Read Online Laying Down the Paw by Diane Kelly - Free Book Online

much of a consolation prize, but the dog would take what she could get.
    Brigit wasn’t quite sure why Megan kept taking her to empty houses, but she liked this one. It smelled great. Like mildew and wood rot. The carpet also bore scents of sweaty feet and spilled milk. The backyard was great, too. Very little grass so she’d have an easy time digging holes if given the chance.
    The evening was even better. Seth brought Blast with him to Megan’s apartment. While their meal tickets talked on the couch, Brigit and Blast wrangled and wrestled on the carpet. Brigit bested Blast, flipping him over onto his back. She went for his throat. Playfully, of course, mouthing his fur without sinking her teeth into him. From the way he wriggled on his back and begged for more, Brigit suspected he liked it. Megan and Seth ought to give it a try sometime. The two looked like they could use some fun.

 
    TWELVE
    FAMILY REUNION
    Dub
    â€œPleeeeeease?” Dub begged. He knew Wes would give in eventually. “Just one burrito. All that basketball made me hungry.” Dub had spent the last two hours playing in a drop-in game at the Y while Wes sat in a nearby Starbucks, grading exams. “I’m a growing boy. I need nourishment.”
    â€œYou can hardly say a fast-food burrito is nourishing,” Wes said. “We’ve got plenty of healthy stuff in the fridge at home. Spinach. Broccoli. Brussels sprouts. Tofu…”
    The grin on Wes’s face told Dub his foster father was only teasing. Sure enough, Wes turned his Civic into the drive-thru lane at Taco Bell.
    They waited as a woman with what looked like an entire girls’ soccer team in her SUV placed a long and complicated order, turning back to the girls several times to discuss the “hold this’s” and “extra that’s.”
    â€œGirls,” Wes said, rolling his eyes.
    Dub emitted a grunt of agreement, though actually, their pickiness aside, he thought girls weren’t bad at all. Unlike Mark Stallworth, the puberty fairy had visited Dub early, tapping him quite hard with her magical sparkling wand. He’d had facial hair by age twelve and was often mistaken for an adult. The guy who’d come to their door the other day trying to selling them new gutters hadn’t asked to see Dub’s parents. He’d assumed Dub was the owner of the house.
    Their team’s order finally done, the woman drove forward and Wes pulled up to the menu board.
    A woman’s voice came through the speaker. “Welcome to Taco Bell. What can I get you today?”
    Holy shit.
    That Tennessee twang was unmistakable. What happened Sunday night could land Dub in a world of trouble, and so could the woman whose voice had just come through the speaker.
    Wes leaned his head out the window. “One bean burrito,” he called.
    The woman repeated the order and gave him a total. Wes thanked her and began to pull forward.
    â€œWait!” Dub cried.
    Wes slammed on the brakes. “What is it?”
    Dub opened the passenger door. “I’ll be right back. I need to go inside and use the bathroom.” Dub hopped out the door and slammed it behind him.
    He did not want the woman working the drive-thru to see him. He couldn’t let her see him. If she did, everything he’d worked so hard for would be over.
    Yet he wanted to see her.
    Needed to.
    Dub pulled the white hood of his Tornadoes sweatshirt over his head and walked into the restaurant. He turned left into the dining area rather than right toward the food counter. Keeping his face ducked, he circled around to the drink machine. Taking a deep breath, he dared a look behind the counter.
    There she was.
    Standing inside the drive-thru window was a small black woman, barely five feet, wearing a colorful Taco Bell uniform. She wore her dark hair in a springy Afro. She’d never been able to afford to have her curls relaxed. Dub was glad about that. She looked cute