by Hillary Avis
Allison wedged the rail under one end of the beam and used it as a lever to move off Leroy’s leg. It took all her strength to raise it the barest amount. The instant the pressure was relieved, Kara grabbed his arms and dragged him across the grass to safety ten yards away. Allison followed her, using her hands to pat out the small flames that were still crawling up Leroy’s leg.
“You got this?” Kara asked over her shoulder, already running back toward the gazebo.
“Go, go!” Allison focused all her efforts on smothering the flames and cried with relief when they were out. Leroy lifted his head groggily as she staggered to her feet.
“Did we get her?” he croaked.
She glanced toward the gazebo in time to see Kara close handcuffs on Michelle’s wrists and begin leading her toward City Hall. She sagged back to the ground beside Leroy. “We got her.”
“And Elaine’s papers?”
Allison shook her head, unable to speak. With a gut-wrenching sound, the whole gazebo collapsed to the earth.
Chapter 34
Allison hardly had time to think about the lifetime of memories that had just gone up in smoke. The fire engine arrived mere seconds later, followed by an ambulance, and she and Leroy were both swarmed by a team of paramedics.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she insisted, scrambling to her feet and brushing off the dirt. “Help the sheriff.”
“Allison?” Taylor’s tremulous voice carried over the patter of the paramedics peppering Leroy with questions. She turned and saw his pale, tense face on the edge of the group. His shoulders were shaking violently inside his T-shirt, which suddenly looked two sizes too big for him.
She was at his side in an instant, wrapping her arm around him and rubbing his stiffened upper arm, even though he couldn’t be cold—it was a gorgeous summer afternoon and the blackened gazebo that the firefighters were now dousing with the hoses still blasted heat. It had to be shock. A paramedic handed her one of the silver emergency blankets and she wrapped it around Taylor, leading him further from the knot of first responders. Further from the flames that had devoured her whole world.
“It’s going to be OK,” she said, even though her heart screamed that nothing would be OK ever again. She didn’t know what to do next. Michelle was his guardian and she was in handcuffs. “Do you have anyone we can call? Any other family? Aunts or uncles?”
Taylor shook his head and wrapped the blanket tighter around his shoulders. “I only have her.” His voice cracked. He lifted his head to watch as the firefighters shut off their hoses and stood there, watching the remains of the gazebo smolder. He swallowed hard. “Why are they stopping?”
“They’ve done what they can do. They can’t save it,” she answered honestly.
“I guess grandma got what she wanted, then,” Taylor said dully. “The gazebo’s gone. She said the library would never be safe as long as it was standing.”
Allison’s breath caught. “Because of the wood. As long as it existed, anyone could make a pen. Or new paper, if they were willing to pulp it.”
He nodded. “Grandma said it was only a matter of time before you figured it out. Once you found Elaine’s diary, she figured you’d start tracking what you knew, too. So the library would never be a secret again.”
“I didn’t do that—” Allison began, but she stopped short when she saw tears welling in Taylor’s eyes.
“I know. I told her you’re a good person, but”—he hiccupped, the sobs he was holding back wracking his chest—“she didn’t believe me. I told her. I told her not to do it. But she wouldn’t stop. She said the only way was to get rid of everything: the memory pages, the blank paper, the gazebo. But she even got rid of herself, so now I have nobody. If she was so smart, why didn’t she think of that?” His voice shredded to a croak and Allison felt her own throat tighten.
“That’s not true,” she said instantly. “It isn’t. You have me. Me and Paul and Emily and Zack. We’re your family now. We’ll take care of you.”
“I’m not a baby. I know it doesn’t work like that.” He leaned against her momentarily, looking so young. She brushed a lock of his strawberry blond hair from his forehead.
“I don’t care how things work, remember?” she said gently. “I just make stuff happen for the people I love.” The deep ache in her soul reminded her that she hadn’t—she’d failed Paul. But that just made her even more determined not to let Taylor down.
