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“You’ll do nothing of the sort,” he cautions me.
“If you can live without your old things we’ll buy you everything you need brand new. A fresh start. We’re gonna be a busy household soon and I’m gonna need all the help I can get.”
I’m not sure what he means by that, but when his hand runs across my belly both of mine join his.
“What do you see, Detective Parker?” I ask in my best interrogator’s tone, which only makes him smile.
“I see… triple cheeseburgers, hot coffee, and curly fries for breakfast… And our Moose back home,” he says with confidence as he kisses me again, urging me to hurry up so we can get going.
“Is he really gonna be okay?” I ask innocently. Hopefully.
“He is, and so are we from now on, c’mon. There’s a surprise waiting at the vet’s by the sounds of it too,” Parker adds.
Seeing him so upbeat all of a sudden, happy considering everything that’s already happened makes me feel it too.
Things are gonna be just fine. I can feel it.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Parker
It’s breakfast to go once we’re on the road. I haven’t had burgers for breakfast for years, not since the old days when shift work meant you ate what you could and whenever you could.
Telling Naomi I usually have a no food rule in the truck makes her face scrunch up before she laughs.
“You have a dog in here, Parker. Doesn’t that count?” she challenges me but once I explain how Moose needs fewer distractions like food smells when we’re on the job.
And there it is.
Moose isn’t on the job anymore, and neither am I. We’re both free.
Reminds me, at some point I should come by the station, make it official. I can do that once things have settled down.
She’s equally quick to agree with me but shares my thoughts.
“There’s no more of that though, right?” she asks tentatively.
I sigh with a grin. “I guess not. Maybe save Moose some of these fries,” I tell her, keeping some of my food separate for him as a small treat.
Like my own diet, a little cheat here and there is okay.
From now on, it feels like every day is gonna be a treat day for him.
God, Moose. I’ll never put you in any danger again, I swear.
Pulling into the same parking lot as last night feels like another world.
I’m still worried about him sure, but I can’t wait to see what the vet is talking about.
Once inside, all is revealed.
“Well, I gotta hand it to ya,” the vet explains. “You’ve got one healthy, resilient dog there.”
I’m looking at him while my face is a question as to why I haven’t seen Moose yet.
“Moose has responded to the IV antibiotics well and is already back to wanting to be active after the anesthetic,” he continues. “And there’s the slight matter of his little bitch,” he adds with finality.
And a serious face.
“Excuse me?” I hear myself growl. “What did you just say?”
The vet laughs and lets me in on his own private joke, inviting us both into the recovery area to see for ourselves.
Moose is there, sitting up in his cage with his tail pumping once he sees me and Naomi. He lets out a hoarse bark and points himself towards the dog in the cage next to his.
“I… had to put him right next to her,” the vet explains, “Otherwise he wouldn’t do anything he was supposed to. This dog…” he explains, pointing to the same one we saw being carried in last night, “…is or rather was due to be destroyed later this morning.”
I look at Naomi and she looks at me.
We both look at Moose who can hear everything as much as we can and he’s not happy about it either, he whines and then barks firmly again.
“Destroyed?” I ask the vet in disbelief. “Do you even do that here?” I have to ask, wondering what this dog did to deserve such an end.
Wondering if this is the place for Moose at all anymore.
“Afraid so, Parker. Lost or dumped. Sick or well. After a certain amount of time with no claim? You know the drill. We can’t save everyone. We can’t win ‘em all,” he tells me with surgical precision.
Cold but true. No kill shelters exist, but they all have their own capacity limits too.
No room means no room.
Life on the street is no different for most people. Animals have it far worse for a lot less time mostly.
“Then she’ll have to come home with us. With Moose,” Naomi pipes in, shrugging at me when I turn to face her like it’s a no-brainer.
“I guess she will,” I smile. Feeling like Moose deserves the love he’s found as much as any other guy or girl on the planet.
He’s making eyes at his new friend that make the looks I give Naomi seem tame.
