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Lexi stayed silent, and drew her lips into a nearly perfect pout.
“Lexi, are you OK with the Lord?” Right now, more than anything, she wanted to know that her daughter hadn’t turned her back on everything she’d taught her to believe.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Lexi said.
Oh, how I want to believe that.
Maggie thought about Paula’s invitation so that she could demonstrate that honesty went both ways, but if she shared that with Lexi right now she’d only have to deny her one more thing. Because she still couldn’t trust Paula and Richard Bradshaw with Lexi. Not yet.
Maybe a breath of fresh air would do them both some good.
“Let’s go outside and figure out how to start the lawn mower.”
“Oh joy,” Lexi said.
The dirty mutt he’d taken to calling Chief liked tailgate rides. Jack tied his leash safely in the cab, and Chief stood in place andtook in the scenery like he was a traveling dignitary. The citizens of Harte’s Peak were probably all getting a good whiff of last week’s trash, but at least he got a few smiles from the townsfolk as they waved at Chief from their vehicles. And maybe somehow Chief was getting aired out. One could hope, anyway.
Tomorrow he’d take the dog back to the station and prevail on Calhoun’s sense of goodness and faith in mankind. Surely, that extended to the animal species. One night with a stray dog. He could handle that, but before Chief could enter his house, he’d have to be hosed down.
He pulled into his driveway only to find Maggie on his lawn dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, bent over a lawn mower while she jerked repeatedly at the cord. Then she looked at the machine, hand on hips, and pulled at it again.
Lexi stood nearby, arms folded across her chest, the picture of teenage disinterest. That is, until she saw the back of his cab. That’s when a smile began to spread from ear to ear that gave her the appearance of a much younger kid. All that teenage surliness seemed to have taken off for parts unknown as she rushed to the back of his truck.
“Mom! Look at this. Oh, the poor thing. What did you do to it?” She shifted her gaze to Jack, eyes blazing.
“What didIdo to it?” Jack asked. “I rescued this beast. Don’t blame me for the way he smells. Blame his trash gorging habits.”
He untied the leash, and the dog jumped down and sat next to him as though he’d issued a command.
Maggie joined them though she almost immediately backed away, no doubt at the rancid smell. Why the smell didn’t seem to affect Lexi was a mystery.
“What happened to him?” Maggie asked.
“Mrs. Jones brought him in today and wants us to find him a home. I’ll bring him back tomorrow when Sheriff Calhoun is there, and I’m sure he’ll figure something out.”
“You’re just going to give him away to some stranger?”
Lexi stared daggers at him. She was actually petting the dog, which made his opinion of her ratchet up several degrees. The kid had guts.
“Well, what do you suggest?” he asked.
“Let me wash him for you. I’ll make him shine and smell so good you’ll never want to give him away!”
He liked that grin on her much better than the usual scowl. Made her seem almost human.
“You would do that?”
He’d been prepared to do the honors with the hose’s spray nozzle and the benefit of some distance, but soap and TLC would probably work much better.
“Yes, as long as I can skip mowing your lawn today. My mom and I were getting ready to do that, but we can’t figure out how to turn it on. Anyway, I’ll get your lawn all wet washing him. By the way, what’s his name?”
“He doesn’t have a name, so I call him Chief.”
“That’s a perfect name for him,” Lexi said.
Great. Had he just inadvertently named a dog? It wasn’t supposed to be his name, it was just temporary. A place holder. Before he could protest, Lexi had the hose, and Maggie had brought a big bucket of soapy water out of her house.
Maggie stepped back and let Lexi do the honors. The teenaged hellion tenderly let Chief guzzle water from the hose which he did as if he hadn’t had a drink in weeks. Before long, the mutt was wet and sudsy, and Lexi cooed like he’d once heard a mother talk to her newborn.
