“Tough call. They could lose their agent if things go south,” Rawlins said.
“I know.”
“Chaney didn’t have the same relationship with Dan as Justus so there is no need for her to know any of this, but keep me in the loop anyway, I want to be aware of what is going on,” Rawlins said.
“You got it, bro.”
“It’s good to talk again. I’ve missed our daily interactions.”
“I know, but I kept silent to allow the two of you to bond,” Rafferty explained.
“We really didn’t need that. We got along great from the start. It sounded like it was you and Justus that had the rocky start.”
“We did,” Rafferty said, hearing whimpering outside his door. “I better go. I think For All is up and needing to go to the dog park.”
“Okay. Talk later then?”
“You call this time,” Rafferty said.
“Not if you call me first,” Rawlins joked.
The call ended and Rafferty hurried over to open his door. For All was laying there with his head on his paws.
“Hey, Fella,” he said. “Give me a moment to change and we’ll go out. Where’s Justus? Did she leave her bedroom door open last night?”
He looked out in the hallway and saw her door was open which was unusual so he stepped over the dog and took a quick look inside, but didn’t see her. But saw her bathroom door was shut. He looked back at For All. “She’s probably just in the shower.”
He hurried to change his clothes and took For All down to the dog park. When they returned there was a Door Dash delivery waiting outside the condo addressed to Justus. Rafferty picked up the bag and took it inside.
“Justus, you have a package. Did you order something?” he called.
“Yes. Can you leave it outside my bedroom door?” She asked.
He carried For All and the bag down the hall and left the package where she asked. “It’s here. Are you okay?”
“Fine. Thanks. Did you and For All have fun at the dog park?”
“Sure. He ran around sniffing as usual. We were the only ones down there, so we didn’t linger.”
“I’ll be out in a little while,” she said. “Thanks for dropping off my package.”
“What do you want for breakfast?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m not hungry. My stomach is upset,” she explained.
“Dry toast?”
“Maybe. We’ll see.”
He started to turn away from the door, but stopped. “You know, if you needed something picked up from the local pharmacy I would have been happy to have gone or taken you either one. You didn’t have to get it delivered.”
“I appreciate it, but this seemed the simplest,” she said.
He stared at the door, thinking about that for a moment before he finally left and was halfway to the kitchen when he heard the door open. He turned back in time to see her arm reach out and grab the bag before she closed the door quickly.
Curious as to what was going on, he wished he’d opened that bag and looked inside. But on second thought, he was glad he didn’t. It might have shocked him to see what was there and made him glad she hadn’t asked him to go on the errand for her. His mom had sent him and Rawlins on an errand after they started driving that left them both red in the face. They’d sworn never again would they do that for her. She’d only laughed at them and said it was part of life and they’d one day be asked by their wives and they should get used to it.
He believed Rawlins had sworn never to get married if that was the case. They had been sixteen. What did they know at the time. He wondered if his brother even remembered that day?
