Lost & Found - Jacqueline Sheehan [89]
Today was one of the days when Melissa came directly home from school and took Cooper for a walk. Rocky had started leaving Cooper alone for an hour or two; she had to get him used to being alone. She couldn’t be with him constantly.
Melissa. Didn’t she have any friends on the island? Rocky never saw her with another kid. She had seen her several times at the Y, and each time, Melissa had looked uncomfortable, as if she had been caught robbing a bank. Rocky had not said anything to cause a meltdown with the girl since Cooper came back. Could she broach the subject of friends? Was it any of her business? Melissa had looked alarmed when Rocky told her that she was a psychologist and that her husband had died on their bathroom floor.
“Why did you make up a big story?” Melissa had asked.
“Because I couldn’t stand the truth. I couldn’t stand the idea that people would expect me to know what I was doing because I was a therapist. And I knew CPR. When Bob died, it was like all of sudden I was handed a whole new set of skin that was sad and miserable and I didn’t want to be that person. I was sad and miserable and I still am, but now I’ve got a couple of minutes each day when I don’t think of death at the same moment that I’m thinking of my husband. I think of him the way he was, not him dying.”
Melissa hadn’t said anything, but later that night, Melissa returned with a plate of brownies and a note from Melissa’s mother. We are sad that your husband died and that it made you hide from us when you first came here. It is good to get to know you.
Several days earlier Rocky learned Cooper’s leg had gotten as good as it was going to get. His leg and shoulder were stiff when he first got up, and she suspected that the cold weather was tough on him in the site of his injury. She had asked Sam to take another look at the dog and he confirmed the diagnosis. Sam had offered to see Cooper at his house, where he offered vet services one morning per week.
“He’s a good strong dog. Given the extent of his injuries, it’s amazing that the only remaining result is a slight limp. This is where you tell me what a terrific vet I am,” he said.
“You saved him,” said Rocky.
Sam looked startled. “No sassy repartee? Don’t tell me this big guy is improving your personality?”
“My personality needs more help than a canine can offer. But it’s true, you’re a good vet and you saved him.”
Rocky and Sam stood in the entryway of Sam’s house. He turned and yelled to his wife, “Honey, the dog warden is being too nice to me. Something must be wrong; help me. She gave me a direct compliment stripped of irony.”
Rocky heard a rustling sound in another room.
“Don’t get used to it,” is what she thought she heard.
Sam turned up his hands and shrugged his shoulders. “You see what my world is like.”
Rocky and Cooper loaded into the truck. The dog rode shotgun. “We’re both going to be okay,” Rocky had said, trying to be convincing. Cooper had looked over his left shoulder, giving her one of his stunning smiles, full of warm breath and contentment.
Rocky was home for a few moments when she saw Melissa and the dog coming up the road and was startled at their transformation. They both walked with abandon; the girl had dropped her tight control of every bone, muscle, and capillary in her thin body. Once when Cooper stopped abruptly, the girl didn’t have time to catch herself and she tumbled over him. Rocky could swear they were old friends or playmates, apologizing to each other. The dog cringed for a moment and Melissa said something that must have been, “Hey, forget it, my fault.” The black Lab then bounded around her legs and dove off the side of the road to roll in the last pile of snow in a shaded spot, kicking his legs into the air. Melissa squatted next to him, staying clear of his paws that punched the air.
Rocky watched with longing, wishing to ingest whatever it was that they had. They were happy. That was something she had not anticipated. If anything were to happen to her,