One of Holly’s trips down the hall, Louis looked up and smiled at her. He was thumbing through one of the books. “Thank you, sis.”
She walked in and sat down next to him on the bed. “For what?”
“For not forgetting about me.”
She hugged him. “Never. I love you, and I wasn’t going to stop until I got you out of there. What do you want for dinner tomorrow night?”
He let out a laugh. “I don’t know. I think Momma and Papi left us enough food for a week. You shouldn’t be cooking. Walt’s right, you need to take care of yourself.”
“I didn’t know if maybe you’d want me to make mac ’n cheese or something.”
“Oooh. Mom’s recipe?”
Holly smiled. “Yeah. I can broil us some burgers in the oven.”
He laid his head on her shoulder. “I dreamed about Mom’s food all the time. Is that horrible?”
“Not at all. She was a darn good cook.”
“I missed helping you and her cook.” He lifted his head to look at her, pointing at the TENS unit controller still hanging from the front of her sundress. “Hey, you aren’t going to try to do too much, are you?”
“No, I promise. I’m sure Walt would give me holy hell if I did.”
“Me, too. What time do I have to be up in the morning? Kimbra said there are more interviews.”
“She said she’ll be here by seven, and so will Walt, so we need to be up around six. I’ll set my alarm and come wake you up.”
“I’d kill for a shower right now before bed. A long shower, by myself, where I don’t have to do anything except close my eyes and stand there and enjoy it.”
“Momma bought a bunch of stuff for you and I had her put it in your bathroom.” She patted his arm. “Hey, you don’t even have to share a bathroom with me now. How about that?”
“How come Walt didn’t spend the night?” He reached for her left hand and looked at her engagement ring. “I wouldn’t have minded.”
“He asked me. I told him I wanted you to myself tonight. I didn’t know how overwhelmed you’d be after today. I know I’m pretty overwhelmed, but I can’t imagine what you’re feeling.”
“Relief is at the top of the list. I’m okay with him being here, though. He seems like a good man.”
“We’ll get through this, and I promise you, I’m there for you. Every step of the way.”
“Yeah, but it’s time you start living. Kimbra and Walt told me what you’ve been doing.”
“What have I been doing?” She hoped he didn’t spot how her face was turning pink from the fib. She knew from the heat in her cheeks.
“Trying to focus only on me and not on taking care of yourself.”
“That’s what a good big sister does.”
“Well, I’m home now. It’s time for me to take care of you.” He let out a yawn. “But first I want a shower.”
She carefully stood, hoping she wasn’t wincing as she did. “Enjoy. If you need anything tonight, come get me.”
It was so good to see him smile again, even if he did look exhausted. “I’m not a kid. I’ll be okay.”
“Still, I’ll leave my door open.”
“You go get some rest, sis. You look exhausted.”
“I will.”
Holly left her bedroom door open in case Louis needed anything during the night. Yes, she missed having Walt there, and he’d insisted she call him if she decided she needed him during the night, but she needed this time with Louis and knew her brother would need the decompression time as well.
Kimbra had already found a counsellor willing to work with Louis for free to help him process what he’d been through.
It was now a matter of getting him back into life.
She could never give him back the six years he’d lost, but she’d damn sure do everything in her power to make sure that she helped fill his next few weeks and months—and years—with as much love and support as she could.
She’d also make sure she’d summon every ounce of energy she could to help Kimbra do whatever possible to right the wrongs done to her brother by the legal system.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Louis had been home just over two weeks when Holly, with Walt and Kimbra’s help, arranged a surprise for Louis. It involved a drive, though. So on that Friday morning, they set out from Sarasota.
“Where are we going?” Louis asked as they set out that morning after breakfast.
“It’s a surprise,” Walt told him.
“A good one,” Holly said. “I swear.”
When they pulled up outside the Hardee Correctional Institute, Louis made a disgusted-sounding noise. “What are we doing here? Thought you said this was a good surprise?”
Kimbra was already waiting for them in the parking lot. “It’s good, bro, I promise,” Holly insisted.
Kimbra wasn’t alone. With her stood Marta Williams, one of the civilian dog trainers who helped run the greyhound rehabilitation program. She immediately smiled and walked over for a hug from Louis.
“I always knew you were a good kid,” the older woman told him as she hugged him hard. “I’m so glad they got you released.”
“What’s going on?” Louis asked. “Why are we here?”
“We have a surprise for you,” Kimbra said. “Today’s Sasha’s graduation day.”
“It is? But it’s a Friday. We never do graduations on Fridays.”
“I know,” Marta said. “But we got special permission from the warden to do this today. We wanted you to get to meet her new family, since you never really got a chance to know any of the others.”
Louis wiped at his eyes. “Sis showed me the pics and stuff from the other families. I’ve gotten to e-mail with them and talk to them on the phone. They all seem like good people. I’m glad they went to good homes.”
“Come on,” Marta urged. They checked in, but they were shuttled by staff to a different area of the prison than the visitor area, a small, fenced-in yard separate from the main exercise areas, with a couple of plastic chairs set out for them.
