, determined to clean the waffle iron with an old soft toothbrush, and afterward he planned to tackle the toaster oven, which was all but a lost cause it was so pitted from the unavoidable salt air. I don’t know what had come over him lately, but our division of labor had certainly flip-flopped from the old days. Basically now, if I cooked, he cleaned. He said it wasn’t fair for me to do all the work. Well, hells bells, I knew that! What took him so long to reach spiritual enlightenment? But I wasn’t going to point it out. It didn’t always pay to be right. But he was surely acting like he lived here again, and that was something over which we were going to have to have a little Come to Jesus Meeting.
I just smiled pleasantly and said, “Thanks, Buster! I’ll be back in an hour. Are you sure it’s okay?”
“Of course! Go! It’s good for you!” he said, adding that I should give Deb a squeeze for him.
I was telling Deb how Buster had refashioned himself into a domestic god while we hurried down the beach on a very high tide, trying to avoid the water that rushed to shore.
“Well, Lord love a duck, will wonders never cease? I can just see him scrubbing away,” she said.
“Honey, you should’ve seen him going to town on that grill! The darn thing looks brand new! And now some man over at Haddrell’s hardware sold him some cedar planks that you soak in water and then you grill fish on them. Suddenly he wants to grill fish. Probably because Jackie told him it was healthier.”
“Well, she would know.”
“Absolutely.”
“They don’t catch on fire? Those plank things?”
“No, because they’re saturated with water. You soak them overnight.”
“My word. What’s next?”
“Truly. But you ought to see him jockeying for Grill King. He gets out there with Steve, and they’re comparing techniques on whether or not to flip steaks only once or over and over. And what kind of dry rub to use on ribs. All kind of fool mess. I swear, some men will argue about anything.”
“Because their whole life is one big fat stupid contest. That’s one thing I sure do miss about Vernon. He never argued about anything.”
“Yeah, he was a pussycat.”
We were quiet for a moment then because I knew she was thinking about him and I didn’t want to interrupt that private communion or whatever was going on inside her head. But I couldn’t hold my tongue until the cows came home, so I finally spoke.
“So the stupid storm’s definitely coming, and Jackie’s definitely leaving.”
“Is one related to the other?”
“Well, of course they are! She wants to get out of here ASAP. Besides the storm, Charlie has to go back to school and she’s got to get him ready, but, boy oh boy, does my little grandson ever have a hot temper? Whoo boy!”
“He’s still pitching a fit? Charlie? That sweet child?”
“Yeah, that angel. Like I never saw in my whole life! Jackie was putting some things in the back of her SUV this morning, and Charlie was arguing with her until I thought he was going to explode! It was a good thing I got up early to make waffles. Otherwise they might have really gone at it. I went out there and said, ‘All right, you two! Enough is enough! Besides, the waffles are getting cold, and Charlie? I made you chocolate milk.’ ”
“And then what?”
“Well, I told him he had to obey the Fourth Commandment. He simply has to! Finally they came to the table, but Charlie wasn’t too happy.”
“Poor thing. I don’t blame him, do you?”
“Let’s turn around.” We had reached a point where the beach was all but nonexistent at high tide, so we turned and began walking back. “Blame? I don’t think there’s blame to be laid anywhere on this one. But I think that if Jackie was the kind of girl who was more easily reabsorbed into the bosom of her own family instead of being so bloody independent, things might be different.”
Deb rolled her eyes at me as she had for years whenever she thought anything I said smacked of pretension. I simply had a love of the language, and that’s significantly different from being a Miss Fancy Pants.
“Well, Annie, you know I love you like a sister, but she’s too old to live with her momma and her daddy. I mean, she’s a woman of the world.”
“Humph. Some world she made for herself.”
“Annie! It’s not her fault Jimmy died!”
“I’m aware, but a high-risk life can carry high consequences.”
“Okay.”
“But never mind all that. Here’s the thing about her. She was in a war, a real war. You know she saw men, women, and children die right before her eyes, but she won’t talk about it. And you can’t tell me she wasn’t changed inside her heart and mind by what she saw. And then her husband dies, not just dies like a normal person would but in a terrible fire! You can’t tell me she isn’t plagued by visions of it every single day and night. But she still won’t talk about him except in the most general terms. I just think she needs to stay with us longer.”
