Page 58 of Sneak Attack

I stared at the screen, willed her to respond immediately. Three gray dots appeared. Disappeared. Re-appeared. The cycle continued for several minutes until they disappeared for good.

I was staring at the phone when the door opened, and Bongo rushed in. Nails clicking on the floor and his tail thumping against the wall, I braced myself for impact right before his snout collided with my thighs.

“Hey, boy.” I scratched his fur and gave him a good rub down. “You have a good day? Have fun playing with Jas?”

Bongo woofed, tongue lolling out of his mouth.

“Hey Jasper, I need to turn the grill on, will you please feed Bongo and give him some fresh water?”

“Yup!”

The dinner rush got crazy after that, me reminding Jasper to wash his hands, go back and do it again after he used the bathroom then go back again and turn off the bathroom light. He slipped and slid all over the wood floor, on his socked feet, spreading the flour he’d tracked in earlier in a way I’d be mopping the floor after he went to bed. By the time burgers were done, fries were crispy, and we were getting ready to eat, my phone chimed with a new text.

I glanced down with Jasper’s milk cup in my hand and had to fight down a laugh.

Okay.

That was it. Thirty-five minutes and she’d finally found her nerve to text me back.

At least she didn’t ghost me, but Eden, and whatever drama Selma was starting would have to wait.

* * *

I couldn’t get Jasper to bed until eight, later than usual, and that’d come back to bite me in the morning, but whatever. The clock had ticked by at an unnaturally slow speed the entire evening, and once I knew Jas was settled in bed, I made sure I took Bongo outside so he wouldn’t go nuts while I was on the phone, and then I turned on music through Alexa, so it was softly playing through the house system. All done so I wouldn’t be distracted with whatever it was Eden had to say, even though I already knew I wouldn’t like a word of it.

“Hello?”

To my surprise, and utter delight, she actually answered. She was quiet, and her soft tone drifted through the phone full of hesitation and nerves, that one word shaking.

“Hey, it’s Cole. How’s your night?” I kicked my feet up on the ottoman in front of me.

“It’s good. Quiet.”

“Marley taken care of?”

“Yeah.”

There was a pause that didn’t sound great. “What is it?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. She’s fine, just had an incident in the bathtub earlier I had to help her with. It’s hard, you know? Seeing her like this. Failing. She was always so strong.”

She sniffed, and I wished I was there, comforting her through it. There to help more with Marley. Yeah, I’d helped over the summer and done her yard work, repainted her front porch and went and bought her a new fridge. I did all the heavy lifting, along with Dad, that she’d allow, but there was always more to do.

“What happened?”

“She slipped. I always give her privacy, because she says she can handle herself, but I know she gets dizzy, and getting out of that old tub is tricky enough. So, anyway, I don’t know. She’s fine, really, but we talked about getting her a stool to sit on, and some other things. And then right as we were done with the conversation, she mentioned needing a bath.” Another heavy sigh. “More things to add to the list to ask the nurse about, I guess. But that’s not why you called.”

“I’m always here to talk about Marley and help if you need it.” Wasn’t exactly true considering after next week I’d be traveling for three weekends straight. There would be times I couldn’t be there. But if Marley’s memory was starting to decline like that, I’d figure out a way to make the time.

“Right. So…earlier tonight.”

“Please,” I groaned. “Tell me Selma wasn’t a complete bitch.”

“On a scale of one to ten…”

I chuckled. I’d always tolerated Selma because Hilary loved her, but Hilary could love a porcupine and ignore the quills it could shoot right into her face at any given moment.

This was the first joke Eden had attempted around me and way back when Eden was full of wit and sass and a humor that would leave us busting at the seams.

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