Chapter 49

49

Deep in the laundry room, Alice hasn’t heard the phone ring. Ed is just coming in from getting the Sunday paper, Buddy at his feet, his nose pointed skyward in expectation of a treat. The flashing message light goes unnoticed until it catches Ed’s eye as he sits down with a fresh cup of coffee.

“Who the heck is calling on a Sunday morning?”

“Maybe it’s someone with a zoning board question. Or it could be Jen, asking if we want any more squash.” Alice pours kibble into Buddy’s dish, the musical chime of breakfast making him do his little happy hop.

“No, Jen would just leave it on the counter. Anonymously.” Ed reaches for the play button.

“My name is Justine Meade, and the dog you found is mine.”

The air in the room is suddenly gone, the atmosphere around Alice a vacuum, a void. She reaches for the delete button even before the caller gets to her telephone number, but Ed holds her back. “You can’t.”

Alice slaps his hand away. Slaps away the good feelings of yesterday, the progress, the fresh air entering her burdened lungs suddenly sucked away by a stranger’s voice, a woman claiming their dog as hers, repeating her telephone number twice. It isn’t enough to slap away Ed’s hands; she wants more—to hurt someone or something. Suddenly, she is pummeling Ed, as if it’s his fault.

“Alice, stop it. Enough. I’ve had enough.” Ed moves so quickly away from her that Alice slips, nearly going to the floor. He catches her but holds her away. “This isn’t my fault. This is just how life plays out.”

“You made me put in the ad.”

“We agreed we had to do it.”

“We don’t have to call her. Finders keepers.”

“Alice, that’s not how we operate, and you know it. How could you live with yourself?”

“How can I live without Buddy?”

Ed is still holding Alice at a distance, but now he reels her in, holds her close. “She’s going to have to prove ownership. We can make it tough.”

Alice’s tears dampen the front of his shirt and he remembers the first time he held her close. How many years ago? Too many to count. He held Alice in his arms for the first time an hour and a half after they were on their first date. It was the day that Nixon ended the Vietnam War. Everyone was celebrating. The television was on in the pizza place, where they were testing the waters of their acquaintance over pepperoni. The sight of Tricky Dick announcing the cessation of the war that had ruled their young lives was enough for an embrace between strangers. At the end of it, Ed knew that they’d never be strangers again. She fit so perfectly.