Chapter Three
“Is everybody okay back there?” Hannah asked as she turned onto the highway.
“We’re fine,” one of the wives responded. Hannah wasn’t sure which wife it was since there were two married couples riding in the back of her cookie truck. They were part of the group that Doc Knight’s interns had asked her to take to the hospital, since there were only a few vehicles available and the ambulances were transporting the more seriously injured.
Luckily, the two couples had escaped with minor scrapes and bruises. One of the husbands had a cut on his leg that might require a couple of stitches, and the other husband had suffered a blow to his head and would be watched for several hours for signs of a concussion. The wives had scrapes and bruises, but their injuries were minor. They had been on their way to the Tri-County Mall to see a movie when they’d come upon the accident and been unable to avoid becoming part of the massive pileup.
“How about you, Buddy?” Hannah asked. The keyboard player had the most serious injury in her little group of what Ben Matson, one of Doc’s interns, had called the “walking wounded”.
“I’m okay, except those cinnamon rolls are driving me crazy. Usually we stop somewhere on the road, but we were supposed to have dinner out at the Lake Eden Inn before our practice.”
“All he had was some of my vegetable chips,” Lynnette, the final member of Hannah’s group reported. She was completely uninjured, but she was riding along so that she could rejoin the rest of the band at the hospital.
“We were going to have dinner at the food court out at the mall,” one of the husbands told Hannah, “so we’re pretty hungry, too. How long until we get there?”
“No more than fifteen minutes. I have to make a quick stop to drop off the puppy, and then we’ll go straight to the hospital. We’ll get you all something to eat from the vending machines just as soon as we get there.”
“Forget the dog, just get us some food,” Buddy said, sounding more than a little petulant. “I want one of those cinnamon rolls right now.”
Hannah shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. The cinnamon rolls are part of an order that’s been bought and paid for. But I do have some cookies in the back. How about a couple of Triplet Chiplets?”
“What are those?” one of the wives asked.
“Cookies with three kinds of chips. These have white chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and milk chocolate chips.”
“Too bad that white chocolate’s not peanut butter chips,” Buddy complained.
Well it’s not, and there’s not a lot I can do about it at this late date, Hannah thought, but she snapped her mouth tightly shut and reminded herself that Buddy had been in an traumatic accident. It was true that his injury wasn’t life threatening, but he was probably afraid that his wrist was broken, and that might end his musical career.
“Try one. You’ll like them,” Michelle said, just as Hannah pulled into Lisa and Herb’s driveway. “Hannah’s going in with the puppy, but I’ll stay here and find all the extra cookies she has in the back. Then you can choose the ones you want to try.”
“Hannah! What are you doing... oh! How precious!” Lisa held out her arms to take the puppy.
It was precisely the reaction Hannah had been hoping for. She stepped into her business partner’s warm kitchen and put the puppy into Lisa’s waiting arms. “This poor little guy was on the band bus when it went into the ditch. He was part of that accident on the highway. Someone was holding him and he’s not hurt.”
“Thank goodness for that! I know all about the accident. Herb got a call about twenty minutes ago, and he left to go out there to help transport people to the hospital.” She looked down at the puppy with a concerned expression. “Are you sure he’s not hurt?”
“I’m sure. One of the paramedics checked him out. I think he’s really hungry though. The driver of the band bus found him shivering in the cold and stopped to pick him up. The wife of the bass player wrapped him in a blanket and held him. They were going to take him to a shelter.”
“Were?” Lisa asked, carrying the puppy to Dillon’s dog bed, tucking the blanket more securely around him. She opened a can of dog food, put some into a bowl, stirred in some chicken broth to thin it, and heated it in the microwave. “So does he belong to anybody?”
“No. That’s why they were going to take him to the shelter. And when they told me that, I said I’d take him. I don’t know why I did that. I have no idea if he’ll get along with Moishe. And even if he does, he’ll be alone all day in the condo while I’m at work. And since I’m on the second floor, I can’t even have a doggy door.”
“I have a doggy door,” Lisa said, stirring the bowl of warm food and picking up the puppy again. She nestled the little guy in her lap, dipped her finger in the bowl of food, and let him lick it.
“I know you have a doggy door, but I didn’t come here to ask you to take me off the hook. I can try it and see how it goes. I just need you to babysit while I take some of the accident victims to the hospital to get checked out.”
“Okay, I can do that. But I’m serious, Hannah. I can take him. We only have one dog and we’ve been talking about getting another one. When you have two, they’re company for each other.”
“But will a dog this little get along with Dillon?”
“Of course he will. Dillon loves other dogs and he’s crazy about puppies. He’ll adopt this little one in no time flat.”
“Well ... I don’t want you to feel you have to take him.”
“I don’t feel I have to. I want to take him. Dillon’s always with Herb. He rides in the squad car with him and he goes on rounds. They’re practically inseparable. Dillon loves me. I know he does. But Herb trained him and spent more time with him than I did. Dillon’s really Herb’s dog, and I’d like a dog of my own. This little guy could be my dog.”
“Well ...”
“Come on, Hannah. The only reason you said you’d take him is you felt sorry for him. And now you’re having second thoughts and ...” Lisa stopped talking and narrowed her eyes. “You figured I’d take him right from the start, didn’t you!”
“Who, me?” Hannah put on her most innocent expression.
“Yes, you. You knew I’d take him, and that’s why you said that you would. And you brought him over here so I’d fall in love with him and keep him. Don’t deny it, Hannah. We’ve been partners for almost three years and I know you.”
“Okay. Maybe I had you in mind. You did say you wanted a dog that was all your own. And this little guy is so small, we could keep him down at The Cookie Jar during the daytime.”
“How about the health regulations?”
“Your husband is in law enforcement. Police dogs are in the same category as service dogs. You know the rules. Service dogs can go into places that normally don’t allow dogs.”
“But Sammy isn’t a police dog or a service dog.”
She’d named him already! Hannah felt almost giddy with success. “Sammy could be a service dog in training. Why did you name him Sammy anyway?”
“It’s his markings. He looks like he’s wearing a little Sam Browne belt. Are you sure I can bring him to work?”
“I’m sure. All we need is a crate for when we’re super busy, a bed and some toys, and a leash and harness for when he wants to visit in the coffee shop.”
“You had this all planned out, didn’t you?”
“No, at least not everything. I was just hoping, that’s all. So do you think it’ll work?”
Lisa glanced down at little Sammy. He’d finished most of the food and fallen asleep snuggled in her arms. “Oh, yes,” she said, giving a happy smile. “It’ll work just fine.”