The conference room door was open, and she saw Grace sitting at the table with a pile of tissues in front of her. Tanni hesitated. Either Grace had come down with a wretched cold—or she’d been crying.
Not until she walked into the room did Tanni notice that Grace wasn’t alone. Kristen Jamey sat across from her, and instinctively Tanni stiffened.
Grace glanced up. “Oh, hello, Tanni. I apologize for the tears. My dog, Buttercup…” She didn’t finish.
“Grace found Buttercup dead this morning,” Kristen explained. “She died in her sleep. Grace’s husband, Cliff, is burying Buttercup in her favorite shady spot.”
“Oh, Grace, I’m so sorry.” Tanni felt terrible for her. She’d lost her own dog, Bingo, when she was ten and, until her father’s death, it’d been the worst event of her life.
“I’d had Buttercup at the vet earlier in the week and everything seemed to be okay. She was getting on in years and sleeping a lot, but…this was unexpected.”
“Maybe we should cancel the meeting,” Kristen suggested, looking at Tanni.
“Sure. I can come another time.”
“No.” Grace dabbed at her eyes. “You’re both here and the others are coming. I’ll be fine. Just give me a few minutes.”
Kristen reached across the table and squeezed her hand gently. Tanni wanted to say something but she didn’t really know how to comfort Grace. She thought of telling her about Bingo and how sad she’d been when he died. Only it didn’t seem like a good idea to share her own pain because it might make her weep, too.
“My dog’s name was Bingo,” Kristen whispered.
Tanni’s head shot up.
“He was part cocker spaniel and part something else, although no one ever seemed to know what. Maybe poodle. My brother found him. The poor dog looked like he’d been lost a long time. Bingo didn’t have any identification, and we put an ad in the paper but no one claimed him. The day my dad was going to take him to the shelter I cried and cried, so my parents let me keep him. He’d become my friend. He even slept on my bed.”
Bingo had slept on Tanni’s bed, too.
“I got Buttercup from a friend of Charlotte Rhodes. It was shortly after my first husband died. I was so lonely, and Buttercup seemed to know how much I needed her. She loved Cliff…and me.” Grace grabbed another tissue and blew her nose. “Enough. I have to get a grip here.”
“If it’s any consolation, it does get easier with time,” Kristen said in the same soothing voice. “I still think about Bingo and sometimes—” she glanced hesitantly at Tanni “—sometimes I feel as if he’s still at the end of my bed asleep.”
Tanni looked away. She felt the same thing about her Bingo.
The meeting lasted two hours. The four original volunteers showed up, plus three other adults who sat in to listen to the presentation. All three decided that they, too, wanted to be part of the program.
Tanni kept her eye on Kristen. The other girl had been so good with Grace. Kristen had said everything Tanni wished she’d been able to say. Kristen had expressed sympathy and understanding and done it in a compassionate, thoughtful way.
Tanni didn’t know the airhead was even capable of that. While Kristen had been comforting Grace, Tanni had sat like a dope with her tongue glued to the roof of her mouth.
When the meeting ended, Tanni followed Kristen out of the building. She wanted to tell her about Bingo. Her Bingo.
Apparently Kristen saw that Tanni was behind her because once they’d left the building, she whirled around. “What do you want?” she snapped.
“Ah…”
“You’ve made it clear you don’t like me, Tanni. I don’t know what I ever did to you, but it must’ve been awful.”
“Actually, I wanted to tell you something.”
“So tell me.”
She hated the way Kristen made her feel. Grace had asked Tanni to make an effort with the other girl, and so far nothing had worked. Well, okay, she could’ve tried harder. She took a deep breath.
“I had a dog named Bingo, too,” she told her.
Kristen’s gaze narrowed as though she didn’t believe her.
“You can ask my mother if you want. It’s true. He died six years ago.”
For a long moment Kristen didn’t say anything. “I still miss my Bingo.”
Tanni stared down at the pavement. “I miss my Bingo, too.”
The other girl hesitated. “Would you like to walk over to Mocha Mama’s?”
Her suspicions immediately shot up. “Why?”
Kristen shrugged. “To get something to drink. If you’ve got other plans, it’s no big deal.”
Tanni made a show of looking at her watch. “I’ve got a few minutes.”
“Great.” Kristen was all smiles now.
They walked across the street and down the next block to Mocha Mama’s, where Shaw had once worked. His uncle owned the shop and had replaced Shaw with another manager. Adam was a college student who instantly perked up when Kristen and Tanni walked in. Tanni knew his sudden interest wasn’t in her. Adam’s eyes went straight to Kristen.
“What can I get you ladies?” Adam asked cheerfully.
Twice when she’d stopped by, Tanni had to wait while Adam talked on his cell phone. Seeing the way he reacted to Kristen confirmed everything Tanni knew about the other girl. It wasn’t fair that this airhead would command such adoration. Shaw would probably want to draw Kristen’s portrait, too, she thought cynically.
Thinking about him made her tense. Without being too obvious about it, she got out her cell phone to see if there was a text message from Shaw, desperately hoping he’d answered her while she was in the meeting at the library.