“You might be right, but it’s still her call.”
“Yes, I respect that. After all, if she thinks that returning to New York is the best thing for her and for her son, she should do it. I’m just saying that I disagree. Nobody can hold all that pain inside forever.”
“She doesn’t tell you anything about her experiences in Afghanistan?”
“Nope. She only talks about whether or not she made a measurable contribution to the lives of the people. She’s worried about the value of her own performance. What about the horror show she lived in for months and months?”
“You know, Annie, some people can handle trauma better than others. They’re able to compartmentalize. Medical professionals are certainly on the top of that list.”
“True.”
“Think about it. What would be completely unnerving to you or me is an everyday no big deal to her. And who knows? Maybe she didn’t really witness anything that was so awfully horrible.”
“Well, I’ll give you one for my nerves compared to hers. I’m a total sissy and proud of it. But war is war, and that war in Afghanistan isn’t like the others. There’s no battlefield per se. Everywhere is a battlefield. There are no rules. You can’t trust anyone, not even children. Between suicide bombers and land mines, you’d have to be a nervous wreck every minute. Jackie may not ever want to talk about it. I read the papers and I know what goes on over there. It sure isn’t like the Battle of Breach Inlet. Or even the Civil War. Or even Vietnam. Anyway, I just wish she’d open up a little more. About Jimmy too.”
“Maybe she will in time. Or maybe she never will. I mean, I talked to her a little about staying, and she’s very determined to go back north. I’ll bet you a dollar that one reason is because she feels like that’s where Jimmy is and she doesn’t want to leave him.”
“That’s ridiculous. Jimmy McMullen is in Heaven with Vernon sipping on a Budweiser.”
“Probably, but I know how she feels. I’ve been out to the cemetery a couple of times just to make sure Vernon’s marker is swept and all that. Listen, this has to be awfully hard for her. Losing Vernon has been awfully hard for me.”
I stopped and grabbed Deb by the arm. “I know, darlin’. I think about Vernon and Jimmy every day, and I pray for them all the time.”
“I do too.”
“Listen, Deb? I have to tell someone this, and you’re my best friend.”
“What? You can tell me anything.”
“Their visit has been so important to me. For the first time in years I have had my whole little family together. And it was so good for all of us. I felt like a mother again. Do you know what I mean? It’s killing me to let them go back. I’m afraid we’ll all fall apart and go back to some fractured version of our old selves. What will I do if that happens? I just don’t think I could stand it.” I was on the verge of some very serious tears.
Deb all but laughed at me, and I couldn’t imagine what she thought was so funny.
“Oh, Annie Britt! I could just kiss your face!”
“Why?”
“Don’t you see, my dear sweet friend? You can’t undo the good you’ve done. You do so many nice things day and night for everyone that they flock to you like a moth goes to the flame. No one is going to stay away from you for too long. And if they do? Then they’re a damn fool.”
“Oh, God, Deb! Do you really think so? It’s just that I’m so nervous that they’re all going to leave me and never come back! And I know it was a tragedy that brought us all together and then Vernon’s death made us even closer. This might sound terrible, but I’ve been so deeply happy for the first time in I don’t even know how long. I just don’t want it to end.”
“Quit your worrying. Listen to me. Quit your worrying.”
“And now there’s this awful storm! What’s her name?”
“Candace. What a ridiculous name for a hurricane. Since when is there anything sweet about a hurricane?”
“I just don’t like the thought of Jackie and Charlie driving in high wind and heavy rain.”
“Listen to you! There’s not even one drop of rain on the ground yet, and you’re already thinking the worst!”
“You’re right. My nerves are acting up again. Listen, I want you to come for dinner tonight. It’s the proverbial Last Supper. They’re leaving in the morning at the crack of dawn.”
“Should I bring a pie?”
“What do you think?”
By six o’clock that night, all the shutters on my house, Steve’s house, and Deb’s house had been closed. And Buster, bless his heart, had gone to Lowe’s and bought a generator for the refrigerator and the kitchen lights in case we lost power. Everyone’s porch furniture, except ours, had been brought inside, hanging baskets had been taken down, and while we worked like beavers to prepare our homes for the worst, we stayed glued to the Weather Channel on television. It appeared to me that the one-eyed evil Candace was headed directly for Sullivans Island.
