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The leather was soft and smooth between my fingers. “Hey, Sunshine,” I called. “What’s this?” How many times had I been in Reva’s house and I had never noticed the dog collar hanging by the back door?
“Oh, uh, that was Mabel’s.” Reva moved next to me and held out a cup of coffee.
“You wanna explain a little bit more?” I grabbed the cup and nodded to the collar.
Reva reached out and touched the light pink tag. “She was my dog. She passed away almost nine months ago.”
Well, hell. “I’m sorry, Sunshine.”
“She was a good girl. Went to work with me every day and loved to play ball until she couldn’t stand.” Her voice cracked, and she smiled sadly.
“Was she old?”
“Not at all. She was five. One minute, she was fine, and then suddenly, she was throwing up blood and couldn’t stand.” She dropped the tag. “She had cancer. There wasn’t anything the vet could do for her.”
“Jesus Christ, Sunshine.” I should have kept my damn mouth shut.
She wiped a tear from her cheek and smiled. “It’s okay.” She sniffed and smiled wide. “It sucks that she’s gone, but she was the best dog. I was lucky to have her for as long as I did.”
I draped my arm over her shoulder, and she leaned into me. “I think she was lucky to have you too, Sunshine.”
“Yeah, we both needed each other.” She sighed and took a sip of her coffee.
“Have you ever thought about getting another dog?” I asked. She had the ideal job. She worked with dogs, and she used to take Mabel to work with her.
She shrugged. “Once or twice I have. I just don’t know if another puppy will be able to replace Mabel.”
“Maybe you need to not replace Mabel because there was only one of her, but try to find a Betty, Spot, or Dino?”
Reva sputtered with laughter.
I thought my speech was pretty good. I had dogs growing up my whole life, and I never tried to replace the past with the new.
“I think you’re right, but if I do get another dog, you are not going to name it. Those names were horrible.” She leaned up and pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Though if we get a Betty, she’ll have to be best friends with Barbara, right?”
“We?” I asked.
“It’s you and me, right?” she asked. “I guess that would make a we.” She bumped her shoulder into me and pulled out from under my arm. “I need to get to work. As much as I love being on the back of your bike, I’ll drive myself today.”
“What, why?” I followed her to the front door.
She grabbed her purse and hitched it over her shoulder. “Because I called the landlord to come look at the hatch to the crawl space in my bedroom. It was open again this morning.”
“It was?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know what is going on with it. He said he’ll call me when he’s on the way over. I don’t want to have to bother you to come bring me home and then back to the shop.”
“You know I wouldn’t mind taking you back and forth.” Having Reva at my back when I was on my bike was my favorite way to ride.
“How about I drive myself back a
nd forth, and then when I get off work, you and I go for a ride tonight?”
Now that sounded like a damn good idea. “But, I could also drive you to work and go for a long ride tonight.”
She looked down at my bare feet. “You gonna ride your bike like that?” she laughed.
“Five minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
