She was greeted by all three animals, barking and meowing and crowing at her side. With tears in her eyes, she bent down and sat on the floor, Thaddeus on her good shoulder thankfully, as her arms wrapped around both Goliath and Mugs as much as she could, while one wove over and around her, and the other wiggled so hard it was difficult to even hold on to him. Laughing and crying, with Thaddeus rubbing up against her cheek, Doreen felt her heart swelling with joy. “I’m home, guys. I’m home.”
Mugs barked, and she laughed, then kissed the top of his head and gave the side of his face a good scratch. “I’m so sorry. I would have been home last night, if I could have.”
She looked around the house, wondering how the animals had fared in her absence. But she was surprised that everything appeared to be normal, at least from this point. “Did Mack look after you?”
She knew she could trust him with it, but she had never left the animals yet, and she didn’t want to be in a position where she had to again. Speaking of which, her shoulder was giving her some pretty hefty pain. The doctor had given her a shot before letting her leave the hospital, and she was grateful for that, but now just the movements and holding it unnaturally and the jarring from hugging Mugs and Goliath made it really hurt.
Using her good arm, she pushed herself up onto her knees and then slowly stood. She walked through to the kitchen, smiling when she saw the coffeemaker. “They gave me coffee there,” she muttered, “but it’s not the same as being at home.”
She put on coffee, while she went to feed the animals. She didn’t know if they had eaten at all, but food remained in their bowls. Was that from last night? “Did you guys not eat because I wasn’t home, or is this new food from tonight?”
She expected them to be upset because of the change in their routine. Also they had been frantic when she’d gotten into the ambulance. She felt a little rougher than she’d expected to. She took her coffee out onto the deck and sat down in the chair, closing her eyes.
“There you are,” Nan said, as she came around the bend on the river and up the pathway. “You don’t look so good.”
“Well, I was hoping to feel better.”
“You should have stayed in the hospital.”
“Nope, I’m not that bad. This is nothing that I can’t stay at home and heal from. Besides, sick people are in there. Plus, people die there all the time.”
Nan laughed. “That’s where they’re supposed to die.”
“I hope not,” Doreen said simply. “I’d much rather die in my bed.”
“You and me both,” Nan said, with a quick, bright grin. She looked at Doreen’s coffee. “Is there a second cup?”
“Of course,” Doreen said. “Do you mind getting it yourself?”
“Of course not.” Nan walked in and returned with a cup of coffee, and Doreen immediately stood from the one chair on the deck.
Nan looked at her in shock and said, “Oh no, you don’t,” she said. “You’re injured.”
“Not that bad,” she said. “The nightmares were the worst.”
“About getting shot?” Nan asked, with a wise nod.
“Oddly enough, no. About losing Mugs in the water.”
Nan stared at her, chuckled, and said, “I’m pretty sure Mugs would have fared much better than you out there.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” she said, “but I was trying to keep him up, while the weight of my clothing was pulling me down. Thaddeus was cheering me on all the while, and screeching when water hit him.” she shook her head in bemusement. “I’m a good swimmer but—”
“Being a good swimmer is one thing. Being an uninjured swimmer who’s been swimming on a regular basis and able to combat the force of that water is another. Add in the chaos and concern of the animals …”
“Why was the water so high?” she wailed.
“There was a storm up in the mountains and the last of the snow came barreling down.”
“Right,” she said. “That does happen, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does, dear. It had been settling down, and then it rose up,” she said. “It should be back to normal again by tomorrow.”
“How nice that my attacker got it at just the right size,” she said sarcastically.
“Maybe not.”
She looked at Nan. “Did they catch him?”
Nan shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said. “Have you managed to talk to Mack at all?”
At that, Doreen winced and frowned, looking out of sorts. “Nope. I’m not calling Mack,” she said in a hard voice.
Nan looked at her granddaughter in surprise, and then Nan started to chuckle. “Is that because you’re upset with him because he forced you to go to the hospital or because he doesn’t know that you’re out yet?”
Wrinkling her nose, she contemplated the options presented and then shrugged. “Either. Or maybe both. He’ll be livid when he finds out.”
“No, he won’t. I bet he already suspects this is where you are.”
“But does he understand it?” she asked.
“I would think so,” she said. “He’s been looking after the animals well enough.”
“Not really,” she said. “If he did feed them last night, nobody ate.”
“Of course not. You weren’t here, and they were upset because of you,” she said quietly. “Anytime I would get ill and not feel too good, they would go off their food too.”
It made sense in a way. Doreen knew that, when she was upset and stressed, she barely ate either. The two women sat in the sun and enjoyed the early evening weather.
“Are you going to bed after this?” Nan asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I can’t have any more painkillers for a few hours.”
“Then be still and rest.”
“What about that gunman?” she muttered.
“I’m not sure about his whereabouts, but, if Mack knew you were home, he might send security to keep an eye out.”
“He can’t spend his life looking after me, and law enforcement doesn’t have the budget to have someone else sitting here looking after me either,” she muttered.
“Maybe not, but neither can they afford to lose you.”
Doreen snorted at that. “In many ways I think they would be happy if something happened to me.” She felt Nan’s sharp gaze and gave her a wan smile. “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “It’s just been a pretty rough week.”
“I totally understand—between the attack at the cemetery and that stupid divorce lawyer of yours and now this,” she said. “And then to think that you ended up shot and swept downstream.”
“Well, we both know it’s hardly the first time I’ve been in the river,” she said, laughing.
“You could have died,” Nan said in a serious tone.
Doreen reached across and gripped her grandmother’s hand. “I was thinking about you,” she said, “and how I really wanted to spend years with you before it was your turn.”
“And here you’re the one who almost kicked the bucket,” Nan whispered. Holding on to each other, they took a moment to just reconnect to all the important things in life and how neither wanted to go too soon.