Chapter 23
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A s Doreen walked home with her animals, she remembered the boys and the poor little puppy they had found and saved. Groaning, she raced back up the river, and, as soon as she got home, she phoned the vet.
“If you want to bring the boys down,” she said, “you are welcome to.”
“That would be lovely. How late are you open?” She had no sooner disconnected the phone, when she heard a knock. There stood the two boys, standing at her doorway, waiting for her. “Okay,” she said, “hop in the car and let’s go before they close.” Then she drove them to the vet clinic, where they spent a wonderful twenty minutes with the puppy, and she could see how much of a heartbreak it was for Gavin to leave her. “It’ll take some time to fix up the puppy,” Doreen told him.
“And then what?” he asked, staring at her, tears in his eyes.
“And then we’ll find a home for her.”
“It’s a her?” he asked, staring at her.
She nodded. “It’s a little girl puppy.” She could see his face melt. “Did you ask your uncle?”
He nodded grimly. “He said no way.”
“Of course he did,” she muttered. “He’s already struggling to handle you, so you and the puppy would be a much harder proposition for him.”
He looked at her and his shoulders sagged. “I didn’t think about that.”
“Of course not. You were reacting to your own feelings about that puppy,” she noted, “plus reacting to a circumstance and a situation that for you is untenable, the loss of your mother. But you’ve got to remember that it is all very difficult for your uncle, as well. You’re not the only one who lost someone they loved. He lost his sister.”
Gavin just nodded, his shoulders sagging farther.
“Anyway, maybe offer to take care of the puppy, to be responsible for her. You may have to give your uncle some time to adjust to that. Let’s not worry about it right now. We should be happy that the puppy will be fine, and she has you boys to thank for it.”
Gavin smiled and nodded, but he was pretty sad all the drive home. His cousin had been silent the whole time. Gavin grimaced as he got out of her car, having to head home to his uncle’s house.
She looked at his cousin and friend Randy and said, “Try to keep him cheerful.”
He nodded and whispered, “He really, really wants to keep the puppy.”
“I can talk to his uncle, but no guarantees.” As soon as they were gone, she wondered what she had promised.