Earlier, around four o’clock, I’d parked in my driveway and there was Buster, holding the ladder for Steve. Steve was pulling the shutters together and flipping the latches to keep them closed. I was coming in from the grocery store with four cases of water, a case of protein bars for emergencies, and steaks for dinner. Red meat was always designated for dinners of importance.
“The Piggly Wiggly was a madhouse!” I said. “People were grabbing for bread and milk like the Apocalypse is coming.”
“I expect it was crazy. Lowe’s was crazy too. People piling up sheets of plywood to cover windows and I don’t know what all,” Buster said. “This darn Candace has everybody all worked up.”
It was true. People in the checkout lines had panic all over their faces. I said, “Well, Buster? What if the storm blows up to Cape Hatteras or out to sea? All this worry and work for naught?”
“Then we’ll open the shutters and rehang the hammocks. I’d rather us be safe than sorry.”
“You’re right, of course. And you and Steve are awfully good to help Deb get her house ready too.”
“Just trying to help out where I can.”
“Still. It’s really nice of y’all to do it.”
When I passed behind him, I could see he was smiling, even from the back of his head because his ears moved in a certain way when he did. I remembered then that I had always loved that, the fact that his ears moved but also that he smiled so honestly and with his whole face. It was one of his many endearing qualities that I had almost forgotten.
I also noticed as I unloaded my trunk that Jackie’s SUV was almost completely packed. I wondered how the squabble with Charlie was going. I would find out as soon as I went inside. The house was quiet. I went to Jackie’s room and peeked in. She was lying down, probably trying to get rested up so she’d have the strength for the long drive. I didn’t want to disturb her, so I closed her door gently and went to find Charlie, who was in his room lying on his bed reading.
“These puppies are going to miss you,” I said and patted his comforter. “If they start yelping in the night, what should I do?”
No answer.
“Well, Charlie baby? Are you going to talk to me?”
He looked up at me with those blue eyes of his right through those bangs that needed another trim, and I thought I might burst into tears. Charlie had been weeping, because his eyes were bloodshot, but his jaw was set like a steel trap. Charlie McMullen was pissed off in purple, paisley, plaid, lavender, and puce. I had never seen him so upset.
“Glam? I’m so mad at her I could kick something. I just want to kick something!”
“Oh, come here to me,” I said. “I know just how you feel. I really do.”
I put my arms around him to give him a hug, and he was almost rigid. I rubbed his back like I used to do for Jackie when she was a little girl, upset about something, and eventually she would relax. After I made a whole lot of little circles on his back, Charlie finally sighed and leaned in against me.
“She just doesn’t understand I’m not kidding. I mean it.”
“Who’s she? The cat’s mother?” I said and finally got a smirk if not a smile.
“Right. Can’t you talk to Mom?”
“Charlie. I will. But I have to tell you sweetheart, I don’t think it’s going to do much good. She’s pretty determined to get out of here ahead of the storm. And the storm looks like it’s going to be a pretty nasty one.”
“Then shouldn’t we all be together? I mean, should you and Guster be alone?”
“What do you mean? That we’re too old and frail to handle a little wind and rain?”
“No, I just—”
“Well, if and when the storm hits and starts going really crazy, I’ll try to remember to bring Guster in the house.” Then I laughed a little and finally got a real smile out of him. “I think the plan is for Dr. Steve and Miss Deb to ride out the storm with us.”
“So if something happens you have a doctor here?”
“No, so that we’ll have four people to play cards or Monopoly! Now, do you want to help me get dinner on the table or what?”
“Okay.” He slid off his bed and followed me out of the room.
From the corner of my eye I saw him wave a fist at Jackie’s door and thought he might be very angry with his mother, but I was actually glad to see he had a temper. If there was anything that had bothered me about Charlie’s behavior since he’d been here, it was that he seemed to have turned into a bit of a Goody Two-shoes. I’d told myself he was so well behaved because he had been traumatized and then depressed over losing his father and perhaps he didn’t want to add anything more to Jackie’s burden. He had seemed like a little old monk just going through the motions of saying and doing the right thing. The very fact that he allowed himself to lose his temper meant that he was coming back to normal. He was healing and wasn’t afraid that a disagreement with his mother would upset her. He cared about himself again. As much as I disliked the fight, I took every other aspect as a good sign.
