Atramentum

by MJ Duncan

  “We are,” Joss confirmed, looking from Maeve to George and then back to Ruby. “Thanks for everything, Ruby.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Ruby said. She glanced at Maeve’s casted arm and then offered Joss a black and gold slip-leash. “Since she didn’t come in with a leash, you guys can take this one.”

  “Perfect. Thanks.” Joss took the leash and carefully looped it around George’s neck. “You ready to go home, George?”

  George did her best jousting impersonation in response, pushing Ruby out of the way without a second glance as she headed for the door.

  “Gee, thanks,” Ruby laughed. “Love you too, George.”

  The best Joss could do was laugh and offer Ruby an apologetic smile as she hurried after George, not wanting her to pull too much on the leash. She heard Ruby tell Maeve to follow them and that she would meet them out front with the ramp to help George into the SUV, and was glad that George slowed down as they neared the exit.

  After spending so much of the last few days indoors, the sight of wispy white clouds streaking across a strikingly blue sky was especially beautiful, and Joss followed George to the small strip of grass in front of the veterinary hospital so she could sniff to her heart’s content while Ruby got the ramp.

  Less than five minutes later, George was safely loaded into the back of the SUV and had already made herself comfortable on the blankets Maeve always kept in the car for her. Joss waved one last thank you to Ruby as she slammed Maeve’s door shut, and took a deep breath as she jogged around the front of the car to get behind the wheel.

  Time was going to be of the essence as they rushed to get back to Sky as quickly as possible since they did not have a ramp to help George in and out of the car if she needed a bathroom break mid-trip, and she glanced at Maeve as she slipped behind the wheel. “You can just stay here with George while I run into the bed-and-breakfast to check out and grab our things.”

  Maeve nodded. “Okay. And while you’re doing that, I’ll call our vet in Sky to see if they have a ramp we can borrow, and then I’ll call my mom to let them know we’re on our way home and what we need them to do.”

  It felt good to actually be doing something after days of sitting around, twiddling her thumbs, waiting for this moment, and Joss smiled as she started the car. “Sounds good.” She glanced over her shoulder. “You ready to roll, Georgie-girl?”

  George yawned and closed her eyes.

  Joss chuckled and winked at Maeve. “I think we’re good.”

  Maeve smiled. “Good. Take us home, Joss.”

  Forty-One

  The sight of warm, golden light spilling through the glass front doors overlooking the driveway had never been more beautiful and welcoming than it was when Joss pulled into their garage after what felt like forever on the road. The combination of holiday traffic and her overprotective need to take every turn at five miles per hour below the suggested speed added an extra hour to the trip, and she blew out a loud sigh of relief as she killed the engine.

  They were home.

  Joss looked over at Maeve, who was sleeping peacefully in the passenger’s seat. She was curled into the seat, her left shoulder pressed into the supple leather, her feet tucked up beneath her. Maeve had been watching George when she had fallen asleep, and though Joss hated to wake her up, she knew that she needed to. “Sweetie.” Joss gently swept Maeve’s hair from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “We’re home.”

  The garage brightened as the door to the house was opened, and Joss flashed a quick smile as she waved at Maeve’s parents. Elizabeth Dylan smiled and waved as she leaned against the open doorway, looking very much like her daughter with her dark-framed glasses, blond hair, and lean build. She was dressed casually in a pair of dark jeans and a rose-colored sweater, while Maeve’s dad sported a pair of faded 501s and a classic red and black lumberjack flannel. He was tall and built like a power forward, his red hair muted with streaks of gray, and Joss saw when he smiled at them as he walked toward the mouth of the garage that he had the same bright green eyes as Maeve.

  Joss shook her head as she turned back to Maeve. “Maeve,” she tried again, this time brushing her thumb over the blonde’s lips. She smiled when they puckered to kiss her thumb.

  “Love you,” Maeve murmured.

  “I love you, too. So very, very much.” The urge to lean in and kiss Maeve awake was strong, but not nearly as strong as the knowledge that Maeve’s parents were watching. Joss figured she should at least meet them before she started kissing their daughter in front of them. “But I need you to wake up. We’re home, and your parents are waiting for us.”

