Until Dark - Mariah Stewart [34]
“I will never live that down, will I?” Kendra laughed. “I guess the fact that my new stove was late in being delivered and installed wasn’t a good enough excuse for not showing up with a home-cooked dinner.”
“It made for a good story.” Selena was laughing, too.
“One Father Tim still enjoys telling, apparently.”
“You can redeem yourself by showing up with something really good next week.”
“I was thinking simple, like spaghetti and meatballs and a salad. Something good for dessert.”
“Great. I still have about two dozen jars of sauce that I made last summer. We can use some of that,” Selena offered.
Kendra rolled her eyes.
“Of course you do. And I suppose you have some homemade pasta in the freezer as well?”
“Don’t ask unless you really want to know.” Selena grinned.
“Okay, I guess I can pick up some garlic bread and dessert. No, I’ll make dessert. I’ll bake a cake.” She frowned. “How many cakes should I make for . . . how many men in the shelter this week?”
“There were twenty-two as of last night, but as you know, that changes from day to day. Plan on two cakes—something not too sugary, maybe a pound cake—and a fruit salad.”
“Does pound cake come in a mix?”
“Yes. So does fruit salad, but I recommend that you make that yourself.”
“I promise I’ll go to the market Tuesday morning.” Kendra laughed good-naturedly. “Can you think of anything else we’ll need?”
“No, that should be fine.” Selena glanced at her watch. “If I don’t get moving I’ll be late for my one o’clock. Now, where is that dog . . .”
“She’s around somewhere. Why not leave her here? You can stop back to get her after your appointments. Maybe have dinner with me.”
“Sounds like a plan. I should be back around seven.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you then.”
Kendra watched Selena pull out of the drive, then walked around the side of the house, calling Lola’s name. She heard her, coughing and sputtering, before she saw her.
“Here, girl.” Kendra patted her thigh, and the dog came to her, wagging the ever-moving tail, to sit at Kendra’s feet and gaze lovingly at her. “Did you hear Selena mention that new box of biscuits?”
Lola thumped her tail on the grass, then stood and coughed again, a great hacking cough.
“Are you all right, Lola? Need some water? I’ll run in and get a bowl. I’ll even bring a treat, if you wait right here. . . .”
Kendra grabbed the old crockery bowl that she left just inside the back door, and filled it with water from the hose. “Come on, now, and take a drink.”
Lola drank from the bowl, then sat on her big haunches and focused on the biscuit that was being held up for her. She took the treat, but laid it on the ground and choked yet again.
“What’s wrong, girl?” Kendra frowned, becoming more concerned. But just then a rabbit darted out from under the holly bush and Lola felt compelled to give chase.
Kendra watched the dog take off, then walked to the front of the house to check on her newly emerging gardens.
It wasn’t until Kendra rounded the side of the house less than five minutes later, after stopping to pull dandelions from a newly planted bed, that she found Lola laying on the grass in the backyard. At first she’d thought the dog was sleeping.
But when she walked past, she saw that the dog’s eyes were open and her tongue was hanging out one side of her mouth, her chest rising and falling rapidly and unevenly.
“What’s wrong, girl?” Kendra bent down on one knee.
The tail thumped weakly.
“Oh, Lola,” Kendra said under her breath. “You’re sick, aren’t you?”
Whimpering slightly, Lola tried in vain to stand. Her legs lacked the strength to support her nearly one hundred pounds.
“You stay, girl. Stay.” Kendra paused. The dog was too big for her to lift. “We’ll have to get Dr. Mark to come for you. Stay right there. . . .”
Kendra rushed to the house for the phone.
It was a long twenty minutes before Mark Traub, the young veterinarian