The Friends We Keep(91)



By the time they reached the animal shelter, Maggie was chatting away about other things, Evvie pretending to listen, astounded at how she didn’t see Ben’s foibles, how she had always assumed he was the one healthy relationship she could have had, relieved Ben never told Maggie, never left her for Evvie, as he had talked about doing that fateful night in New York. Most of all, she felt guilty, guilty, guilty.

She forced her own secret aside, bringing herself back to the present, to Maggie, to be the best friend she could be, given all she now knew.

“Are you okay?” Maggie looked at her as they were about to get out of the car. “You’ve gone quiet.”

“I’m just . . . I’m a little shocked. And I’m sorry. I’m sorry we weren’t in touch.”

“You’re here now.” Maggie squeezed her arm. “That’s all that matters.”

There were only six dogs, and none of them felt right. The only one they both liked needed a quiet home with no men, as the dog deeply feared them. They spoke to the woman in charge and said they were very quiet, in a large house filled with adults, and that there was one man, who was terribly gentle, and were sure the dog would be fine.

The woman shook her head, saying she couldn’t bend the rules. Maggie was demoralized, Evvie relieved that they were doing something, anything, to take her mind off the conversation in the car.

“It’s probably a good thing,” said Maggie as they made their way back out to the parking lot. “This must be the universe’s way of telling us we’re not supposed to have a dog.”

Just then a van swung into the lot at great speed. Maggie threw out her hand and stopped Evvie from stepping in its path. “Whoa. That’s fast.”

The van came to an abrupt stop as a woman with frizzy hair and red, puffy cheeks rushed out, throwing a cigarette on the ground. She huffed around the side of the car, opened the back, and pulled out a cage containing a small gray terrier that looked less like a dog and more like a lamb. It was the cutest dog they had ever seen.

Evvie and Maggie stared at each other, wordlessly, before Evvie approached the woman.

“Excuse me,” Evvie said politely as the woman scowled at her. “Are you dropping your dog off for adoption?”

“What’s it to you?”

“They have a huge amount of paperwork,” Evvie said, who had no idea if that was true but suspected it might be. “It takes about forty-five minutes to complete.”

“Ah shit,” said the woman. “I’m in such a rush.” Her face fell.

“We came here looking for a dog,” said Evvie. “Your dog looks perfect. We could just . . . take him. Or her.”

“Him.”

“There wouldn’t be any paperwork,” Maggie said, trying not to smile.

The woman’s face lit up.

“Can you tell us anything about him?”

“He’s two years old, a purebred Bedlington terrier. He was my daughter’s dog but she just had a kid and can’t cope, so I ended up with him. My other dog’s a Staffie and he hates him so we can’t keep him, but he’s a lovely dog. He’s a lover. Just wants to be cuddled. His name’s Scout and he’s house-trained. Very easy.”

Maggie looked at Evvie, then crouched down to see Scout.

“If you’d be willing to let us have him, we’d give him a lovely home,” she said. “We’re big animal lovers and I’ve had dogs all my life.”

“I definitely don’t have to fill out any paperwork?” said the woman.

“No. We’ll take him right now.”

“Here you go.” She lifted up the cage and handed it to Maggie, and before anyone could say anything else, she was back in the car and zoomed out of the parking lot at high speed.

“Oh my God.” Evvie couldn’t stop grinning. “Talk about the universe sending a message!”

“I can’t believe how easy that was! This is the perfect dog for us. This is the dog we’re supposed to have. Hello, Scout!” she crooned through the bars as the little dog wagged its tail. “We’re your new family. Let’s go home.”

They stopped at the pet shop on the way home, taking Scout out of the cage and each picking him up to cuddle, crooning over how cute he was as he looked up at them with large black eyes.

“He’s a cutie. Which is a relief, given that we now own a dog we didn’t even meet properly. She didn’t even take him out of the cage!” Evvie started to laugh.

“I was terrified that stern woman from the shelter would come out and take him away. I just wanted to get him out of there. Look at that face!” Maggie put her face close to Scout’s, who licked her all over. “He’s adorable.”

“He’s perfect. We’ll have to take him to the vet to get checked out. She took off so fast, I hope there’s nothing wrong with him.”

“I think there’s something wrong with her driving, that’s all,” said Maggie. “There’s nothing wrong with you, Scout, is there?” she murmured.

At the pet shop they bought leads, bowls, a bed, and bags of toys as everyone stopped to pet Scout.

“What a lovely little fella,” the shop owner and his two other customers said as Scout wagged his tail for everyone, looking up at them with big black eyes filled with happiness.

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