  Maeve blinked her eyes open and mewled softly as she stretched, arching her back and gingerly straightening her legs. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

  “You needed it.” Joss lifted her arms over her head in a small stretch. She caught sight of Ben Dylan in the side mirror, hovering just to the side of the rear bumper with a long plastic ramp that was identical to the one they had used to help George into the car in Boulder, and reached for the door handle. “I’ll help your dad get George out of the car.”

  “I can—” Maeve started to argue.

  Joss shook her head. “Sweetie, we got it. I don’t want to risk you bumping your arm on anything. Can you get me her leash? I’d rather not use the slip one Ruby gave us.”

  “I can do that.”

  “Thank you.” Joss smiled and gave Maeve’s leg a light squeeze. “Once we get George on solid ground again, I’ll take her for a walk around the house so she can work out the kinks and stuff, and then we’ll join you guys inside. I’m sure your parents would like to see you and catch up without me being there.”

  Maeve rolled her eyes. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re probably more interested in talking to you than me.”

  “All the more reason for me to take George on a long, slow walk.”

  Maeve laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

  “But you love me for it.”

  “Yeah.” Maeve’s smile softened as she nodded. “I do. So don’t take too long hiding out with George so I can introduce you to my parents.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Joss winked at Maeve as she climbed out of the car. “Hello,” she called toward Maeve’s mother as she slammed her door shut.

  Elizabeth smiled and waved. “How was the drive?”

  “Long.” Joss tilted her head at Maeve. “This one snored through half of it, though.”

  “Watch it, you,” Maeve teased as she made her way past Joss’ Jeep to the hook on the far wall with that had a collection of leases hanging from it.

  Joss held her hands up in surrender. “Fine. She slept beautifully, never making a sound for half the drive.”

  “That’s better,” Maeve declared as she plucked a retractable leash with a big blue handle from the hook beside the door to George’s run.

  Elizabeth laughed. “And how about my granddog?”

  “She really did snore through almost the entire drive,” Joss reported as she peeked through the car window at George, who was trying to get to her feet. Joss took a deep breath caught Ben Dylan’s eye. They needed to get moving. The last thing she wanted was George getting antsy in the small confines of the SUV and hurting herself. “You ready with that ramp? She’s looking like she’s ready to get out of there.”

  “Ready when you are,” Ben confirmed.

  “Here you go,” Maeve said, handing Joss the leash.

  Joss smiled. “Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” Maeve gave Joss’ wrist a squeeze and then turned her attention to her dad. “Hi, Dad.”

  “Hey, pumpkin. How’s your arm?”

  “Still attached,” Maeve quipped.

  “Well, that’s a good start,” Ben replied. “Watch out now, I don’t want you bumping your arm on anything.”

  “You sound like Joss,” Maeve pointed out with a chuckle as she backed away.

  “You make that sound like a bad thing,” Joss retor
ted as she and Ben secured one end of the ramp on top of the rear bumper.

  “Zip it, Perrault,” Maeve sassed, slapping Joss on the ass as she walked by.

  Joss blushed. “I…”

  Ben laughed. “I’ll pop the hatch if you think you can slow that beast of a dog down.”

  “Sounds good,” Joss agreed. She knelt down to catch George’s eye as the hatch lifted out of the way, pushing herself up with the rising door. “Wait…”

  George froze and allowed Joss to clip the leash to her collar.

  “Good girl.” Joss slipped the handle of the lease as far onto her fingers as she could, and then folded the plastic cone closer to George’s head so it wouldn’t hit the frame while she was climbing out. “Okay, let’s go. Slowly…”

  George blinked and inched carefully toward the ramp, her eyes darting from the brown and beige plastic to Joss to Ben, whom she greeted with a wag of her tail. She looked stiff from the ride, but made it safely down the ramp, and let out a small bark of pride as she turned toward Joss.