“Why don’t you set the dining room table, Charlie? And since we’re having steaks, let’s use my bistro dishes. We can use my grandmother’s plates for dessert.”
For the rest of the time I would use every opportunity to tutor Charlie on the details and the minutiae that made what seemed to be an ordinary existence sparkle like a diamond. Always save the best for last. And when my granddaughter arrived on this earth, I’d do the same for her.
Soon we were enjoying our last happy hour on the porch, paper lanterns and all, and watching the ocean charge in toward the beach as the storm grew nearer. Despite the hurricane and the fact that Jackie and Charlie were leaving me, I had tried to set a cheerful stage, except for my outfit, which was a long purple linen tunic over purple shantung silk capri pants with a long chunky necklace made of very large black and red plastic beads and my red strappy sandals. It was somber but not morose. And not that anyone really needs to know this, but by the mercy of the Virgin Mother, I didn’t need Spanx for this ensemble to hang right.
The skies were ominous but not so terrifying. However, the waters of the Atlantic were churning and darkening. Each incoming wave roared, pounded the shore, and then whooshed in, leaving a trail of silvery foam when the ocean pulled back to do it all over again. We had witnessed this panorama so many times before, and all the noise from the exploding surf was exciting, not particularly frightening. This was merely Candace’s calling card. Candace herself had yet to arrive.
“Come on up here, Dr. Steve, and let us buy you a drink!” Buster called out.
Steve slipped through the oleanders and came toward our house just as the rain began to fall. He was wearing a summer parka with a hood, probably because he wanted to share grill duty with Buster.
Buster and I were sipping light gin and tonics with lots of lime. Charlie, still forlorn, was on his second cherry Coke, and Jackie was drinking weak decaffeinated iced tea. The hors d’oeuvre that night was a platter of peel ’n’ eat boiled shrimp with a tangy tomato-based cocktail sauce. Of course I had soaked washcloths in strong lemon water, wrung them out, rolled them up like little sausages, and placed them in a sweetgrass basket on the table. Shrimp prepared and consumed in this manner were better enjoyed in your mouth than remembered all night long on your hands. They were the same towels I used for oyster roasts, bought by the dozen for a pittance. And though wet naps got the job done, they didn’t offer nearly the same cachet as a cool scented cloth. Like ants, wet naps are for picnics. My opinion.
“What can I get for you?” Buster said to Steve.
Steve quickly looked to see what each of us was having and said, “Y’all drinking gin and tonics?”
“Yes, indeedy-do we are,” I said and thought, Oh, aren’t you slick tonight, Annie?
“Well, I think a gin and tonic would hit the spot. Thanks. You look very nice tonight, Annie.”
“Why, thanks, Steve,” I said and looked at Buster.
“What?” he asked.
I rolled my eyes at him, thinking that getting a compliment out of this man required a crowbar.
“So what do you think about this storm?” Jackie asked Steve, which I thought was interesting as they hadn’t even said hello yet.
“I think there are still so many variables that we don’t really know. Hopefully it takes a hook to the east and misses us completely!” he said. Buster handed him his drink. “Thanks, cheers! So, Miss Jackie? Here’s to a safe trip back to Brooklyn and to your swift return.”
Even in the fading light, I saw Jackie blush and thought, Well, good! She is a little sweet on him and maybe that will bring her back to us even sooner.
“Thanks, Steve,” she said.
“Stella and Stanley are going to miss you, Charlie. But don’t worry, I told them to expect you back by Thanksgiving.” No reply from Charlie. “Hey, why so glum, chum?”
If he could say “Why so glum, chum?” I didn’t feel so bad about “Yes, indeedy-do.” It only meant that our inner dorks were comfortable around each other.
“I don’t think it’s safe to travel in a hurricane,” Charlie said.
“Of course it’s safe to travel or your mother wouldn’t make the trip,” Buster said.
“I’d never take a risk with you, Charlie,” Jackie said. “You should know that.”
“Whatever,” he said.
