One Dog Too Many (A Mae December Mystery) (28 page)

I
t was after nine in the evening when the phone rang at Mae’s house ten days after her release from the hospital. Silas Mead was on the line. He said he wanted to talk to Mae because spring cleanup day was tomorrow. Silas reminded her that since he and Terry had moved into Ruby’s house, they’d be joining the work party.

Mae was quiet for a minute when Silas asked if they could stop by her house around seven thirty in the morning. He said he thought they should talk.

She took a deep breath. “I’ll have the coffee ready.”

“Thank you, Mae. Terry is hoping you’ve forgiven him. I hope so, too. He’s normally a good person. The situation had us all doing things we’d never do in ordinary times.”

They said goodbye and Mae walked up the stairs to bed, wondering whether she was going to be able to be as gracious in the morning as her mother had raised her to be.
I probably should forgive Terry and move on. We’re neighbors now
.

Silas and Terry drove up the driveway at seven thirty on the dot the next morning. The sun was out and the last wispy clouds were dissipating. The prediction was for a high of eighty. The walnut trees on either side of the driveway showed their sage-green leaves, fuzzy and small as the ears of a mouse. The entire world seemed to be welcoming spring.
I should try to be as welcoming
.

The doorbell rang. When she opened the door, she saw Silas and Terry standing on the stoop. Mae had never met Terry. He was younger than Silas and wore his straight dark hair short. His brown eyes were wary.

“Please come in.” Mae opened the door all the way.

Silas came in and formally introduced Terry. Terry put his hand out to shake. After a little hesitation, Mae took it.

“Thank you for seeing us,” Silas said.

“Would you like coffee?”

The next few minutes were taken up with Mae pouring coffee and offering cream and sugar. Mae invited the men to sit at the kitchen table, and they were all quiet for a few minutes. Mae waited, debating what to say next.

“Mae,” Terry began, “I hope we’re going to be the kind of neighbors y’all are famous for on this road.”

People who weren’t native Southerners could rarely get away with saying “y’all.” Terry was no exception.

“I hope so, too, Terry.”

“I appreciate you deciding not to press charges.”

She
shrugged, ruefully. “I actually forgot all about it with everything else going on. But I know we’re going to be neighbors, and life is short.” She looked at Silas. “Do you remember that Todd Snider song Ruby used to love?”

He shook his head.

“Something about life being short,” she said.

“Oh yeah,” Silas broke in, humming a few bars. “Can’t remember the
exact words, but they were all about loving and not wasting your time on hate.”

Terry was looking at both of them with the beginning of a smile. “I’ve never heard that song before, but those sound like good words to live by, and I really appreciate your attitude. Silas and I have moved into Ruby’s place. We’re excited to be a part of the neighborhood. He’s happy to be back in his childhood home and close to his grandmother. We wanted you to know we’re hoping to be dog owners, too, sometime in the future.”

Mae was quiet, remembering the red ribbons and vicious little drawing, wondering what kind of dog owners they would make.

“I don’t know what to say,” Mae finally said to Silas. “Do you think you’d be able to be good dog parents? It’s a big responsibility.”

“The Meads have always had dogs, mostly pointers and hounds. Since Terry and I are going to have enough space, we’ve been talking about getting one. I’ve missed having a dog.”

“What kinds of dogs are you considering?”

“I’ve always wanted a Borzoi.” Terry looked at her. “You seem surprised.”

“A Russian Wolfhound? I don’t know. Borzois are quite difficult to train and they need lots of exercise. They’re not good with children, either. Why do you want a Borzoi?”

“I’m of Russian descent and I learned about them from my grandmother. Apparently, up until the Russian revolution in nineteen seventeen, they were the exclusive property of the Tsar. The dogs couldn’t legally be bought or sold; only received as gifts from the monarchy. After the revolution, the peasants slaughtered all of the dogs. They thought of them as symbols of the decadence and ruthlessness of the Tsars. The breed survived only because a handful were exported to this country.”

“
Interesting. I wasn’t aware of their history. I only know about them as pets. Did you know Borzois rarely bark? That can be a wonderful attribute in a dog. They’re respectful of humans and have good manners, if trained properly. However, since they were used to hunt wolves originally, their natural tendencies need to be curbed.”

Mae had always found Borzois spooky. They could sneak up on you so silently, you wouldn’t even know they were there.

“What do you mean ‘natural tendencies’?” Silas asked.

“If another animal, or even a child, runs by, the Borzoi is hardwired to attack and bring down their prey.”

“Well, maybe I can get back into hunting.”

“Silas, this is no pointer who will work the fields for you. Borzois can kill. It’s a big decision.”

“It’s obvious we’ll be needing Mae’s expertise. We probably should get down to Beth’s house. We don’t want to be late.”

The three of them walked out to the driveway and drove separately over to the Jensens’ house. Everyone was arriving and saying hello. Coffee and pastries were ready. The Ryans brought fruit. People trooped in, windblown and cheerful.

When Beth asked everyone to divide into teams of two or three people, Mae looked directly at the man who had threatened her dogs and took a deep breath.

“I’ll work with Terry,” she said. She’d forgiven him, but she’d never forget the horror that swept over her when she realized her dogs were in danger. She wasn’t ready to trust him completely yet.

