BooksBarbecue
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Chapters (77)
  1. Cover
  2. Title
  3. Also by Silas House
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Part One
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. 11
  19. 12
  20. 13
  21. 14
  22. 15
  23. 16
  24. 17
  25. 18
  26. Part Two
  27. 1
  28. 2
  29. 3
  30. 4
  31. 5
  32. 6
  33. 7
  34. 8
  35. 9
  36. 10
  37. Part Three
  38. 1
  39. 2
  40. 3
  41. 4
  42. 5
  43. 6
  44. 7
  45. 8
  46. 9
  47. 10
  48. 11
  49. 12
  50. 13
  51. 14
  52. 15
  53. 16
  54. 17
  55. 18
  56. 19
  57. 20
  58. 21
  59. 22
  60. 23
  61. 24
  62. 25
  63. 26
  64. 27
  65. 28
  66. 29
  67. 30
  68. 31
  69. Part Four
  70. 1
  71. 2
  72. 3
  73. Epilogue: The Everything
  74. Acknowledgments
  75. About the Author
  76. About Algonquin
  77. Copyright

The dog lay on the narrow rectangle of grass between the sidewalk and the parking lot, his back legs splayed out and his front paws tucked under his chest. Asher leaned over, trying to not spill the full cup of water, and put his hand out so the old boy could draw in his scent. Luke had taught him how to do this as a child. The dog sniffed his fingers and latched his eyes on to Asher with a mixture of trust and suspicion.

“Hey there, buddy,” Asher said in a voice like he was talking to a baby.

He set the cup on the sidewalk and the dog glanced up at him to make sure it was a gift and then his tongue lashed at the water as if his full thirst had only now overtaken him. Asher tipped the cup to the side for him to get more water and the dog continued to stare at him as he lapped up more. The whole time his eyes were saying Thank you so much that’s the best damn water I’ve ever had in my whole entire suffering life.

Then the dog was going crazy, licking Asher’s hand and jumping up so he would squat down and give his full attention. He smelled like he’d rolled around in something rotten and dead. Asher petted him anyway.

The dog looked like beagle, pit bull, perhaps some mountain feist. He had a strong chest and a noble head, a slender but muscular body, despite his obvious hunger. Asher patted down the dog’s back and he could feel pebbles under his skin that he knew were shotgun pellets because Roscoe had had them, too. He had been out gallivanting and one of the neighbors had shot him right in the hind end for digging up her flower bed.

Asher sat down on the grass and let the dog cover him up with loving, regardless of how badly he stank. The dog climbed into his lap and licked at his face, perching one of his paws up on Asher’s chest, and this was the first time Asher had been truly happy in a long while.

“Yes sir, buddy, that’s a good boy, yes him is,” Asher sing-songed to him, and the dog seemed to talk back by the way he wiggled around and licked Asher’s hands and face when he could sneak in a kiss. There was no way he was leaving this good old boy here.

8

8

They drove south, through the hot, black night. Asher had taken the top off the Jeep since it was dark now, and the sticky wind twisted inside the cab. Justin couldn’t sleep after his long rest at the motel. He turned the music up loud over the pummeling wind. Florida raced by them with only the gray highway visible in their headlights.