Iris Avenue Read Online Free PDF Page B

know you so well,” Ed said. “What is it this time?”
    “It’s a lab mix,” she said. “She’s so sweet and perfect for you.”
    “The last time you said you had a lab mix that was perfect for me, it was two percent lab and ninety-eight percent vicious killer.”
    “This is different. You’ve got to come see her; she’s over at Drew’s.”
    “Hannah, no. Even if she’s wonderful, my house is bursting at the seams as it is.”
    “Alright,” Hannah said. “I’ll have to throw her in the kennel with the stone-cold killers and hope she survives. I found homes for all of Theo’s dogs, you know.”
    “Everyone knows,” Ed said. “On your own time with county resources.”
    “She’ll keep Hank company, and really, two are no more trouble than one.”
    “I can’t take on any more responsibility,” Ed said. “Housebreaking would just about do me in.”
    “That’s okay,” Hannah said, backing out the door. “You’ve got enough on your plate. I understand.”
    Ed sighed deeply, then got up and put on his jacket.
    “Stay,” he told Hank, who didn’t even open his eyes.
     
     
    When Tommy arrived at the newspaper office at lunchtime he found Ed typing on the computer keyboard with one hand while cradling a small black puppy against his chest with the other.
    Ed handed the puppy to an ecstatic Tommy and said, “If you want her, you’ll have to take full responsibility. You’ll have to feed her and make sure she gets outside in time to poop and pee, every hour until she learns to hold it. I can keep her while you’re in school, but otherwise, she’ll be your problem.”
    Tommy took the puppy from Ed’s arms, and it whimpered a bit.
    “Where’d she come from?” Tommy said, as he cuddled her up under his chin.
    “Hannah found her,” was all Ed said.
    “I’ll take good care of her,” Tommy said.
    Mandy came in with a big smile that disappeared as soon as she saw the puppy. She gave Ed a pointed look.
    “Do I get to vote, or has this decision already done been made?” she asked.
    Tommy looked up in a panic, but Ed shrugged and met Mandy’s irritated look with a cool one of his own.
    “If you don’t want Tommy to have the dog, he can’t have the dog,” he said.
    “I’ll take care of her,” Tommy pleaded. “Please, Mom.”
    Mandy and Ed locked eyes for a long moment.
    “Thanks a lot, Ed,” she said. “Like I could say ‘no,’ now.”
    “Tommy has promised to look after her,” Ed said. “It will be a good experience for him.”
    “Good thing, because I ain’t cleanin’ up after it,” she declared. “You better make sure it don’t chew up none of my shoes, neither.”
    “I will, I will,” Tommy said.
    “You better take her out and see if she needs to pee,” Ed told him.
    As soon as the boy left, Ed said to Mandy, “I know I should have consulted you first and I’m sorry. Please don’t take it out on Tommy.”
    Mandy embraced Ed and snuggled up under his chin.
    “That’s alright,” she said. “We’re still findin’ our way ‘round each other.”
    Ed hugged her and kissed the top of her head.
    When Tommy came back in, he was smiling from ear to ear.
    “She peed and pooped.”
    “Grab a plastic grocery bag and go pick it up,” Ed said.
    Tommy made a face.
    “That’s what it means to be a responsible pet owner,” Ed told him. “Anything that comes out of that dog you clean up.”
    Tommy nodded and fetched a grocery bag out of the office kitchen.
    “I’ll go to the grocery store and get her some food after you go back to school,” Ed told Tommy when he came back. “She’s too little to eat Hank’s food.”
    “I gotta get to work,” Mandy said to Ed. “Don’t forget you have basketball practice at 7:30 and Tommy needs help with his homework. You boys be good.”
    She kissed them both and left.
    Tommy ate and then went back to school. Ed took the pup down to the IGA to pick out some chow.
    Morris Hatcher stopped in at the Fitzpatricks’ Service