Across the yard, a door opened and a guard and an inmate emerged, the inmate walking a gorgeous female merle greyhound.
Marta walked over to speak with them before the guard and inmate approached.
“You can talk and shake hands with each other,” the guard said, smiling at Louis.
Louis stood and shook with the inmate. “How’s she doing, John?”
The smiling man, who looked to be in his late forties, was heavily tatted along his arms and neck. “She’s been great, kid. It took her a couple of days to settle in with me after you left, lucky guy, but I did what you told me to. I talked to her and read to her and she got used to my voice and me. Ms. Marta said she’s passed all her training now.”
“Good.” Louis reached down and held out his hand to her. Her tail wagged and she sniffed him, licking his hand. Louis dropped to his knees and petted her, his forehead pressed against hers as he softly spoke to her.
Walt’s hand settled on Holly’s and he dropped her a wink.
She’d had such a hard time keeping this secret.
“Where is her new family?” Louis asked Marta.
“Well, see, that’s the thing. We had a special application for her that I couldn’t deny.”
“Who?”
John handed him the leash. “Congrats, dude.”
Louis stared up at him, then at Marta. “No way?”
“Way,” Holly said from where she sat. “I asked if we could adopt her.”
He started crying again, hugging the dog, who seemed to sense this was a good thing and started trying to happily climb all over him.
“And that’s not all,” Kimbra said. “Part two of this surprise is that the families of the other dogs you helped rehabilitate and train will be coming over to your house for a special reunion dinner tonight.”
“Oh my god.” Louis finally climbed to his feet and hugged Marta, then the guard. Then he started to hug the inmate, checking hi
mself before looking to the guard.
The guard glanced around before smiling. “Go ahead.”
Louis hugged him. “Thanks for taking such good care of her.”
“Hey, no problem.” When they parted, John brushed at his eyes. “Send me pics, man. Ms. Marta said it’ll be a couple of weeks before the next round of dogs comes in. Gonna miss her.”
“I will. I promise.”
When they left not long after, the warden himself stopped them before they exited the secure area with Sasha calmly walking on a slack leash at Louis’ side.
“Just wanted to come shake your hand,” the warden said. “I followed the news. I’m glad they got it straightened out.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I’ve already talked to Mrs. Williams and told her that if you want to volunteer for her program here as a trainer, I’ll be happy to approve you. You know the guys, you know the dogs, and I feel badly for you that you lost time with your sister. I hope you have a better life from here on out. You deserve it.”
“Thank you for that.”
They returned to the parking lot, Louis focused on Sasha as they walked. Holly kept her arm hooked through Walt’s, leaning on him as she watched her brother with the dog. Her pain was a little high today, but nothing she couldn’t deal with.
Not when she felt this damn good.
“Here’s all her paperwork,” Marta told Louis when they were once again in the parking lot. She handed him a thick envelope. “Including her ownership papers, her shot records, her chip registration info, all of that. Make sure to go online and change her chip info to your name and address.”
“Yes, ma’am. I will. Thank you.” He hugged her again. “Can I really come back and help train the dogs?”
“You sure can. I was so glad when your sister told me what happened. I didn’t want to contact you right away and overwhelm you.”
He stroked Sasha’s head. “She’s a good dog. The best I ever trained.”
“That’s what the other trainers said about her.”
When they were finally in the car and on their way back home with Sasha riding in the back seat with Louis, Walt glanced in the rear view mirror. “You all right?”
“Yeah, man,” Louis said, his voice sounding choked.
When Holly looked, Louis was staring out the window, one hand on Sasha’s head and the other wiping at his eyes.
Walt reached over and patted her thigh. She covered his hand with hers and squeezed.
* * * *
Walt wouldn’t deny he found himself choking up more than a few times that evening as the families converged on the Olson house with their dogs and kids and food and well-wishes. They had a backyard full of dogs and happy energy that he couldn’t help but be moved by.
“Good times, huh?” Kimbra asked as she walked over, a bottle of gourmet root beer in her hand. It was her favorite, and sometimes hard to come by. Walt had to search three different stores to find it, and bought all six six-packs they’d had, just because he knew she loved it.
Hell, it was the least he could do for her. “Yeah.”
“I wish I got more happy endings like this,” she said.
“I wouldn’t consider it totally happy, considering what they lost to get here. Especially Louis. And the toll it took on Holly’s physical and mental health.”
“But look at what they gained now. All the odds against them, and now they beat them.”
He slowly nodded. “Two against nature.”
“Yeah, if you want to say it like that, sure.”
“Any news on Salazar?”
“He’s out of a job. I was told he got fired yesterday. There’s going to be a hearing in two weeks about disbarring him.”
“You going to be there?”
“The sun rise in the east?” She took a long pull from her bottle. “Damned right I’m gonna be there,” she muttered, her tone turning dark. “Going to do what I can to ruin that son of a bitch’s life. There’s four cases going up before judges next week, more cases where discovery evidence was held back by the prosecution. Every defendant was black, too, with an all-white jury. I’m gonna be there for them. I’m helping the defense attorneys.”
