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“What’s his story?” I glance at the empty space where the name tag and details are supposed to be. But they’re absent from his kennel.
“That’s Ranger,” she answers reluctantly. “He’s sweet as pie, but unfortunately, he’s a hospice case.”
“What do you mean?” I meet his eyes, and it pulls on something inside me.
“He has dilated cardiomyopathy,” she says. “He’s on treatment, but even so, his life expectancy isn’t long.”
A knot forms in my throat as I study him. He’s looking back at me like he knows not to wag his tail or even make an effort because nobody is coming for him.
“He’s just going to stay here until he dies?” I ask her.
“We’ve been looking for someone who can take on a hospice case,” she says. “But it’s not easy. There are fosters who sometimes help us in these situations, but it’s emotionally draining. He needs routine bloodwork, tests, and medication. He was diagnosed late, and we really don’t know how much time he has. The decline could be fast, or it could be slow, but inevitably, the result will be the same.”
I kneel on the concrete and meet his eyes. “Hello, Ranger.”
He’s slow to get up, but he does, and he walks right over to me, nudging my fingers through the chain link.
“Is he in pain?” I ask.
“At this time, the vet doesn’t think so,” she says. “But the potential is there as the disease progresses. In that case, he might require euthanasia.”
I cringe at the word, shaking my head as I stroke his fur. He nudges me again, a silent promise. There’s still life in him yet.
“Can you take him out?”
Kay looks at me uncertainly before she nods. “Okay.”
She opens the kennel, and he comes right out, licking at my face and panting like he’s anxious. I understand it, and I wonder how many people have passed him by. He already knows I’m going to leave too, and he’s preparing himself for it.
“Does he get around alright?” I rise and let him follow me down the hall a bit while Kay watches.
“He does. He even likes to go for short walks. Just as long as he doesn’t overdo it, he’s okay.”
“There’s nothing else they can do for him?” I scratch at his head, and he rests his paw on my shoe.
“I’m afraid not,” she says. “All we can do for him now is make the time he has left comfortable for him.”
I glance down at his sad brown eyes and stroke his ears. “What do you think, Ranger? You want to keep me company for a while?”
Ranger barks, and Kay smiles.
Two hours and a fuck ton of paperwork later, Ranger and I are on the road together. He’s got his head hanging out the window, squinting into the wind as he soaks up the sunshine. We drive for a few hours before I stop at a pet store and take him in with me to buy whatever he needs. As it turns out, he needs a lot. A few hundred dollars later, we walk out with dog food, treats, toys, a bed, and a new leash and collar.
We stop for dinner in Tuscaloosa, where Ranger gobbles down his kibble while I eat a steak. Afterward, we hit up an outdoor store for some sleeping gear, and then I navigate us to a nearby lake, where we park the truck and set up for the night.
Ranger sniffs out all the surrounding areas while I set up camp in the back of the truck, and then I call him over and lift him up into the bed. He licks my face and curls up right beside me after I kick off my boots and toss a blanket over us. We lay there like that, his heart beating against my arm as I stare up at the sky. I hug him against me, and he lets out a long sigh that I feel deep in my soul.
“I hear you, buddy,” I tell him. “We’ve got each other now. I’ll take good care of you.”
I close my eyes, stroking his fur beneath my palm, and get the first good night’s sleep since Bianca left.
Chapter 61
Madden
“Hey.” Tori waves at me from a park bench. “I’m over here.”
I walk over and join her, taking note of the small pink jacket in her arms. There’s still a lingering awkwardness when I sit down beside her, but she offers me a smile, and I nod at her in return.
“So which one of the little rascals is she?” I ask.
She laughs and points at the kid hanging upside down from the monkey bars. “That one.”
“It looks like you’ve got your hands full with her.” I smirk.
“You have no idea,” she agrees. “That child will be the reason I start graying before thirty.”
I relax against the bench and watch Olivia drop to the ground and zip around the playground at a hundred miles an hour. She’s got a lot of Adam’s facial features, but I can see some of Tori in her too when she pauses to brush away her wild strands of hair. It’s hard to believe that something so beautiful could come from what Adam did, but I can see that Tori was right about Olivia’s pure heart. She’s nothing like her father.