Charlie had renewed his fervor for his DS and was deeply involved in a game that killed aliens on a foreign planet in another solar system. Normally, I might have encouraged him to put it away, especially since it was his last night with us. But his mood was so dark that I decided to be silent on the topic. Especially since Jackie didn’t seem annoyed by it. Suddenly he got up to go inside the house.
“Where are you going, son?” Jackie asked.
“I just have to check something. I’ll be right back.” He left the porch and, sure enough, didn’t let the screen door slam behind him.
Just a few minutes later, the screen door opened. “Anybody home?” Deb had come in through the kitchen, and she strode out onto the porch.
“Hey, Miss Deb!” Buster said. “Can I fix you a drink?”
“Oh, sure! Whatever y’all are having is good for me. So are we having a hurricane party? Getting ready for Candace?”
I had always loved and would always love that she felt so welcome that she could just glide through my door and make herself at home.
“Ready for her to turn out to sea,” I said and gave her a hug.
“I brought a chocolate pecan pie I made for Charlie. It’s in the kitchen. And it looks fabulous, if I say so myself!”
“That’s so sweet of you, Miss Deb!” Jackie said. “Charlie is sure gonna miss your pies!”
“Well, then, you’ll just have to bring him back all the time so I can fatten him up! Now, Buster? Are we really worried about this silly hurricane or what? It looks pretty bad on the news.”
“No, but I think it would be a good idea for all of us to be together until it passes,” Buster said. “What do y’all think? I mean, Deb, if you’re over there in your house all by yourself, all we’re gonna do is worry about you. You too, Steve.”
“That’s true,” Steve said. “I think it’s a great idea. We can just lock up our places and wait it out.”
“Oh, Buster! You are too sweet!” Deb said. “Hey! What about your house up in Murrells Inlet?”
“The landlord battened down all the hatches. Besides, the only thing I’ve got up there is some fishing tackle and my Green Egg. It would take a helluva lot more than a hurricane to damage that thing!”
I said, “Y’all? Buster’s got a generator all ready to flip on that will keep the refrigerator cold, and we have the grill. What do you say? I think our house has weathered more hurricanes than almost any house on this island.”
Did I say our house?
“That’s probably true,” Jackie said.
“I was thinking of a Scrabble marathon,” I said.
“Well, Mom? That’s sure better than Twister!”
Jackie started laughing, and when I recalled what Twister was I started to laugh too.
“Come on, let’s get dinner going,” I said. “The steaks are all seasoned and waiting on the counter, and I’m sure the potatoes are done by now.”
On the way into the house, Buster took my arm to let the others go ahead. “We’ll be right along,” he said. “I just want to have a word with Annie.”
“No problem,” Jackie said.
“I’ll get the grill fired up,” Steve said.
I thought, What in the world?
“Listen, Annie, this hurricane is supposed to make landfall around four in the morning, and it’s headed straight for somewhere between here and Myrtle Beach. It’s a category three right now. The winds are over a hundred and twenty miles an hour. Could go much higher.”
“Oh, my God, Buster! That’s terrible!”
“Remember it stalled around the Bahamas yesterday? It picked up steam. It will probably slow down a lot if it passes over any piece of land, but if it rolls in as predicted, I don’t think I want Jackie and Charlie on the road until it dies out.”
“Absolutely not! I agree one hundred percent!”
“And listening to the National Weather Service, it looks like the rest of this hurricane season is going to be especially active.”
“Good grief!”
“What I’m saying is that I’d like to stay here and make sure everything is all right. You know, I want to know that you’re safe and the house is safe and all that.”
“And all that?”
“Ah, hell! You’re not gonna make this easy, are you?”
“Make what easy, Buster?”
“I want to come home, Annie. I still love you. So much. I want to come home. I do. Really.”
I looked into his beautiful eyes, his bottom lids lined in red from age and all the deep crow’s-feet around the sides of them from hours in the sun. I still loved him too. My heart was screaming, Yes! Come home! Stay with me! But my mouth had other words in mind.
“You finally sick of fishing?” I asked, and sorry, I couldn’t help the self-satisfied feeling that caused the corners of my mouth to turn up in a smile.
He smiled back, turned his head to one side, and squinted his eyes, looking at me suspiciously as though I’d asked him if he’d like to jump off the Cooper River Bridge.
