He’s a full-grown dog, so he shouldn’t have too many accidents. He’s just not used to being inside during the day.
This will work out fine.
I will eventually go back to Manhattan, and I’ll need to find my own place that allows dogs. Jed is my link to Luke, and even if he weren’t, I’ve already fallen in love with the silly mongrel.
I don’t know how long I’ll be here. It depends on what my father’s biopsy results show.
Is it horrible to almost wish they come out bad? Because that will keep me here longer, and Luke is here.
I wipe the thought from my mind. It is a horrid, horrid thought.
Once Jed is done doing his business, I bring him back in and secure his leash to his collar.
“Time for a walk,” I say.
Jed does fairly well on a leash. We walk for about forty-five minutes around our upper-class neighborhood. When both Jed and I have had enough, we return to the guesthouse.
A brown package sits on the stoop. There’s no address on it. It says simply Katelyn.
My heart races. Is it from Luke? He could easily find me. He knows my last name.
“Looks like we got a surprise, baby,” I say to Jed as I unlock the door.
I unleash Jed, and he scrambles inside heading straight for the kitchen where his water bowl is. I smile. He’s already right at home here.
“I guess we should take you to the vet,” I say. “I’ll try to find an appointment for tomorrow. We need to make sure you get some shots and check out your health.”
I turned my attention to the package. It’s not big—about the size of a shoebox. It’s wrapped in brown paper and secured with clear packing tape. I take it into the kitchen where Jed is still drinking, and I grab a serrated knife out of the utensil drawer. Carefully, I cut the packing tape and unwrap the brown wrapping.
Indeed, it is a shoebox. A Nike box. Strange, but he probably just used whatever box he had.
I open it and—
“Oh my God!” My heart thuds.
It’s a timer. For a moment I imagine it’s a bomb, but it appears to be only a timer.
It’s set.
For two hours.
“I don’t understand,” I say out loud.
My skin prickles, and my heart continues to pound.
This isn’t from Luke.
I need to call the cops. Maybe there are fingerprints on it.
“Thank you for calling 911,” a dispatcher says, “what is your emergency?”
“A package was delivered to my home. It contains only a timer set for two hours.”
“Ma’am, is the timer attached to anything?”
“No, it doesn’t appear to be.”
“Ma’am, leave your home. Someone will be there as soon as possible.”
My heart races as I leash Jed again, leaving the package with the timer on the counter. Jed and I run to the main house.
“Mom,” I yell after Casey opens the door for me. “We need to get out of here.”
“Your mother is upstairs in the tub,” Casey says.
“Fine. You and the others get out of the house. There’s a…”
“What, miss?”
“There might be a bomb in the guesthouse. I don’t think it’s a bomb, but we have to—”
Casey’s eyes widen. “The guesthouse is yards away, but we should get out of here.”
“That’s what I’m telling you. I have to get my mother.” I hand Jed’s leash to Casey. “Protect him. Please.”
Casey nods as he leaves the house, yelling to the housekeeper.
I run up the stairs. I don’t bother knocking on my mother’s bedroom door or bathroom door. She’s in the tub, lounging in a bubble bath.
“Mom!”
Her eyes pop open. “Katelyn, I’m in the tub.”
“I know. Get out. Dry off and get some clothes on quickly. We need to get out of the house.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There might be a bomb in the guesthouse. I don’t think there is, but—”
She scrambles out of the tub and nearly slips on the floor. “What bomb?”
“Yes, a bomb. Someone delivered a timer to me. I don’t think it’s attached to anything, but the 911 dispatcher told me to get out of the house just in case. They’re sending someone over to check it out.”
“In the guesthouse?”
“Yes, the guesthouse. Come on. Let’s go.”
“The guesthouse is far enough away from the—”
Then a deafening sound.
An explosion.
Oh. My. God.
Oh my God.
OhmyGod.
My mother grabs me. “Are you all right?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes.” My body is numb, as if it’s not my own.
“Who would want to harm you, Katelyn?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know.”
My mind is a haze.
“Katelyn, my God. The guesthouse.”
“I… I… I…”
“Your dog. Where is your dog?”
“My dog… Casey… Casey has the dog.”
“Thank goodness. I know I gave you a lot of flack about him, but I wouldn’t want anything to happen to an animal.”
“Jed. Jed. Jed.”
“Katelyn, snap out of it!” My mother pulls away from me, shakes me.
My clothes are wet now. My mom was wet when she grabbed onto me. She takes a towel and wraps it around herself. “Baby,” she says, “I’m going to get dressed now. Are you all right?”
I don’t reply.
I’m not sure if I’m all right.
Something terrible is happening. Something terrible, terrible, terrible.
Is it because of me? Is it because of that horrid thought I had about my father’s biopsy?
“I’m…”
My mother takes my hand and leads me out of her bathroom and into her bedroom. She helps me sit down on the edge of her bed. “I’m going to get dressed now. Sit there. Sit tight.”
Sirens in the distance. Blaring, blaring, blaring.
My mother puts on panties and a bra. I watch her, though I seem to see through her. Once she’s dressed, she holds out a hand to me. “Baby, come on. The sirens are coming. The police are coming. Probably the fire engines too.”
Fire engines? Of course. There was an explosion. There’s probably a fire.
My suitcase. My personal belongings are in there.
But at least Jed is safe.
Jed…
Suddenly I want my furry companion more than ever. I don’t know where Luke is, but at least I have his dog.
I follow my mother down the stairs to the first floor. Casey and the others have come back inside, and Jed rushes to me.
“Thank God you’re all right,” I say in a monotone.
“Casey,” Mom says, “what’s going on?”
“From what I can see,” Casey says, “there’s a small fire at the guesthouse. The fire engines are—”
The blaring gets so loud I can hardly stand it. Poor Jed is freaking out, running across the living room and back. Sirens must hurt his ears.
“I think they’re here,” Casey says.
“All right. Katelyn, you stay here with Casey. I’m going to go to the guesthouse and see what’s what.”