As everyone walked out of the house to get wheelbarrows, rakes, and shovels, Terry turned around. “Mae, will you help us pick out a puppy?”

“It would be my pleasure,” she said and meant it.

Several days later, Mae got her coffee and shooed Thoreau, Titan and Tallulah out the door. She set her mug on the step and went back in to carry the last two puppies outside. They were nice and fat, and of all the puppies, they were the liveliest. She put them down on the grass next to their mother, who gave her an irritated look. It was a beautiful morning and Mae realized once again how good it felt to have things back to normal on Little Chapel Road.

The irises were in bloom in the flowerbed in front of her house and their distinctive scent filled the air. The blossoms on the magnolia tree were huge goblets of waxy white. In the far distance, near the base of the hills, three deer picked their way across the field. Something startled them and they raised their white flag tails and vanished. Thoreau dozed in the grass. Titan stalked a squirrel and Tallulah evaded her puppies.

Silas and Terry’s large fenced-in enclosure down the road was nearly an acre in size. The fence was for the puppy that would arrive soon. It made a perfect square in their yard and already Terry was building flowerbeds nearby. They were also planting trees for shade. She waved at Eveline Ryan, who was
practicing a “long down” with Toast in her front yard. Robin Fanning was out for a run. The puppies were play fighting with each other in the grass. The last two, who would be going to her sister’s sons, were wrestling together, growling fiercely.

Mama had asked Mae many times if she didn’t find it hard to keep a neat house with all the dogs, but she knew she’d rather have doggie nose prints on the French doors and chew marks on the rugs than perfectly clean windows and flawless floor coverings. The devotion in their eyes when they looked at her made the extra work worthwhile, although admittedly she got tired of the constant vacuuming. Mae got a kick out of her mother telling her to put all the dogs in the kennels when her own were always in the house.

There was only one thing she still needed to do. She needed to talk with Robin Fanning and there was no time like the present. From her front porch she could see Robin coming out her front door to start running. She picked up the puppies and walked down the driveway.

“Robin.”

Robin’s expression was wary, until she saw the puppies.

“I thought you might like to see my last two.” Mae knew that puppies brought a smile to almost everyone’s faces.

“They’re really cute.” Robin wasn’t meeting her eyes.

“Would you like to come up? I have the coffee on.”

“Thank you.”

The two women walked up the driveway together. Mae handed the puppy she called Eric the Red to Robin. She carried Soot.

They went into the house and Robin commented on how much the kitchen, dining room, and living room had changed.

“I took out all of the non-supporting walls. It opens up the space quite a bit.”

“It’s really beautiful.” Her voice shook.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“Mae, I need to say something. I want you to know, the night I went to Ruby’s house and took that shovel, I didn’t have the slightest suspicion that Laura had killed Ruby. I thought Ruby was sound asleep in her bed. When I got my sister’s text, I didn’t want to wake Steven by putting on clothes. I put my jacket and boots on over my PJs. I assumed Laura was having another one of her episodes and took the shovel away to calm her down. Then I walked down Little Chapel Road to my house. When Lucy Ingram’s car came down the road, I didn’t want her seeing me in the middle of the night dressed in pajamas and carrying a shovel. It would have been too hard to explain. I darted up your driveway and put the shovel in your barn. Then I saw your shovel hanging there. I took it and walked home the back way, through the woods.

“
Looking back now, I realize I must have subconsciously suspected that Laura had done something awful. I’ve been in denial about her condition for years. We both wronged you. I can’t forgive myself for what Laura tried to …” her voice broke as she looked down at her feet.

“Robin, it’s okay. You need to let this go. What Laura did isn’t your fault. I know your family has a long road ahead and that you may face a jail sentence for withholding evidence. I don’t want to make things any worse for you than they already are. What’s going to happen to Laura now?”

“You probably know she confessed to killing Ruby. She’s in a mental hospital. I still wonder if the whole thing would even have happened if I hadn’t told her that Ruby was pregnant and that David wasn’t the father. She confronted James and he admitted to the affair. I have a lot of days when I feel Ruby’s death and your kidnapping were both my fault.” She seemed to be pleading for Mae’s understanding. Robin’s shoulders were slumped and she started to weep.

“
Robin, it never occurred to me that you’d feel the murder and kidnapping were your fault. Ruby was pregnant. In itself, that might have motivated James or Laura to try to get rid of her. Laura’s mental health issues started a long time ago. You practically gave up your life to help her get better, but you couldn’t save her, not all by yourself. She needed far more than a big sister, even a wonderful big sister, could have done. I think it’s good she’s getting treatment.”

Robin nodded. “Laura’s in a good facility and maybe they can help her. I tried and tried, but I couldn’t ever fix her. Mom’s staying with James to take care of the kids, which is hard on her because she’s so angry with James about the affair. Everyone in the family is still in shock.”

“Will you have to pay a fine or do community service?”

Robin sniffled. “Nothing’s settled yet, but I hope community service. I used to work with the Seeing-Eye dog program. I’d like to work with them again.” Neither of them spoke for a bit and Robin took a deep breath. “Thank you for being so understanding. Your kindness means a lot to me, especially after what you’ve been through.”

“After losing Noah, and then going through this ordeal, the last thing I would ever do is hold a grudge. Life is hard enough without us being unkind to each other.”