  “Good job, George,” Joss said, scratching her head. “You wanna go for a walk?”

  George turned, whacking Joss’ leg with the side of her cone, and walked out of the garage.

  “I guess that’s a yes,” Joss chuckled, looking at Maeve. “We’ll be in in a minute, okay?”

  Maeve nodded. “I’ll unlock the back door for you guys.”

  “I could stand to stretch my legs a bit too,” Ben announced. “I’ll walk with you two.”

  “Okay,” Joss agreed warily.

  “Be good, Dad,” Maeve said.

  “Who, me?” Ben asked with a laugh.

  “Yes, you, Benjamin,” Elizabeth retorted, wagging a warning finger at her husband. She laughed and looped an affectionate arm around Maeve’s waist.

  Joss groaned silently. She was going to get The Talk. The only good thing so far as she could tell was that neither Maeve nor her mother looked all that concerned. George saved her having to figure out how to politely segue into leaving by tugging her toward the driveway, and Joss shot one last worried look at Maeve, who was being led inside by her mother, as she followed her.

  It was cold, but not uncomfortably so, though Joss was glad the hoodie she wore was one of her thicker ones. She took a deep breath as she heard Ben jog to catch up to them, and looked up at the sky, hoping that she could distract herself from what was coming by pinpointing familiar constellations.

  It did not work, however, and all she could think about was how she would respond to whatever he said. She had never done the whole meet-the-parents thing—and she could not help but feel that it was particularly unfair that she had to traverse this minefield when she was running on fumes, physically and emotionally exhausted from the events of the last week.

  However, Ben seemed content to just walk with them, hands shoved in the front pockets of his 501s, whistling softly under his breath. The waiting was driving her nuts, but she would be damned if she broke the silence first. Maybe if she just kept quiet long enough they could make it inside without anything happening.

  That, of course, failed to happen as Ben nudged her with his elbow just as they stepped off the driveway and onto the back lawn and asked, “Are you waiting for me to launch into the whole overprotective father spiel?”

  Joss’ heart leapt into her throat and she glanced at him. “Maybe?”

  Ben chuckled and shook his head. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I really did just want to stretch my legs a bit. Never mind the fact that Maeve would kill me if I did anything like that.”

  Joss dared a small smile as she looked over at him. “Really?”

  He shrugged. “I know that she loves you, and I’m assuming you love her?” He smiled when Joss nodded. “Well then, that’s all I need to know.” He grew silent, his smile fading into a pensive line. “Thank you for taking care of her. And George. God, I don’t know what she would have done if she’d lost that stupid dog.”

  “It would have been hard,” Joss agreed, her throat tightening as her mind drifted to those dark hours after the attack, when both Maeve and George were in surgery and she had no idea what was happening to them.

  Ben nodded. “Yeah. That’s one way to put it.” He blew out a loud breath and stared into the night. After a minute or so, he spoke again. “How are you holding up?” He shook his head. “I would have been beside myself if I had been in your shoes.”

  “I’m okay,” Joss said as she paused to let George relieve herself. “Tired. But good. They’re home and they’ll heal, and that’s really all I can ask for. Right?”

  “Right,” Ben agreed as they started walking again. “Having your family home safe with you is absolutely what’s most important.”

  They finished the walk in comfortable silence, and Joss unclipped George’s leash as Ben pulled open the sliding glass door to the kitchen. She watched George make her way over to her water bowl before looking up to see what Maeve and her mother were doing at the island. Her stomach growled as she spied Maeve picking at a piece of bread and Elizabeth sliding large pieces of lasagna onto plates. “You survived,” Maeve greeted with a smile.

  “Of course she did,” Ben said waving Joss inside and closing the door after them. “We had a nice talk, George went potty, and now we want dinner, damn it. It’s late and we’re hungry.”

  “Oh you do, do you?” Elizabeth laughed. “Well then, get your butts in here so we can eat.”

