"Why not?"
"No reason, I guess. It's just such a big step."
"Bigger than adopting two children? We have plenty of room here for a lot of children. All that you want."
"I don't know what to think," she said.
"Talk to me."
"All of this, for us?"
"For all of us."
Joss threw her arms around her husband and lifted her lips for a kiss. Nate's lips were chilled from the evening air and they held onto each other as she finally let the tears flow into the shoulder of his coat. "You really know how to wish a girl Happy Valentine's Day," she said.
"It's okay?"
"It's perfect. Can I tell everyone when we get to Sycamore House?"
"That's up to you. All I wanted to do was surprise you with the idea. You and I will do everything else together."
Joss kissed him again. "This is amazing. Maybe we'll put a barn up and get some horses, too. That way our kids can ride over to Polly's house. We aren't that far away."
"Sweetie, that's her land right back there."
"This started out as such a rough day. Now it's turned into one of my top ten days. Thank you!".
Vignette #3
It's a Dog's Life
Sal swiped her phone open and looked at the pictures of the three dachshunds once more. How had she managed to live so long without having a dog of her own? She couldn't believe that Mark didn't have any pets here at the house either. That was the one thing that surprised her about him. Well, there were plenty of things that had surprised her about the man, but a veterinarian without any pets? That seemed out of character.
When she'd asked him about it, he tried telling her that his hours were too strange. That was true, but still.
Last night she had shown him the pictures of the dachshunds and he'd given them a perfunctory glance before turning back to the news broadcast. He hadn't actually said no. He hadn't said anything, either positive or negative.
Sal tried to accept the fact that his life was busy. But this time of year was hard. Somebody's cow needed help delivering a calf or a horse needed help with a foal. He promised her that it wasn't always like that and if she quit feeling sorry for herself, she knew that was true. Right now, though, she was tired of being at home by herself.
This wasn't how she was used to living. When she'd been home, there was activity all the time. She could walk into a coffee shop and be surrounded by the buzz of conversation. There was nothing more fun than to sit back with a cup of coffee and watch people interact. She imagined all sorts of crazy stories for them. She loved flirting with the young college boys who were just a little awkward, then watching them leave with a swagger.
Sometimes all she wanted to do was feel that tension again. The passion and hysteria, the drama and commotion that filled her city. It wasn't that people were boring around here, they just moved at a different pace. She couldn't count the number of times she wanted to tap her fingers at a check-out clerk who rang up an item and then had a conversation with Sal or another clerk or even a different customer before ringing up the next item. Polly told her to take a breath and relax. But sometimes relaxing was just another word for death.
Now she was being ridiculous. She loved it out here and opening the coffee shop was another step toward normalcy. Right now she needed something warm to love and snuggle. Mark was just going to have to deal.
"To hell with it," she said. "If this is what makes him mad, we'll lick him until he can't take anymore."
~~~
"Yip!" The little red dachshund named Felix barked when he heard the back door slam. In a flash, the black and tan, appropriately named Oscar, joined in, both of them yipping and yapping as they ran to where they'd heard the sound.
"What is this?" Mark asked, stepping into the living room.
"I got lonely."
He bent over and scooped up a dog in each arm. "You certainly did. Two?"
"I almost had three, but the little girl was gone by the time I got to the shelter. Are you mad?"
"Because you didn't get three? No, I think two is more than enough."
"No, because I brought home two dogs today."
He handed Felix to her and dropped into his chair. Oscar stood up against Mark's chest, licking his face, then started sniffing. Not to be outdone, Felix reached out from the sofa and put his two front paws on the arm of Mark's chair.
"Yes, there are lots of great smells over here," Mark said. "Join your brother." He brought Felix into his lap and the two dogs sniffed until they settled in. All three of them looked at Sal.
"That is so not what I was hoping for," she said. "They're supposed to be my companions, not yours."
Mark stroked down Oscar's back. "Have you taken them to the vet yet to have them checked out?"
"Very funny. They've been neutered and have all their shots. The paperwork is on the dining room table. I thought I'd take it up to Marnie tomorrow."
"How old are they?"
"Felix is about two and Oscar is only nine months old. They lived together, but the owner was moving somewhere and couldn't take them."
"That's why they're so comfortable with each other. I wondered."
"So you aren't mad?"
"Sal," he said with a crooked grin. "You told me the other night about them. I knew at that point we were going to have dogs."
"I didn't think you heard me."
"I hear everything you say. Sometimes I just don't respond."
"You still haven't answered my question."
"What's that?"
"Are you mad?"
Felix had climbed up his chest and was trying to lick Mark's face. "It would be silly to get mad about taking in a couple of rescues that are as cute as this, wouldn't it.?
"Well ..."
