Rachel Alexander 04 - Lady Vanishes

“Doctor’s coming.”
    “I’ll just say good-bye.”
    Venus took my hand.
    “What about Lady? Is there any special way I should introduce her back to the kids?”
    She was quiet a moment. “No matter what you do, there’s going to be some confusion. It’s the nature of the beast, so to speak. If you go without Dashiell, Jackson will be upset. Dashiell is the dog that moved Jackson.”
    I thought about the bookend, but I couldn’t talk to her about it now. Olive would be back in a minute with Doctor. Anyway, given the circumstances, I guess it could wait.
    “Some of them will be puzzled, seeing both dogs, but that’s okay. That’s the way to go.
    “You’re not thinking this is wrapped up, are you, Rachel? There’s still the problem of the will. We’re not out of the woods yet. I still need you. And Lourdes.”
    I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I don’t leave until you tell me to leave.”
    Out in the hall, I thanked Lourdes and asked her to stay at least two more days. The doctor was down the hall, coming this way. The nurse was trailing two steps behind him, carrying a clipboard. I turned the other way and headed for the stairs.

Chapter 35
    You Need His Keys? I Asked

    On Twelfth Street, outside St. Vincent’s, I began meandering west, toward Harbor View, taking my time so that the dogs could read the news of the neighborhood, post their own messages, be themselves before going back to work.
    But as I got closer and closer to the way West Village, I found myself going even more slowly, like Dashiell when he wants to stay out and sees I’m heading home.
    So I turned south, toward the cottage. I was feeling funny and wanted to be home, even if it was just for an hour. Maybe I was just hungry. I couldn’t remember the last time I had a real meal. So I crossed Hudson Street and stopped at Pepe Verde, getting some pasta and chicken to go, a mixed salad, too, and some of their wonderful bread to go with it.
    After unlocking the gate and letting the dogs in first, I picked up the mail, several days’ worth, stopped in the garden, and sat on one of the benches, watching the dogs flirt and play. Then, without going inside, I opened the bag of food and started eating my salad with the little plastic fork, feeling how empty I was, and how tired.
    What was the rush? Surely tomorrow would be a mess, the Pooles and the Kagans finding out about the new arrangements for Harbor View. No more Venus this and Venus that; she’d be pretty much running things as soon as she got out of the hospital. And the shock of it, that she and Harry had fallen in love and gotten married. That ought to take them some time to get used to.
    I didn’t know about the Pooles. To hell with them. They had nothing to do with this after tomorrow. But Eli would work it out with Venus, for the sake of the kids. They’d be okay, in time.
    Time was all any of them needed, time to adjust to the changes and go on. Time was what I needed, too, I thought, starting the pasta, giving each dog a piece of the chicken, saving a little for myself, feeling so tired I wasn’t sure I could make it upstairs to bed.
    Why rush over there tonight? I thought, wondering if they knew about Samuel yet. He wouldn’t show up for his evening sing-along. So what? They’d wonder where he was and put the kids to bed. If I went over, I’d have to tell them the bad news—where he was, and why. A message like that, mightn’t they want to kill the messenger? And who was I kidding? I wasn’t merely the messenger. I was the one who’d dropped Samuel off at the precinct, who told them what he’d done and why. No, better to stay home, look at the mail, let Lady spend the night and take her back in the morning, let her settle in with the kids while the Kagans sat in the lawyer’s office listening to the news, two of them anyway.
    I put the remains of dinner into the outside trashcan and secured the lid. Then I unlocked the door, called in the dogs, and filled two bowls with dry dog food, adding some cottage cheese and yogurt, cleaning and refilling the water bowl. I carried the mail upstairs and took it into my office, dropping it on my desk, opening the top drawer and picking up Venus’s necklace, letting the heart spin in the light from the desk lamp.
    When the phone rang, both dogs barked. The sound seemed out of place in the quiet house.
    “Alexander.”
    “Rach. It’s Marty.”
    “Hey. How’s it going? Any luck with that bicycle