  Ben grinned. “Yes, ma’am. Oh.” He snapped his fingers and looked at Maeve, who was making her way toward them. “We also picked up a few dog beds for George when we were at the pet store this afternoon. Figured she probably shouldn’t be climbing onto the couch like she usually does for a while.”

  “I didn’t even think of that,” Joss murmured, shaking her head. “Thank you.”

  “Eh, it was nothing.” He smiled. “You girls had your hands full enough. Besides, that’s what family’s for, right?”

  “It is,” Maeve agreed as she wrapped her good arm around Joss’ waist and leaned into her. “Thanks, Dad.”

  “My pleasure, pumpkin.”

  “Who wants food?” Elizabeth called out as she carried two plates to the round dining table in the nook.

  George stopped halfway to the family room and turned to look at them.

  Joss laughed. “You want dinner too, George?”

  George gave her a look full of duh and went to stand sentry at her empty bowl.

  Maeve chuckled kissed Joss’ cheek as she let her am fall. “I think that’s a yes.”

  “Me too.” Joss stepped in front of Maeve and shook her head. “Sit down and rest. I’ll do it.”

  Maeve shook her head and smiled, her eyes conveying so much more emotion than the quiet “Okay” that fell from her lips.

  “Thank you,” Joss murmured, hoping that her eyes said just as much. She took a deep breath as she looked away, and hurried to retrieve George’s empty bowl from her stand. By the time she set George’s bowl back in place with her food, the Dylans were all gathered around the table waiting for her. “Sorry.”

  “No reason to apologize,” Elizabeth said kindly.

  Joss smiled her thanks as she took her seat beside Maeve. “This looks wonderful.”

  “Thank you, Joss.” Elizabeth smiled. “Now, let’s eat so I can get these dishes cleaned up and get some of the prep work done for tomorrow.”

  “Mom…” Maeve started to protest, but her mother was not having it.

  “We are taking care of Thanksgiving, and you two are going to relax and do nothing.”

  Ben froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. “We?”

  “Please, like you weren’t planning on deep frying the turkey anyway.” Elizabeth arched a brow at Joss. “Joss, dear, I know what Maeve likes for sides, but are there any dishes you would like me to make?”

  Joss shook her head. “No, thank you. I don’t need anything special.”

  “Oh, but you do,” Elizabeth argued with a kind look.
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br />   Joss blushed and looked at Maeve. “I’ve got Maeve, that’s all I need.”

  George aroo-ed in protest.

  “And you, too, George,” Joss amended with a self-conscious laugh as she glanced back at Maeve’s parents, who were regarding her with identical pleased expressions. A soft hand on her arm drew her eyes to Maeve, and she blushed as she leaned in and whispered, “Sorry. Too much?”

  “Shut up, Perrault,” Maeve murmured as she captured Joss’ lips in a sweet kiss. She smiled and ran a gentle hand over Joss’ cheek when she pulled away. “I love you.”

  “Love you too,” Joss breathed.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Ben grumbled. “Knock it off. You’re making me look bad over here.”

  Maeve laughed and waggled her eyebrows at her dad as she picked up her fork. “Then step up your game, old man.”

  “Who you calling an old man?”

  “That’s enough, you two,” Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes. She shook her head and added, “I swear, Joss, we can’t take them anywhere.”

  George burped loudly, proving Elizabeth’s point, and everybody laughed.

  “Ben”—Elizabeth looked pointedly at her husband—“can you go grab one of the beds for George from the living room and bring it in here?”

  “I can do it,” Joss protested, pushing her chair back.

  “Enjoy your dinner,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I got it.”

  “If you’re sure…” Joss pulled her chair back to the table and picked up her fork. “Thank you.”

  “Try the lasagna,” Maeve said as she speared a particularly large bite with her fork. “It’s better than DiAmico’s.”

  Joss arched a disbelieving brow. Nobody made better lasagna than DiAmico’s. “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  And it was. By a mile.

  Joss let the Dylans catch up with each other as she ate, only answering questions that were directed specifically at her, and groaned when she finally pushed her plate away, too full to even think of taking another bite. “That was the best lasagna I have ever had in my life.”