With a loud crinkle of the foil blanket, he burrowed into her side and she wrapped him up in both arms. She didn’t let go, not as they watched Leroy being driven off to the hospital, not as the firefighters rolled up and stowed their hoses, not even as she and Taylor gave their account of what happened to the sheriff’s deputies that arrived. A social worker came then, a sturdy, pleasant woman with a round face and rosebud lips, who peered at Taylor sympathetically over her clipboard.
“If you don’t have family local, there’s a boys’ home in Salem with space for you, sweetheart. It’s a nice place, don’t worry. If you have a house key, we can pick up some of your things on the way.”
Taylor’s eyes widened with panic and he looked up at Allison. “You said—”
“He’s staying with me,” Allison said firmly, staring over his head at the kind but slightly puzzled face of the social worker. “We’re family friends. I live right next door to him. I can even stay over if necessary so he can remain in his home. I’ll do whatever I need to do to be approved as his guardian.”
“Please,” Taylor begged. He snaked a hand out from under the silver blanket to clutch Allison’s arm around him even more tightly. “Please don’t make me go.”
The social worker’s lips thinned as she looked between them, her eyes sympathetic but her expression doubtful. “Let me make some calls.”
“Should we make a run for it?” Allison joked once the social worker was out of earshot.
Taylor gave her a wry grin and wrinkled his nose. “Honestly, I think my knees are too shaky to run anywhere.”
She nodded at a nearby park bench. “Let’s sit, then.”
They waited together in silence for what seemed like an eternity until the social worker returned. “Well, this worked out differently than I expected,” she said, her brown eyes sparkling. “Your grandma has named Mrs. Rye here your temporary guardian. You’ll still have to go through the process to be approved long-term”—this was to Allison—“but as long as you get your ducks in a row and complete the homestudy, you can take him home now. Just sign here.” She held out the clipboard and Taylor released Allison’s arm long enough for her to add her signature to the bottom of several forms. When she was done, the social worker smiled at them both and handed Allison a brochure from her tote bag that outlined the process for becoming a child-specific foster parent. “We’ll be in touch.”
As soon as she turned away, Taylor tackled Allison around the waist. She gave him a squeeze and then led him toward the car. It wasn’t until she was sitting in the driver’s seat that she realized she didn’t have the keys. Michelle probably had them—or rather, Kara probably had them now in an evidence bag. Her shoulders sagged. “Maybe we’re walking after all.”
Taylor pulled the keys out of his pocket and dangled them in front of her. “Grandma left them.”
She grinned at him and swiped them from his grasp. “Buckle up. We have a lot of work to do.”
“You mean in the library?” Taylor tilted his head quizzically, studying her face. “What are you going to do? Take out Leroy’s memories? Or grandma’s?”
She put the car into gear and made what Paul would call an ‘imperfectly legal’ maneuver so they were headed the right way on Rosemary Street. She shook her head. She couldn’t think about Paul right now, about how she’d walked away from any chance of recovering his memories, or she’d fall to pieces. She forced herself back to the moment.
“No—I meant the puppies. I bet they’re starving and lonely without their Dog Wizard. Plus, they have a vet appointment to
morrow and they all need baths. I don’t think I can manage bathing all four without your help. If you’re willing, that is.”
In her peripheral vision, she glimpsed Taylor’s bright flash of a smile. “OK,” he said. “But you still have to pay me.”
Chapter 35
Wednesday
Taylor watched solemnly as the vet administered the puppies’ vaccinations one-by-one, pinching the loose skin on their hindquarters to deliver the shot. Everest yipped once and then seemed to forget all about it. Venus twisted to look at her own rear end and then pounced on her sister, as though she’d been the one responsible. Wilson never let up on his tennis ball.
“I think human shots must hurt a lot more,” Taylor said gravely, as he watched Serena wiggling gleefully in the veterinary assistant’s arms.
The vet chuckled. “I think so, too. Looks like you’re good to go. These four are healthy as horses, and I see a lot of horses. You can schedule their next round at the front desk and we’ll let Rachael know so the adoptive families can follow up.” He turned to leave but Allison cleared her throat. He raised an eyebrow. “Sorry?”
