Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
He didn’t answer me, he just turned his head back toward the door.
“Shit,” I muttered under my breath. “Let’s go.”
The dog was definitely keeping me moving, even if I wanted nothing more than to lie on the couch and veg out while watching the newest season of Game of Thrones.
It was like he was keeping me from becoming a complete couch potato, thankfully.
When Pepé first saw Reed…it was rather heartbreaking. Almost like a child seeing his father for the first time after a long deployment.
Pepé had been ecstatic, and I think he might have actually fainted for a few seconds.
I hadn’t realized that dogs fainted, but I’m pretty sure mine sure did the moment he saw Reed.
So yeah, that was heartbreaking to say the least.
It was as if Reed hadn’t been gone for most of his life. It was as if they were best friends, all freakin’ over again.
Shaking my head at the prospect of Pepé loving Reed more than me, I went to my bedroom, slipped on a pair of shorts—also Reed’s that I’d taken back from Hennessy once I’d realized that my shorts were no longer a possibility—and found an old pair of tennis shoes.
Once I was dressed, I grabbed my purse, left my phone, and gestured to Pepé. “Let’s go!”
He didn’t need convincing.
We arrived at the new place fifteen minutes later, leaving me with an excitement that I hadn’t felt since Reed had left.
This place…this place was—had always been—one of my favorite places in the world to go.
“Where do you want to go this time?” I asked my little dog.
He was looking this way and that, before deciding to take a path that led to the right and then back behind the house.
“Pepé, wait,” I called to him.
He did, sitting down on his furry little hiney as he waited for me to get my shit together.
I swallowed, once again assaulted with the memories of this place.
It’d always been run down and abandoned.
But now that it was mine? Yeah, I couldn’t wait to make it what Reed and I had always talked about—a happy place for our non-existent children at the time. It was going to be our home. It was going to be everything we’d ever imagined it would be.
It may be mine without Reed now, but at least I knew that it had once been a dream of both of ours.
Sighing, I started winding my way through the tall grass, following sedately behind Pepé, letting him explore while I looked at the world around me.
We’d gone about a half a mile when a weird chink sounded, like metal on metal, followed shortly by Pepé’s high-pitched yelp.
And once again, my life tilted on its axis.
***
Hands stinging, I rushed into the veterinarian and, tears streaming down my face, cried out in panic.
“Dr. Castleberry!”
My eyes scanned the room the minute I rushed inside, and I saw him the moment my eyes swept over the front area where my friend, Lark, was sitting filling out some sort of paperwork.
I immediately rushed forward.
Dr. Castleberry abruptly turned into business mode, walking forward and bypassing everyone in the waiting room for me.
I held my heart out and hoped he was able to save him.
“What happened?” the old doc asked.
I went to wipe my eyes, but stopped when I saw the blood on my hands.
“The land I just bought has a bunch of old game traps on the property. On our walk today, Pepé stepped on one.” I moaned, feeling like something was lodged deeply in the back of my throat. “I had to use a stick to get him out, but he struggled.”
My stomach dropped, remembering again how my poor baby had struggled.
“Got it.” The old doc barked, “Marissa. OR one. Now.”
With that the two left, taking my deathly still puppy with them.
That’s when I noticed that Lark was coming closer, gesturing me forward with her hands.
Lark cleaned up my arms and shirt as best as she could, but it was a futile effort. Something more than a simple wiping needed to be done—like throwing the shirt away completely. There was no way that all of this blood was coming out of the shirt. My favorite shirt of all time. The one and only shirt that I’d kept.
Goddammit.
I was starting to hyperventilate.
“Come back here and let’s get your hands washed up.” Lark snapped her fingers at me, making me blink in surprise.
I swallowed and nodded, my eyes going to the bloody paper towels in Lark’s hand.
“Okay.”
“Tell me about Pepé,” she said, trying to get my mind out of my own personal hell.
“Pepé Le Pew.” I sniffled and walked to the large basin she’d indicated and washed my hands, ignoring the pain in them. “I got him when I was sixteen. Actually, Reed and I…err…I adopted him from the animal shelter. He was the cutest little thing. He’s gone everywhere with me. Seen the world with me. He’s my constant companion.” I looked down at the blood swirling down the drain. “I can’t do it without him.”