Page 83 of The Christmas Keepsake
“What? What do you mean you found Buster?” He’d expected news on Duke.
“Well, I didn’t,” Dr. Lynch clarified. “Mr. Gordan from Holly Springs brought him in. Mr. Gordan was hunting in the north woods and happened upon Buster.”
Hollis paced the room as he listened to the veterinarian explain. “Is he…?”
“He’s fine. A bit thirsty and hungry, and there’s one defensive wound on his left shoulder, but he’s okay.”
“A defensive wound?” Hollis repeated, trying to make sense of what had happened.
“It’s large, but not too deep. My best guess is a bear,” Dr. Lynch said. “Mr. Gordan said there’s been a black bear coming around. It went after one of his hunting dogs the other week. My hunch is thatit was the bear that got to Duke, since Duke took a good bit of the injuries.”
Hollis stopped walking as he played out that scenario in his mind. “And Buster came to Duke’s rescue.”
“That’s a real possibility. Buster has a bark on him.” Dr. Lynch laughed to herself. “If I were a bear and a dog like Buster came at me, well, I’d leave too.”
Hollis knew exactly what she meant. At Thanksgiving, when Buster had come after him with that forceful bark, it had caused Hollis to trip over his own feet trying to run away. “What about Duke?”
“More good news. Duke seems to have perked up, now that Buster is here with him. I think these two are destined to be lifelong friends. And I think Duke’s life is going to be long and happy. His injuries are healing faster than expected. I stopped the IV antibiotics this morning.”
Relief washed over Hollis. The worst-case scenario hadn’t happened. If anything, this was better news than he’d allowed himself to imagine.
“Duke needs to stay another night, but you’re free to come get Buster.”
“Be right there.” Hollis grabbed his keys on the way out of the house and climbed into his truck. He’d been so certain he was going to lose at least one dog, but now, by some Christmas miracle, he might get to keep both.
The drive to the vet’s office was a blur of racing thoughts and emotions. Hope. Guilt. Shame. Disappointment in himself. He’d been too quick to give up on Buster. Too quick to shut down.
Running a hand over his face, Hollis parked and half-walked, half-jogged toward the clinic door. On the other side of the glass, Buster was waiting on a leash in Dr. Lynch’s hand. He propped his front paws on the door and seemed to smile at the sight of Hollis. His tail wagged.
Dr. Lynch pushed the door open. “Here’s the hero of the hour,” she said, talking about the scraggly lab-mix.
Hollis knelt to pet Buster’s head. “Hero indeed. You ready to go home?” His throat tightened at the word and the meaning behind it. Every boy in the boys home had wanted to hear those words, and he imagined every dog did too.
With a thump of his tail, Buster let out a high-pitched bark.
“That sounded an awful lot like a yes to me,” Dr. Lynch said cheerfully. The vet’s tone quickly turned serious. “It’s going to be a tough road ahead for Duke, but I think it’s safe to say, he’ll be home for Christmas too. Having you and Buster there—that’s going to make a world of difference for him. We all need to know we have others in our corner, rooting for us.”
Hollis’s thoughts drifted to Mallory. Instead of turning to her, he’d reverted to his old ways and pushed her away. This whole time, he’d been working hard to convince Mallory to accept help from others. To let him help her. Then he’d done the very opposite when times had gotten tough for him. “Can I—can I see him?”
“Of course.” Dr. Lynch led him to Duke’s kennel in the back room.
The sight of his longtime best friend, battered and hooked up to an IV, nearly broke Hollis. But as he approached, Duke’s tail gave a weak thump against the bottom of the crate.
“Hey there, bud.” Hollis reached out to gently stroke the top of Duke’s head. “I’m here. We’re both here,” he said, allowing Buster to prop up on Hollis’s thigh, turning his head to sniff the air around Duke. “And we’re not going anywhere.”
He’d done things all wrong yesterday, and there were a lot of things to make right. No, it wasn’t his fault that Matt had stormed in and yelled at him, but Hollis had walked away too easily. He should have made sure Matt understood what was going on instead of letting his fight-or-flight response send him storming out as well. Heshould have called Mallory and told her what was happening instead of turning inward and letting his thoughts spiral.
Pulling his phone from his pocket, Hollis tapped on Mallory’s number.
As the phone rang in his ear, Hollis looked at his two dogs—one injured but fighting, one loyal and misunderstood—a lot like Hollis in his youth.
Mallory’s voicemail message came on. He tapped the screen and tried again but realized she either wasn’t available or she was ignoring him.
He wouldn’t blame her. Yes, it was only one night, but a lot of damage could happen in a short amount of time. Sometimes enough damage that it could never be fixed.
When the tone sounded, he left his message. “Mallory, it’s me again. Please call me back when you get this. I need to explain… I’m s-sorry.” Disconnecting the call, he took a moment to consider next steps.
Mallory might not want him back in her life. Or in the play for opening night. But he owed it to her to put himself out there and try. He’d already gotten two prayers answered with Duke and Buster. Maybe it was too much to hope for one more Christmas miracle. But it was the season of hope, after all. He had to try.