“Sounds like you’re going to be busy.”
“You have no idea.” She tipped her head to the side. “Got a date planned yet?”
“Not yet. Just having my ring on her finger helped calm me down. I can be patient. Right now, Louis needs to be her focus, not me. I can wait.”
“Seems like she’s focused on you, too, no matter what.”
He dropped his voice even further. “Thank you. Not just for this, either.”
“You’re welcome, but I’m not following.”
“Thanks for standing your ground, and for staying my friend, even when you didn’t have to.”
Her expression softened. “Walt, you’re always gonna be family. Even now. I probably never should have gotten married in the first place, but I was still trying to figure myself out. You need someone who needs you. She needs you. I don’t mean in the bad ways, either. They both need you. I don’t need another person. One day, maybe I’ll find someone who I feel like that about, but not right now. I’d rather be doing what I’m doing. You’re a sadist. In a way, I guess I am a masochist, but it’s about my work.”
“You got that right.”
She hugged him. “What’d your family think of Louis when you took him up there to meet them?”
“Mom and Dad welcomed him. I think they were a little nervous, at first, until they saw all the press coverage.”
“And now they have a granddog.”
He laughed. “One baby step at a time.”
She saluted him with her bottle of root beer and took another swallow from it.
* * * *
Holly knew she’d probably spend the better part of tomorrow in bed after all of today’s excitement.
Worth it.
Totes.
All the pain and fatigue was nothing compared to the light in her brother’s eyes, a light she never thought she’d ever see again.
She suspected Sasha would be sleeping on his bed tonight despite the expensive orthopedic doggy bed Walt had purchased for her.
Hell, as far as Holly was concerned, Sasha could sleep anywhere she damn well pleased as long as Louis was happy.
Amaleeza and Cedro had come over for the party as well, bringing plenty of food with them, in addition to what all the families had brought.
Momma homed in on Holly and gave her a gentle hug. “How he doin’?”
“Emotional in the good way.”
“Good. He looks happy, finally. Glad to see it.” Momma kept an arm around Holly, and Holly left her head tipped over onto the taller woman’s shoulder.
“I think he is happy,” Holly said. “I’m glad all the families said yes to tonight. This is like the whipped cream and cherry on top.” In one corner of the yard, the Sarasota TV station had a cameraman filming the festivities. Everyone had agreed to letting them have the exclusive as long as they didn’t interrupt or get too intrusive.
Kimbra wanted to keep Louis’ name in the news as much as possible over the next couple of weeks, updating the public on his adjustment back into life, the progress he was making. Stories about him that would tug at people’s heartstrings.
What better story than a guy and a dog both given second chances?
Kimbra had warned Holly she’d use her, too, talk about her fibromyalgia as another sympathy factor to keep eyes on the story.
Already, twenty-eight independent researchers had provided Kimbra information on some of Salazar’s past cases, helping point out improprieties that would be looked at more closely by the legal teams.
All because of the publicity this case was receiving.
If using her fibro helped, Holly was all for it.
At least it’d be good for one damn thing in her life.
Later that night, Walt and Louis both put their feet down and insisted Holly go to be
d as they, Kimbra, and Momma and Papi cleaned up after everyone left. Holly had finished soaking in the tub and dragged herself into bed when Walt poked his head into the bedroom.
“Can Louis and Sasha come say goodnight?”
“Yeah. I’m decent.” She slept in a long T-shirt, but had the sheet pulled up over her anyway.
Walt opened the door wider, and the dog raced in, nosing Holly’s palm when she held it out to her.
Louis walked in. “Easy, girl,” he said to the dog. “Gentle.”
The greyhound sat, glancing his way before looking at Holly.
“She’s a beautiful dog, bro. You did good with her.”
He petted her head. “Thank you, sis. We pulled up there today and I’ll admit for a moment, I was pretty angry until I saw Ms. Marta.”
“It wouldn’t have been a surprise if I told you.”
He carefully sat on the edge of the bed as Walt walked over. “Thank you for never giving up on me, sis. Thank you for believing in me. I didn’t want to tell you, but I’d really started to think I was never gonna leave that place unless it was in a body bag. I’d started to lose hope.”
“I wasn’t going to quit fighting for you until I was dead. I knew they got it wrong. I just had to keep fighting until someone else realized it.”
He looked up at Walt. “Thank you for taking care of her and making her listen to you about taking care of herself.”
Walt smiled down at her. “Hey, somebody has to out-stubborn her. Might as well be me.”
Louis leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Sleep in tomorrow, okay? I’m going to do the chores. When you wake up, I’ll make breakfast. Believe it or not, I’m enjoying doing chores. If I’d known that when I was a kid, I would have appreciated doing them a lot more back then.”
“If Mom could hear you say that now, she’d faint.”
“Yeah, right?” He sighed. “Would you mind if I started doing something with the backyard?”