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Hannah peeked over her shoulder and smiled at her brother.
“Our dad just died,” Hobbs said, like he’d made a decision to speak about something he didn’t really want to bring up. “And things aren’t great with my sister’s ex-boyfriend. So my sister’s not in a great place, emotionally. This is the first time I’ve seen her happy all week.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. About the boyfriend and about your father, too.”
Hobbs shook his head, parted his lips to speak, but was drowned out by Hannah’s shriek of laughter when George started batting her sneaker with both of his paws, like he was boxing. Unlike most cats, who would flee from such an abrupt noise, George doubled down. His little paws flew, Hannah’s shoelace got caught in his nails and came undone, and her laughter made her whole body shake.
“You know what.” Clementine nudged Hobbs with an elbow. “This would be a great opportunity for your sister to take her mind off her troubles. She could foster them.”
Both Hannah and Lily snapped their heads in Clementine’s direction. “Oh, Chris, could we?” Hannah glanced up at Lily. “They’re for adoption, right?”
“Yeah.” Lily’s voice was quick and bright. Almost too quick and bright. “Definitely. Like I said, nobody wants George.”
“Right,” Hobbs agreed. “Including me.” His jovial personality had returned, the laid-back grin and boyish playfulness taking over whatever somberness from deep inside had tried to claw its way out. “I am a bachelor for a reason, Hannah. I’m enough to look after all by myself.”
“I’ll look after them,” Hannah said, stroking Gracie’s head. The puppy was happily tearing up her rope bone in the middle of Hannah’s lap. “I’ve got nothing else to do, Chris. I don’t have a job here. I could help George get over his fear of losing Gracie...without actually taking away Gracie.”
Lily’s face relaxed. A rose color had tinged her cheeks, like when she got upset. “That’s awesome, the way you put that. Yeah. I think you’d be perfect for them. And I trust Coach Hobbs, which means you must be okay, too.”
You trust Coach Hobbs?Clementine bit back the words. Lily had never seen Hobbs hit on every pretty woman in this place, or strip his shirt at every possible opportunity, or come in hungover, sunglasses hiding his bloodshot eyes, even though his humor was never any worse for the wear. And there was no need to tell her about those things because Lily would just shrug and say, “You don’t know what his life is like. And I’ll make my own opinions about him, thank you.”
“Can we talk about it at least?” Hobbs sighed, but sounded like he’d already accepted defeat. “I’m not ready for George and Gracie tonight. At least let me go home and prepare.”
“Deal.” Hannah extended her arms. “Now help me up. My butt is getting sore.”
Hobbs grabbed her fingertips and hauled her up.
As Hannah’s weight shifted, Gracie crawled from her lap in the direction of George. She nudged him with her muzzle and he tipped over. Everyone laughed, but George just rested on his side and let Gracie give his face a big, sloppy grooming with her pink tongue. When George got sick of it, he batted her away and started grooming Gracie’s ear in return.
“What a pair,” Hannah said.
“Give me a text tomorrow, Hobbs.” Clementine leashed up Gracie while Lily collected George. “We can figure out when to bring them over to visit your place.” Clementine didn’t add that she was kind of interested in seeing where the infamous Hobbs lived. She envisioned a messy, small apartment or condo.
“All right. And hey.” Hobbs shouted after them as they headed for the exit. “Where’s your buddy? It’s not like Tabby to miss a Friday workout.”
“I’m pretty sure she had a date tonight. Something about a coffee date that turned into a drinks date.”
“A date, huh?” Hobbs’s smile fell. “That’s no excuse to skate on her fitness.”
If Clementine didn’t know better, she’d think Hobbs sounded jealous. She remembered what Tabitha had said about kissing him on her birthday. “I don’t think one date counts as skating on her fitness.”
Hobbs grunted something, but Lily was already out the door, so Clementine waved goodbye and went after her. After they got the pets loaded up and were buckled into their seats, Clementine said, “Spill it. What are you mad about?”
“Nothing.”
“Lil.”
“The pets are my job, Mom.” Lily faced her with those intelligent, fearless eyes of Tyler’s. “Would you like it if I came into your running store and told you how to sell your shoes? Or gave people marathon advice?”
Clementine’s knee-jerk reaction was to be defensive, to say that she was only trying to help, but she drew a deep breath and simply answered Lily’s question. “No. I wouldn’t like that. I’d think it was out of place and I’d wonder why you were doing it.”
Lily raised her eyebrows, tilted her head to the side, then looked away.
Point made. Clementine thought back to how it’d all gone down and felt a stab of shame. “I’m sorry. I should’ve let you handle George and Gracie. And yourself. I kind of butted in about your fitness, too. I did that thing where I take over, didn’t I? I over-mommed.”
Lily sighed, then shrugged. “I know you were just trying to help.” She had confidence and independence in spades. Grudge holder and drama queen she was not. “But I know how to handle the pets. It’s what I do. And I can handle myself, too. I’m not a baby.”
Clementine reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “I’ll let you handle the rest of it. I’ll even give you Hobbs’s number and you can arrange the visit.”
Lily faced her again, her eyes softer now. “Thank you.”
Sometimes, her daughter was so much like Tyler it made Clementine want to cry. “That situation with the sister is kind of different, isn’t it?” She changed the subject and started the engine.
“Hannah’s definitely got something going on,” Lily agreed. “Something weighing her down, big-time. She reminds me of a lot of the dogs who come into the shelter. Scared and lost. I get the feeling somebody hasn’t been very nice to her.”
Clementine peeked in the rearview and caught a glimpse of George and Gracie, curled together in their blanket. Scared and lost, indeed. “I think you may be right.”
“I know I am.”
