Necessary Detour Read Online Free PDF Page B

She bolted around the house.
    Pete Bayer, only sixty feet away, was crouched over a lump on the road.
    “It’s your dog,” he called, not taking his eyes off the body.
    Nikki sprinted to them. Elvis was still howling and that meant he was not dead. She knelt beside Pete and put her hand on Elvis’s ribs. “S’okay, boy. Please don’t die on me, Elvis.” He wasn’t flattened. There was no visible blood or open wounds.
    “I think he rolled under the truck.” Pete ran a hand over Elvis’ small form.
    Nikki’s heart thumped against her chest wall. “The tires didn’t run over him, right?”
    “They didn’t,” Pete whispered.
    Nikki leaned in and stroked the dog’s head, tears dripping onto his fur. “Elvis. Don’t die on me, little boy.” A pink tongue emerged to lick her hand and Nikki stifled a sob. Pete had a flashlight on his keychain, and ran it over Elvis. His tummy was scraped but there were no gaping wounds. Not on the side they could see.
    “Looks like road rash.” Pete sat back on his haunches and looked at Nikki.
    Her hands drifted over the dog’s abdomen, checking for tender spots. Nothing. Was he simply dazed? “I can’t tell if it’s serious.” Her strangled voice surprised her. She couldn’t lose Elvis. If her dog was dying, she wanted to hold him. She slid her hand under his head and crouched lower to cradle him. “You are all I’ve got right now.” She lifted the dog’s shoulder to peek underneath. “He’s not whining. That’s got to be a good sign.”
    “Could be.” Pete didn’t sound convinced.
    “Maybe it just knocked the wind out of him.” She kissed Elvis’ neck and buried her face in his fur. “Mommy loves you, Elvis.”
    Pete’s hand rested against Nikki’s back and she wondered how long it had been there. The warmth was comforting. “I’m so sorry, Nikki. I didn’t see him.” His voice was still raw, like a growl.
    Nikki turned and saw pain in his eyes. “I know.”
    Elvis lifted his head, sniffed, and uttered a noise, like a snort. Nikki’s heart dropped to the pit of her stomach. “No Elvis, don’t leave me.” The little dog’s head lifted further and he snorted again and sniffed the air.
    “Sniffing is good,” Pete said, leaning in.
    Elvis’s snort turned into a half bark as he tried to focus on the bushes behind Pete. He squirmed, and Pete reached across Nikki to hold him down. “Take it easy, boy.”
    Elvis’s ears were in full alert. He tried to get his legs under him so they moved him to stand. Pete’s light enabled them to do a full check for wounds. Nothing big, just some rash burns on his leg and tummy. A chipmunk chattered close by and Elvis cocked his head.
    “See if he can walk,” Pete suggested.
    Nikki let go of Elvis and watched him wobble a few steps. When he ambled off into the underbrush, she wiped the remaining tears that had stuck on her jaw line. “Elvis. Come here. I can’t believe he just walked away. I’d say you definitely didn’t run over him with that three ton truck if he can move like that.”
    “Thank God.” Pete’s hand went to his heart. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t see him until it was too late.” He turned to face her. “Maybe we should take him to the vet, if they have one in town.” Pete watched Elvis emerge from the darkness nearby. “At least get an x-ray.” Elvis was happily scouring the ground for smells, his hopping around another good sign.
    “I don’t think he’s broken anything.” She’d risk the town and vet if she thought Elvis needed medical attention but he looked perfectly normal as he zigzagged around the bushes. “I’ll keep my eye on him tonight. But thanks for suggesting it.”
    He stood and reached for her hand to help her up. Without thinking she put her hand in his. It wasn’t the first time he’d helped her and she remembered the feel of his firm torso against her shoulder at the Stop and Go. Maybe it was the worried look on his face or the touch but seeing the