Mark put the dogs onto the sofa and moved out of the chair to sit beside her. He tugged at her until she was leaning back against him. The dogs went into a frenzy as they clambered up on Sal's lap, whining and whimpering as they begged for attention.
"I know you're lonely here sometimes," he said. "Your life is so different than it was a year ago. There's no way I can offer you all of that excitement and right now my life is so busy that I can't even be here for you most of the time. Why would I be mad at you for wanting a dog?"
"Or two?"
"Or two. I don't need you to sit here at home pining for my return. I need you to be Sal Kahane, a wild, driven woman who thinks for herself and does what she wants to do. I like being part of your life when I can. You are the sexiest, craziest woman I've ever met."
"You're pretty hot yourself. Everyone says so, you know." She sat forward, dislodging the dogs. "But you really need to go take a shower. And at this point, I think you've soiled me too." Sal sniffed and scowled.
"So you were just being sweet to me here?"
"And thankful you have leather furniture. Whew. You stink."
"I thought I'd cleaned up pretty well. At least I left the coveralls outside."
Oscar was trying to jump off the couch. He ran to the edge, stopped and turned around to see if anyone was paying attention.
"Are they house trained?" Mark asked.
"I think so. We've been out several times today and there haven't been any accidents yet."
"Yet," he said with a laugh. "And where are they sleeping tonight?"
Sal looked at him in shock. "What do you mean?"
His shoulders drooped and he dropped his head to his chest. "You just answered that question. Now my next is, what are we doing for dinner tonight?"
She looked at him coyly. "I'm cooking."
"You're what?" He asked, laughter erupting. "You're cooking?"
"Well, I thought that if you were mad about the dogs, I should do something nice for you. So I'm making dinner."
"What are you making?"
"Lasagna and garlic bread. I even made a salad and bought some cheesecake."
"You're making lasagna? I had no idea you even knew how. The kitchen looked really
clean."
"Well, did you know that you can buy it already made? It's right there in the freezer."
He took a deep breath and exhaled. "I feel so much better now. I couldn't imagine you boiling pasta and mixing up sauce."
"Stop it," she said. "I'll put it in the oven while you take a shower. I think I can manage that."
He stood up and bent over to kiss her forehead. "Please don't ever change. Ever. And I'm glad Felix and Oscar are here to keep you company. Even if they do come between us in bed."
"They'd better not."
"We'll see."
Vignette #4
Boys Will be Boys
Andrew tapped on Jason's bedroom door.
"What!" his brother snapped.
The two boys had separate rooms now that they'd moved into their new house and privacy rules had been put in place. Neither could enter the other's room without knocking, no matter what. Jason was quite happy with the situation, but Andrew missed being able to talk to his brother.
"Can I talk to you?" Andrew asked.
Jason huffed, "I guess."
Andrew entered the room and looked around. Their mom had given both boys leeway when it came to decorating and Jason was filling his walls with posters of video games, horses, and hot rods.
"What's up, punk," Jason asked after Andrew sat down on the bed.
"Mom says you're not supposed to call me that."
"Not call you what? Punk? You're a punk!" Jason leaped out of his chair, his face alight with laughter. He landed on top of Andrew and when the younger boy put his arms up to fight his brother off, Jason turned and twisted until Andrew was upside down, his face buried in Jason's pillow and his arms locked behind his back.
Padme jumped up on the bed and bounced back and forth as the boys wrestled. Once Andrew was helpless, she sat down on the pillow beside him and licked his face.
As painful as it was, Andrew missed wrestling with Jason. He never won. Jason was always bigger, but in the last year, he'd gotten stronger and more agile, too.
"Uncle!" Andrew cried. "Uncle!"
"Are you a punk?" Jason taunted.
"I'm a punk. A slubberdegullion punk."
Jason laughed and released his younger brother. "You're a what?" he asked. "What is that word?" He sat back down at his desk and handed Andrew a pencil and paper, then brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Spell it."
Andrew sat up, panting with exertion, and took the piece of paper. He wrote out the word and handed it to Jason. The dog nudged her head under his hand and he wrapped his arm around her neck, rubbing her ears.
"What does that mean?"
"A rascal or a scoundrel," Andrew said. "It's a noun though and I made it into an adjective."
Jason shook his head. "You and your words. I hope you're still writing stories when we're old because you're going to have to take care of me and Mom."
Andrew frowned. "You're going to make money. You're smart."
"Not like you, punk." Jason nodded and tucked the piece of paper with the strange new word on it under his math book.
"Don't you think Eliseo will take care of Mom?" Andrew asked in a low whisper. His mother wasn't home to hear him. She was still working at Sycamore House.
"I don't know," Jason said. "Maybe someday. I know he likes her a lot, but it's okay with me if she doesn't get married again."
"He's not like Dad," Andrew said.
Jason sat straight up and his mouth curled into a snarl. "Good thing."
"We haven't seen him for a while. Do you think he went away?"
