that my house didn’t have a lot of damage and I wasn’t hurt. Mildred had damage to her house. She’s already had a new roof put on and windows replaced. She has a back room that has to be rebuilt, but she was one of the fortunate ones who got help from her insurance company and had a construction company she’d worked with on other jobs, so she called them right after the storm.”
“That’s the best way. Make the insurance call as soon as possible.”
“It worked for Mildred.” They drove into a neighborhood that had damage but not the massive destruction that had occurred in the western part of Royal. Houses were older, smaller, set back on tree-filled lots. Stella saw the bright beacon of a porch light. “There’s her house where the porch light is on. Mildred is in a block where power got restored within days after the storm. Another help. There she is, waiting for us and probably calling Dobbin.”
“He could be miles away. It’s a cold night and she’s elderly. Get her in where it’s warm and I’ll drive around looking for Dobbin. Hopefully, he loves treats.”
When they reached the house, Aaron turned up the narrow drive. A tall, thin woman with a winter coat pulled around her stood on the porch. She held a sack of dog treats in her hand.
“Thanks again, Aaron. You didn’t know what you were in for when you asked me to eat dinner with you. I’ll get her settled inside and then I’ll probably walk around the block and look. She said he hadn’t been gone long when she called.”
“That’s good because a dog can cover a lot of ground. I have my phone with me. My number is 555-4378.”
“And mine—”
“Is 555-6294,” he said, startling her. “I started to call you a couple of times, but you said you wanted to say goodbye, so I didn’t call,” he said.
That gave her a bigger surprise. She figured he had all but forgotten the night they were together. It was amazing to learn that not only had he thought about calling her, he even knew her phone number from memory. He had wanted to see her again. The discovery made her heart beat faster.
“Stella—”
Startled, she looked around. He had parked and was letting the motor idle. She was so lost in her thoughts, for a moment she had forgotten her surroundings or why they were there. “I’ll see about Mildred,” she said, stepping out and hurrying to the porch as Aaron backed out of the drive.
“Hi, Mildred. I came as quickly as I could.”
“Thank you, Stella. I just knew you would be willing to help.”
“I’m with Aaron Nichols, who is Cole Richardson’s partner. They own one of the companies that has helped so much in rebuilding Royal. Aaron will drive around to search for Dobbin.”
“I appreciate this. He’s little and not accustomed to being out at night.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him,” Stella said, trying to sound positive and cheerful and hoping they could live up to what she promised. “Let’s go inside where it’s warm and I’ll go look, too. You should get in out of the cold.”
“You’re such a help to everyone and I didn’t know who else to turn to. There was George, my neighbor, but their house is gone now and he and his family are living with his sister.”
They went inside a warm living room with lights turned on.
“You get comfortable and let us look for Dobbin. Just stay in where it’s warm. May I take the bag of treats with me?”
“Of course. Here it is.” Mildred wiped her eyes. “It’s cold for him to be out.” Gray hair framed her long face. She hung her coat in the hall closet and stepped back into the living room.
“I’m going to walk around the block and see if I can find him. Aaron is looking now. We’ll be back in a little while.”
Mildred nodded and followed Stella to the door.
“This is nice of you, Stella. Dobbin is such company for me. I don’t want to lose him.”
“Don’t worry.” She left, closing the door and hurrying down the porch steps. “Dobbin. Here, Dobbin,” she called, rattling the treat sack and feeling silly, thinking Dobbin could be out of Royal by now. She prayed he was close and would come home. No one in Royal needed another loss at a time like this.
“Dobbin?” she called, and whistled, walking past Mildred’s and the lot next door where a damaged house stood dark and empty. The roof was half-gone and a large elm had fallen on the front porch. Away from the lights the area was grim and cold. She made a mental note to check tomorrow about Mildred’s block because she thought this section of town had already had the fallen trees cleared away.
“Dobbin,” she called again, her voice sounding eerie in the silent darkness.
A car came around the corner, headlights bright as it drove toward her. The car slowed when it pulled alongside her and she recognized Aaron’s rental car. He held up a terrier. Thrilled, she ran toward the car. “You have Dobbin?”
“Dobbin is my buddy now. He’s waiting for another treat.”
“Hi, Dobbin,” she said, petting the dog. “Aaron, you’re a miracle man. I’ll meet you on Mildred’s porch.”
“Get in and ride up the drive with me. I’ll hold Dobbin so he doesn’t escape.”
She laughed, thinking it was becoming more and more difficult to try to keep a wall up between them. All afternoon and this evening he had done things to make her appreciate and like him more.
She climbed into the warm car. “I’ll hold Dobbin,” she said. When Aaron released the terrier, he jumped into her lap. Aaron drove up the drive and parked.
“Come in and meet Mildred because she’ll want to thank you.”
“Here, you might as well give Mildred the bag of treats. I’ll carry Dobbin until we get to the door,” Aaron said, taking the dog from her.
On the porch Aaron rang the bell. In seconds the door opened and Mildred smiled. “You found him. Thank you, thank you.” She took the dog from Aaron and the bags of treats from Stella. “Please come in. I’m going to put him in my room and I’ll be right back. Please have a seat.”
When she came back, Stella introduced everyone. “Mildred, this is Aaron Nichols. Aaron, meet Mildred Payne.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. Dobbin was in the next block, sitting on a porch of a darkened, vacant home as if waiting for a ride home. I had a bag of treats, so he came right to me.”
“Good. He doesn’t like everybody.”
“Mildred, we’re going back. It’s been a long day and I still have some things to do.”
“I wish you could stay. I have cookies and milk.”
“Thanks, but we should go,” Stella said. Mildred followed them onto the porch, thanking them as they left and still thanking them when they got into the car.
“Now you’ve done
