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“You mean discharge her?” Alice prompted dryly.
“She called it being let loose. As far as I know, she feels fine. Apparently, she needs to stay hydrated. My parents are coming up early. They’ll be here this weekend,” I explained.
“Nice, Bea will love that,” Janet replied.
In short order, we had our coffees and had picked up my grandmother. Once she was ensconced in the back seat and Alice was driving toward home, Gram asked, “Well, did you do the dirty yet?”
Alice had just taken a sip of her coffee and sputtered as she lowered it to the cupholder in the console between the seats. “Can you get me a napkin?” Alice asked, glancing at me. “There are some in the glove compartment.”
I handed one over before glancing over my shoulder to Gram. “What the hell?” I asked, keeping my tone light.
My grandmother’s eyes twinkled with mischief as she shrugged. “I like to stay up to speed. I missed the news while I was in the hospital.”
“You’ve been in the hospital for one day,” I countered with a roll of my eyes.
My grandmother shrugged, entirely unabashed. “A lot can happen in a day.”
ChapterTwenty-Two
Alice
“Do the dirty.” I chuckled to myself as I finished cleaning the kitchen sink.
My cheeks got hot just thinking about Bea’s comment. Jonah had rolled his eyes, handling it with more aplomb than I could have if she were my grandmother.
Honey nudged my hand with her nose when I turned away from the sink. Pausing, I knelt beside her, smoothing my palms down her cheeks, her favorite way to be petted.
“How are you doing, sweet girl?” I murmured.
Her tail swished through the air. I didn’t know what mix she had in her, but one of them involved feathering along her legs and the back of her haunches and tail. She was turning out to be a very sweet girl. I straightened, asking, “Are you ready to go to the office?”
She did a little dance on her three legs. She loved going to the office. I knew I would have to cut back on the treats. She was still putting on weight from being so thin and undernourished, but she didn’t have far to go before she achieved a healthy weight.
After a quick shower, I hurried out to the SUV and helped her get into the passenger seat, where I clipped on her security lead. She had quickly settled into a routine with me and liked sleeping on the dog bed in the hallway just outside my door. I had placed a bed at the foot of my bed, but she rarely used it, preferring to keep an eye on things.
Once we got up in the morning, I took her for a walk by the lake, playing fetch for a few minutes. For now, she still liked jumping into the lake and swimming, but it wouldn’t be long before it would be too cold. Sometimes, I ate a quick breakfast at home, but now that I was going into town every day, I preferred to swing by Firehouse Café. Janet’s coffee was better than anything I could make at home, and I loved getting something for breakfast there. More than the coffee and food, I savored being home again and seeing people I’d known for many years. It felt like I was slipping back into the routine of belonging somewhere.
A short drive later, I parked outside of Firehouse Café. I cracked the passenger side window enough for Honey to poke her head out if she wanted. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I assured her.
Her tail swished against the seat, and she leaned over to lick the back of my hand as I reached for my key fob, where it rested in the cupholder. Moments later, I was at the front of the line, and Janet was cocking her head to the side. “I think I have your coffee memorized. An Americano with a dash of cream?”
I grinned. “You got it. I have no idea how you remember everybody’s coffee.”
Janet shrugged. “I only remember the regulars. They have to come more than once a week unless they’ve been coming for years, or they get something really basic,” she explained with a chuckle. She began preparing my coffee. “Anything to eat?”
“I’ll take a bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese and maybe two egg bites.” My gaze scanned the chalkboard menu.
“What kind of egg bites?”
“Oh, I have options?”
Janet tapped a button on the espresso machine, replying, “Of course. Vegetarian or not.”
“I’m not a vegetarian.”
She grinned. “Bacon and cheese is the meat option today.”
“I’ll take two.”