"I don't know," Jason said. "Mom said she was going to take care of it. I guess she did."
"Did you get any more letters?"
Jason shook his head. "Nope. And I would have returned them unopened. I hate him."
"Me too," Andrew agreed. "But I like Eliseo."
"I like him too, but we're fine here. All by ourselves. We don't need anybody else."
Andrew wasn't going to remind his brother that all of the things that needed to be done around the house were done by Eliseo. Sometimes he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
Jason tapped his fingers on the pile of textbooks on his desk. "What did you want? I still have a pile of homework."
"It's Rebecca," Andrew said with a sigh.
"Your little girlfriend?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Andrew snapped back. "She's a girl and she's my friend."
"So, she's your girlfriend." Jason sang out, "Andrew and Rebecca, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."
"Stop it!" Andrew jumped to his feet to leave the room, but Jason was too fast. He grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him back to the bed.
"What about your girlfriend?" he asked.
"I don't want to talk about it." Andrew dropped his face in a sulk. He really didn't want to talk about any of this with Jason now. It was too embarrassing.
"Aw, go ahead. What's wrong?"
Padme had lain down beside Andrew, but when he jumped up, she leaped to the floor, waiting for more action. When he settled on the edge of the bed again, she looked back and forth between the two brothers and then jumped up and put her head on Andrew's lap.
"Nothing's wrong," he said, bending over to kiss Padme's forehead.
"Don't be a wimp."
"She's not my girlfriend."
Jason pushed Andrew's shoulder to make him straighten back up. "So what if she is?" he asked, completely serious.
That was a new idea for Andrew. He was so used to being teased at school about his friendship with Rebecca that it had never really occurred to him to just let it be okay. "Yeah?" he asked.
"Yeah. So what?"
It was going to be easier to just spit it out. "Yeah. So what," he said. "She wants me to dance with her at the Valentine's Day party at Sycamore House. She said that if her mom got to dance, she should too."
Jason laughed loud enough to startle the dog. She sat up and looked at him and then lay back down, nestling her head in Andrew's lap again.
"See!" Andrew said. "It's embarrassing."
"Yes, punk. That's embarrassing. What are you going to do?"
"I don't know how to dance!"
"So it's okay to dance with Rebecca if you know how to do it? Why don't you ask Polly?"
Andrew shook his head. "She's got enough to worry about. She doesn't need to teach me. And anyway, Rebecca and Kayla are always around."
"Well, what do you want me to do about it? I don't know how to dance."
"But you know everything."
Jason pulled the piece of paper with the word written on it back out and said. "Obviously I don't know everything."
"But you know about this stuff."
"Whatever. I've never danced with a girl either."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
Jason took a deep breath. "All I know is that you put your hands on her waist and she puts hers on your shoulders."
"Show me?"
Jason scooted his chair back and away from Andrew. "I'm not dancing with you."
"Oh, come on. It's just the two of us."
"No way."
"Please?"
Jason let out a loud sigh and glared at his brother. "You have GOT to be kidding me."
"Please?" Andrew pleaded.
He puffed out another sigh and stood up. "Fine. Just for a second. You're the girl, though."
Andrew pointed at Jason's laptop. "Put some music on?"
"No. Way. We're not dancing. I'm just going to show you how I see them hold each other."
Andrew sat still on the bed and crossed his arms. "Please?"
"You are totally a slubberdegullion punk," Jason said. He sat back down at the desk and found a music station. Then he stood back up and beckoned for Andrew to join him. "The girl - that's you - puts her hands on my shoulders and I put my hands on her waist."
Andrew did what Jason said and waited for his brother. Jason tentatively put his hands on Andrew's waist, holding him very lightly.
"Now what?" A
ndrew asked.
"I guess you just shuffle along, kind of with the music," Jason said.
"Can we try it?"
"If you tell anyone about this," Jason said. "I will dig a deep dark hole and drop you into it."
"I'll never tell. I promise. This is bad for me, too," Andrew replied.
The two brothers danced for a few moments, shuffling back and forth in front of Jason's desk. They'd started in the middle of a song and when it ended, Jason gripped Andrew's waist tighter, picked him up, then tossed him on the bed and leaped on top of him again.
Padme jumped up to join them and before Jason could flip Andrew to his stomach, the younger boy cried "Uncle! Uncle!"
THANK YOU FOR READING!
I’m so glad you enjoy these stories about Polly Giller and her friends. There are many ways to stay in touch with Diane and the Bellingwood community.
You can find more details about Sycamore House and Bellingwood at the website: http://nammynools.com/
Join the Bellingwood Facebook page:
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for news about upcoming books, conversations while I’m writing and you’re reading, and a continued look at life in a small town.
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Bellingwood Book 9 Vignettes (Bellingwood Vignettes) Page 2
