Free Wanted: One Mommy by CATHY GILLEN THACKER Page B

in, bent down to look. “It’s the right front paw. Easy, girl. Easy.” Gently, Caroline inspected the still-oozing wound. “It looks like she ripped off part of one toe-pad on something. I don’t know if they can stitch this but she is going to have to see the emergency vet.”
    Dutch handed them a towel.
    Bounder let Caroline wrap her paw. Jack lifted the seventy-five-pound dog in his arms, and together he and Caroline moved her to his SUV.
    “You know where you’re going?” Caroline asked.
    Jack nodded. “The emergency vet clinic is two miles from here.”
    Caroline sat in the back, cradling the now steadily whimpering dog in her arms. She maintained pressure on the wound with her free hand, trying not to think about how much the paw must hurt, and buried her face in the dog’s fur, talking softly to her all the while.
    By the time they reached the clinic, Bounder had stopped crying. Jack and Caroline moved the still-trembling animal inside. The emergency technicians promptly took over, and moved the retriever to an exam room in the back.
    Finally, it seemed, there was nothing to do but wait.
    Jack filled out the paperwork, while Caroline paced.
    Finished, he came over.
    He looked as overwhelmed with emotion as she felt.
    Caroline was already near tears. “Bounder’s going to be okay, you know,” she said thickly.
    He nodded, his eyes moist. “I know. It’s just…” He paused, for a second unable to go on. Swallowed. “Maddie loves Bounder so much. That pup is the sibling Maddie never had, and if anything were ever to happen to her…” He shook his head.
    Caroline touched his arm. “Maddie would be devastated.”
    Jack nodded.
    “So you do have a heart after all,” Caroline teased, afraid if she didn’t do something to break the spell, she’d be the one to take him into her arms this time.
    And she had no business even thinking of comforting him that way.
    One corner of Jack’s mouth crooked up. “That’s the rumor.”
    Their eyes locked. Understanding flowed. Along with the realization that the two of them made a pretty good team.
    Now, Caroline thought, if they could just transfer that ability to Patrice and Dutch’s wedding, they’d be all set.
     
    I T WAS NEARLY NINE-THIRTY , but Maddie was waiting up for them when Jack and Caroline returned home, Bounder in tow.
    Caroline held the leash, while Jack lifted Bounder to the ground. Together, they walked a limping Bounder over to the grass to take care of business, and then through the front door.
    Inside, they were met by all three family members, and the anxious, empathetic look on all their faces let Caroline know this family had more than enough love to give.
    “Is Bounder going to be all right?” Maddie asked Jack and Caroline, her lower lip trembling.
    Jack bent down to unsnap the leash, then reached over and patted his daughter’s shoulder. “Yes, she is.” Jack had already relayed that information via a phone call from the vet clinic, but it was clear Maddie was still up because she had needed to see Bounder for herself.
    The four adults watched as Maddie knelt down to greether beloved pet. The two went eye to eye and nose to nose, the love that passed between daughter and retriever evident. “Daddy!” Maddie worried aloud and her lower lip shot out. “Bounder looks so sad!”
    Jack hunkered down beside them. “That’s because Bounder doesn’t like her Elizabethan collar,” Jack explained.
    It did look a little weird, if you had never seen one before, Caroline thought. The black cushion-collar fanned out from the pet’s head, like an inverted cone or a satellite dish. It was designed to keep a dog from licking or chewing a wound.
    “But she has to wear it, so she won’t try and take off the bandage on her paw,” Caroline explained.
    Maddie transferred her attention to the thick wrapping obscuring Bounder’s paw. “Her bandage is purple!” Maddie admired.
    Everyone grinned.
    Jack went on to explain. “The vet gave