Inside, Charles and ra plopped down next to Max and Buddy.
Charles shuffled the deck and tossed out two cards. "Three of a kind!"
The dogs had their own cards in front of them. He''d always yed like this-just
him and the dogs. But now ra was here, and the rules had changed a bit. Max
and Buddy kept up, though. No surprise-they were his dogs, after all. Smart as
could be.
ra sat cross-legged, eyebrows knit together as she thought hard. Then, when
she thought no one was looking, she snuck a peek at Max''s cards.
Charles caught her in the act right away. "Hey! No peeking! We said no cheating,
remember?"
All the dogs'' cards were face up on the floor, so really, it was a game of trust more
than anything.
ra pulled her gaze back, voice calm. "I''m on the opposite team from Max.
You''re my partner."
When the four of them yed, teams changed every round. Whoever called the
suit first picked the team-whoever had that suit became your partner for that
hand.
Charles grinned and leaned in, dropping his voice. "Is that so? If we''re
teammates, we can swap cards. They''re just dogs, after all."
No sooner had he said it than Max and Buddy started barking, even baring their
teeth a little.
Charles retreated, hands up. "Alright, alright, no swapping. Chill out, you two."
The four of them yed cards all night. By the time they were done, the sun was
ra couldn''t keep her eyes open. She slumped over onto Max and fell asleep
right there.
This nket is way toofy, she thought as she drifted off.
Charles had powered through the night, but he was barely hanging on. He
grabbed a fresh nket, draped it over ra, and then crashed against the couch
himself.
When the doctor came in the next morning, he found two people and two dogs
sprawled everywhere, sound asleep.
It was afternoon by the time Charles finally woke up. The room was empty.
He hurried downstairs and saw a te of food waiting for him on the table. ra
had left it for him. Outside, she was ying with Max and Buddy.
He was about to join them when his stomach growled loudly. He wolfed down a
few bites, then pushed open the ss door to head out.
His phone rang. It was Richard.
"Did you find her yet?"
One line, and Charles was yanked right back to reality.
He didn''t answer, so Richard pressed, "Are you actually reliable or not? Weren''t
your dogs supposed to be able to find anything?"
Charles shut the ss door, cutting
off the sounds of raughing
outside. "We''re still looking. You said
three days, right? It''s only been one.
What''s the rush?"
Richard didn''t know Charles well, but he knew he only answered to the Chester
family. Since they''d sent Charles to handle things, nothing else came first.
Richard sighed. "Day after tomorrow. You bring her to Palm Bay yourself."
Charles'' face went cold.
Mitch always said: around strangers, keep your mouth shut and your face nk.
"Fine. Anything else?"
Richard didn''t bother with small talk. He just hung up.
Charles listened to the dial tone before finally setting his phone down.
For the first time, he didn''t feel like ying with Max and Buddy.
That night, ra dragged him out to
the night market. They hit every stall,
scooping up so many stuffed
animals that ra couldn''t carry
them all. She ended up calling two
cars just to get everything home.
By the time they got back, the pile of plushies nearly covered Max and Buddy''s
whole room.
ra stood in front of the mountain of toys, counting. "One hundred and one, one
hundred and two... two hundred and six."
She let out a satisfied sigh and turned to Charles. "Perfect. It''s an even number.
That way Max and Buddy can each have a hundred and three-no fighting."
Of course, the two dogs never argued over toys anyway.
But ra treated them like little kids. She wanted everything to be fair, down to
thest plushie.
Charles had been down all morning
after Richard''s call, but once ra
dragged him out to the market, he
started to feel better. He''dughed
more that evening than he had in
ages.
But then he saw the bandages on her neck and wrists, and the guilt hit. He
realized he hadn''t really taken care of her at all-she was the one who''d been
cheering him up.
He was about to say something when ra asked, "Hey, are you feeling better
now?"
Charles froze. So she''d noticed.
He quickly turned away, rubbing his eyes. How could she be just a random person
he picked up? She was an angel. He couldn''t let her go.
Forget Richard. Forget Dn. They could both take a hike.
From now on, ra was staying right here-with him. She was going to be his
little sister, no matter what.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and
continue reading tomorrow, everyone!