Looks like I set myself up for more extracurricular tasks.
“Mrs. Myers, looking after Charlton is not really part of my job description,” I politely remind her, as I bite the inside of my cheek.
“Well, forgive me,” she fires back tartly. “I thought, having been raised in a church-going family like yours, you would’ve at least picked up some basic sense of charity for those less fortunate. If your sister were here, she would’ve—”
I raise my hand to cut her off, taking a deep breath in. “Mrs. Myers,” I force myself to say calmly, when I feel all but calm. “I will give Charlton a bath today, but I suggest for future reference you perhaps could find a mobile groomer who is able to come to your house.” Before she has a chance to answer, I scoop up the overweight dog and carry him upstairs to the ancient bathroom.
It’s a good thing Mrs. Myers is my last appointment for the day, because bathing Charlton proves not to be as easy as the dog’s laid-back demeanor might’ve promised. It was a twenty-minute struggle with the surprisingly agile beagle. By the time a fresh smelling Charlton hobbles down the stairs and takes up his spot at his mistress’ feet for a nap, my entire front is soaked, my forearm is throbbing with an imprint of the old dog’s surprisingly powerful jaws, and my patience has worn thin.
“Now that wasn’t too bad, was it?” the old hag taunts as I silently grab my things.
I freeze at her words. It’s the last straw.
“Mrs. Myers, it’s that I’m a nice person, and my parents raised me well, or else I would be tempted to file a personal injury suit.” I shove the arm that bears the clear markings of Charlton’s chompers in her face. “Now I’m sore, I’m soaked, and I’m half an hour late getting home, so if you’ll excuse me.” Without another word I walk out of her house.
By the time I’ve stopped by the walk-in clinic for a tetanus shot—the dog broke skin—called Nathan to give him a report, and pull into our driveway, I’ve cooled off a little.
Meredith called me earlier in the week, and I’d planned to pick up a few things for the dinner party we arranged for tomorrow. It’s a good thing I’ll have the day off so I can do it in the morning. I’m not in the mood for a public appearance right now.
Rafe is already busy in the kitchen and looks up when I walk in.
The last few days we’ve fallen into a natural groove with easy touches and sweet affection. The last two nights we’ve become intimately acquainted with every inch of each other’s body, and have fallen asleep sated in each other’s arms in my room. I still have to pinch myself in the mornings to make sure I’m not dreaming. It’s been a little surreal to say the least.
“What the hell?” Rafe is stalking toward, me taking in my appearance, complete with cleaned and bandaged arm, courtesy of the clinic. “What happened to you?”
“Mrs. Myers,” I inform him, but at his confused expression I quickly add, “I guess technically Mrs. Myers’ dog.”
“Charlton?” I don’t blame him for the disbelief in his voice. If I hadn’t experienced it, I wouldn’t have believed the docile mutt capable.
“Apparently he’s not a fan of baths.”
His eyes squint. “Care to tell me why you’d be giving her dog a bath? I’m sure that’s not part of your normal work routine.”
“Well no, but she kinda guilted me into it.”
“How is that?” He reaches for my arm and starts unwinding the bandage. I let him.
“Oh, I don’t know. Something about not being charitable like my family.” I purposely stick to more general terms, not wanting to bring up my sister. It doesn’t matter, I can tell from the way he looks at me, he’s reading enough between the lines.
“I’m thinking it’s high time Mrs. Myers and I have a heart-to-heart. The woman is relentless in her pursuit of free services. She’s been living off this family’s ‘charity’ much too long already.” I hiss when he probes the two tears in my skin from the dog’s canines and the colorful bruising forming around it. “That old boy got you good. Your tetanus up-to-date?”
“Already got my shot. Look…” I quickly pull my arm back, “…I don’t want to make a fuss. I already called Nathan to report it.”
“Good. So he’ll take her off your roster?”
“Well…” Rafe lifts an eyebrow. “He offered, but I said no,” I admit.
“Why would you want to go back there?”
I can’t blame him for his incredulity; I doubted my own sanity a few times. “It’s not that I want to, it’s I feel I have to.” His other eyebrow shoots up, so I try to explain. “People already have a hard time putting their trust in me. How would it look if at the first hint of trouble, I give up? If I’m going to make a life here, I need to start changing their perception of me. I need to prove I’m better than what they see.”
“They don’t have a clue who you are.” Rafe’s voice is gruff as his arms close tightly around me and I snuggle into his chest.
“Then it’s about time they find out.” I lift up my face and kiss the underside of his jaw. “Besides, I don’t like the idea of letting that woman win.”
Chapter Nineteen
Rafe
“Which one of you was it this time?”
I take the last few stairs to find Taz standing in the front hallway, a mangled flip-flop in her hands and snippets of rubber littering the floor into the living room. Stitch and Lilo are nowhere to be found.
“I see the kids have been busy.”
“I swear, I turn my back for a second and they get into trouble.” She marches right past me into the kitchen and dumps the mangled footwear in the garbage. “My favorite ones too.”
I walk up behind her, slip my arms around her waist, and kiss her neck. “I’ll buy you new ones.”
Turning around she grabs my shirt and drops her forehead to my chest. “How long does this phase last?”
The dogs have newly discovered all the creative ways they can use their teeth. Throw pillows, remote, table leg, but by far their favorite chew toy is footwear.
“You don’t wanna know,” I assure her. “I’ll pick them up some appropriate chew toys, maybe a couple of bones. We can teach them not to attack the furniture, but we’ll also have to make sure we don’t leave anything tempting in their path.”
“Good thing they’re quick studies,” she mumbles.
They are. We’ve only had one ‘accident’ in the past few days, and they willingly go in their shared crate at night.
“I can take them with me for the day,” I offer, looking down in her upturned face.
“Aren’t you out on calls today?”
“They can stay in the truck, or maybe Lisa won’t mind keeping them at the office for a bit.”
She shakes her head. “No, I can handle them. I’ll simply crate them when I go to get groceries.” Right. Taz’s new friend, Meredith, and her husband are coming for dinner. “Want some coffee?”
“Mmm.” I drop a kiss on her mouth and let her go before stepping into the laundry room to grab the broom.