She smiled apologetically. “I was just wondering about the medical foster you have? Rachael said the sheriff brought in a yellow Lab a couple weeks ago that needed an amputation.”
The vet nodded. “She’s doing just fine. Ready to recuperate in a family home, I think.”
“Can I—can we see her?” She included Taylor in her gesture.
The vet nodded to the assistant, who led them into a back room filled with wire-front kennels and the cacophony of dogs barking. She raised her voice to be heard above the din. “She’s right here. She just got her sutures out this morning.” She reached for the lowest kennel and unclipped the door. “She’s such a sweet girl. I think we all wish we could take her home.”
A pretty yellow Lab staggered out, her right front leg missing, her fur shaved to the skin around a bright pink surgical scar. Her mouth opened into a relaxed grin when she saw Allison. Her smile was unmistakable—it was Jenny.
Allison sank to her knees on the cold tile floor and let Jenny stumble into her lap, joyfully wriggling and licking the bottom of her chin. Taylor stood there staring for a moment until she looked up at him and choked out, “It’s their mom. She’s OK. She got hurt, but she’s OK.”
Taylor took a huge breath and let it out again before he disappeared back into the exam room behind them. Maybe seeing Jenny back from the dead was all too much for him. It had to remind him of the painful truth that his own parents weren’t ever coming back.
The vet assistant frowned after him, looking confused. Allison didn’t have the heart to fill her in on why he’d left so abruptly. And to her surprise, Taylor returned a moment later with Everest in his arms. He kneeled down beside Jenny, holding the puppy out toward her. She whined and beat her tail on the floor as she sniffed Everest from his nose to the tip of his frantically waggling rear end. Then she laved his fur with her tongue, giving him a thorough bath even though he was squeaky clean from his bath yesterday.
“She remembers him,” Taylor said softly, his arms still wrapped around the ecstatic puppy.
Allison nodded. The vet assistant made a small sound behind them, and Allison turned to see that she’d brought out the other three puppies in their crate. She opened the door, and Wilson immediately dropped his ball and sprinted toward Jenny. Venus followed on his heels, giving a high-pitched bark when she caught scent of her mom.
Serena paused a second, torn between the abandoned tennis ball and the scene outside the crate, but couldn’t resist the pull of her siblings’ excitement. She joined them in a chorus of happy barks, and Jenny was busy giving each of them a thorough inspection and greeting before allowing them to climb all over her. Venus clenched her mom’s wagging tail in her teeth and gave it a shake, her whole body a joyous squirm. Wilson scampered over and joined her in the tug-of-war, growling under his breath. Everest wriggled his way out of Taylor’s grasp so he could leap into the fray, too.
The vet assistant’s eyes moistened as she watched the canine family reunion, and the sight of her welling emotions sent Allison over the edge. The puppies abandoned Jenny’s tail and began worrying her ears instead. Allison held out a hand to protect Jenny’s fresh scar from being trampled by her enthusiastic brood, laughing through her tears. Taylor was crying, too, in huge cathartic sobs. Allison put her arm around him and he leaned into her side.
“My chest hurts,” he finally said when his tears diminished. He pulled up the hem of his T-shirt to dry his cheeks, shaking his head. “I don’t understand how I can feel so happy and so sad at the same time.”
Allison rested her cheek on the top of his head. She knew the feeling all too well, the alchemy of the bitter and the sweet. “That’s what it feels like to be alive. There’s always heartache and there’s always beauty, too. I can promise you that—and it’s not a grownup promise, either.”
THEY STOPPED AT MYRA and Crystal’s place on the way home to deliver the good news about Jenny—and Jenny herself. Allison kept her on a short leash while the puppies romped with the kids in the back yard. Taylor showed Jaden and Nia how the puppies would sometimes follow his commands to sit and stay, if only for a moment. The dog watched eagerly from her spot between Myra and Allison’s chairs on the back porch, her tail sweeping the dust into the cracks between the boards.