“Don’t go crazy on me, Annie. I didn’t say anything about giving up fishing.”
“Hmmm. I see.”
“Well?”
“Well what?” I looked at him squirming around and thought, Oh, all right. “Oh! I get it! You want an answer right now?”
“Are you saying you don’t love me anymore? Is that it?”
“Buster? I’ve never loved anyone else. You know that.”
“How am I supposed to know that?”
“Because I’m telling you so, and now I’m gonna show you!” I took his face in my hands and gave the old codger the kiss of a lifetime.
When I let him go, he said, “Wow! Whew! Annie? I promise to pick up my fishing gear and not leave stuff lying around. Okay?”
“That’s good enough for me. Now let’s go feed these people! You talk to Jackie, and I’ll dress the salad.”
“I like the way you do business, Mrs. Britt,” he said and gave me a light slap on my backside.
“What? You old fool! There’ll be no funny business in front of the kids! Is that clear?”
“Yes, ma’am! Loud and clear.”
Steve was out in the rain under an umbrella with the steaks and Deb was slicing the baguette, dropping chunks of bread into a bread basket.
“You got butter on the table?” she asked.
“No, it’s in the fridge,” I said. “I’ll get it.” I reached into the refrigerator, put my hand on the butter dish, something I thought I could probably do in the dark, and handed it over to Deb. It was remarkable how many simple things in my life had become habitual, like where I kept my butter dish and how I folded my towels and how I made my bed. I liked my habits because they made me feel like I had some control over my life. And now Buster was coming home. So far, and that would be approximately ten minutes into it, I liked the idea. A lot.
Jackie and Buster came into the kitchen from the living room. They decided they would watch the storm track carefully and figure out what to do about her departure as the night went on.
“Look, if I leave tomorrow afternoon instead of early in the morning, it really doesn’t matter too much. So I agree. Let’s watch and wait.”
“I’m gonna go help Steve before he ruins our dinner,” Buster said and winked at me as he passed by. “It’s almost dark, and the rain is really starting to come down.”
“What’s he winking about?” Jackie said.
“Oh, was he winking? I thought he had a gnat in his eye,” I said.
“Humph. Ain’t no fool like an old fool,” Deb said.
“What does that mean?” Jackie said.
“It means your father has expressed a desire to fully resume his marital status.”
Jackie and Deb stopped dead and looked at me as if to say, Get off your high horse, Queen Victoria, and speak to your subjects like a normal person.
I returned the look, and finally we laughed.
“Okay,” Deb said, “I’m thinking when this storm passes, somebody better be getting their old bahunkus over to the florist to buy a gargantuan bouquet for my best friend!”
“And somebody better be buying my pretty momma some really decadent chocolate!”
“And what about Crogan’s?” I asked. “Don’t you think somebody should find something sparkly in a little velvet box for his unbelievably loyal and extremely patient wife?”
“Here, here!” they chorused, and we picked up three random glasses to clink and then we shared a very silly fit of giggles. But in the next moment we stopped when the wind gave a good long howl all the way around the house. “We’d better get the chair cushions and everything off the porch. I think we can just lay it all down on the living room floor.”
The three of us hurried out to the porch and began gathering up everything as quickly as we could. The paper lanterns had already come down from the hooks and were in shreds from banging against the porch railings. The hammock was doing a crazy dance in the wind, and it took Deb and Jackie to get it down. We began bringing in rockers one by one, and in just the short period of time that we’d left the porch after having one drink until then, we were getting wet as the strong winds had the rain blowing sideways. Suddenly we had a hurricane on our hands. If this was the outer band, what would the weather be like by four A.M.?
“Where’s Charlie?” I shouted to Jackie. “He could hold the door for us!”
“I’ll get him! He’s in his room. Charlie? Come help us, son!”
It seemed a little ridiculous now that we had waited so long to empty the porch, but who knew the storm would become so furious that quickly? Nonetheless, we continued our job while we heard Jackie screaming over and over for Charlie.
“Maybe he’s outside with Buster!” I called out to her.
“Maybe he went to get the dogs!” Deb yelled.
It wasn’t five minutes later that we all realized the horrible truth: Charlie was gone.