“It’ll take her a few weeks to have full mobility,” Allison explained. Myra shook her head disbelievingly as she stroked Jenny’s soft fur. Allison handed the end of the leash to her and she stared at it in her hands.
“What a miracle,” she said for the fifth time.
“Leroy saved her,” Allison said, nodding. “I didn’t think he had it in him, to be honest. I didn’t think he cared about anyone but himself. But it turns out he’s got a heart in there somewhere. He was just trying to avoid getting stuck with the vet bill.”
Myra pursed her lips, her eyes on the kids as they, led by Taylor, raced in circles around the yard, a rabble of puppies at their heels. “I’m still going to have a talk with his mother.”
Allison grinned at her just as Crystal joined them on the porch. She had her braids coiled on her head like a crown and she cradled a soft blue bundle in her arms. Allison jumped up to let her have the chair, then leaned over the back so she could see the new baby’s face. Isaac’s lids were closed, smooth and peaceful, and his little lips worked as he dreamed some happy dream. “He’s so beautiful, Crystal. Look at what you made.”
Crystal beamed up at her. “Want to hear something even better?”
“Tell me.”
“Ike says his deployment is only going to be six months. He’ll be home before Christmas!”
“He better hurry, or this baby’s going to be running wild with them before he gets here.” Allison nodded to the pack of kids and puppies. “You’ll have to have another baby so he doesn’t miss out next time.”
“That’s what Ike said.” Crystal kissed the baby’s forehead and he fluttered his eyelashes. “I told him no more puppies. This little guy is our last one.”
Myra smiled fondly at her daughter. “One more wouldn’t hurt.”
Crystal rolled her eyes. “Unless you want to be our live-in babysitter forever, you better not encourage him.”
“I wouldn’t mind. Now that Odetta has the whole house organized like Martha bleeping Stewart, I think we could run a daycare out of the barn. Think about it. Fresh air. Farm produce. The kids would love the goats and the dogs. We could have twenty little ones here if we converted the horse stalls to a little classroom.”
Crystal chuckled, shaking her head. “Don’t threaten me like that, Mama.”
After the kids had worn themselves out and even the puppies were nodding off in the tall grass under the shade tree, Allison and Taylor collected the puppies—who were covered with goodbye kisses from everyone present, including Jenny—and drove home, happy quiet settling around them like a comfortable quilt in the a
ftermath of all the noise.
After they carried the zonked-out dogs into the house and nestled them into their cozy fleece blanket inside the pen, Taylor fixed Allison with a steady gaze.
“It’s time,” he said.
She turned away from him and busied herself putting away the breakfast things that they’d left waiting on the kitchen counters, pretending she didn’t understand his meaning, but he didn’t let her. He grabbed her hand as she reached for the pair of cereal bowls to wash them and held it in both of his.
“You have to tell him. Now. It’s time,” he repeated. “Don’t be afraid.”
She nodded, and he let her go.
Chapter 36
In Paul’s small room at Golden Gardens, Allison confessed everything, her hands clutched in her lap as they sat side-by-side on the bed. Paul absentmindedly traced the seams in his quilt as he listened, his face somber.
“So they’re gone,” she finished. “She burned all of them while I was trying to save Leroy. I can’t get them back, and I’m so, so sorry.”
“I see.” He was quiet for a minute and the silence was like a knife in her heart.
“I understand if you want to—you know. End things. I can get the paperwork drawn up. It should be simple.” They didn’t have many assets to divide anyway. The bakery was his before they married, so he was entitled to all the money from the sale that she’d earmarked for his care—whether he chose to stay at Golden Gardens or find some other accommodation. And she would find a way to make a living for herself—and for Taylor, too, as long as he needed a family and a home.
Paul suddenly turned to her, and in one swift motion took her face in both his hands, holding it so she couldn’t look away as his eyes searched hers. “Is that what you want?”
She gave a slight shake of her head. “No.”
