Tragic Renewal by Marlina Williams Page B

With her gravy wet fingers she traced the tips of her fingers under his lip and over bright white canines. His eyes searched her face with a curious gaze. As the flavor absorbed into his mouth his tongue shot out and licked her hand where flecks of gravy still resided.
    Happy with her accomplishment she pushed the bowl closer waiting for his complete capitulation to the food. He continued to look at her trying to convey what he needed her to do. Her brows furrowed with confusion. “Really dude, you acted like you liked it.” With a shrug she scooped meat, potato, and a stub of carrot for good measure. She held the offering under his nose as she waited for a response. His ears flicked forward and his mouth came down. He licked the food from her hand and swallowed it in one gulp, then looked at her with expectation.
    “Seriously, you want me to feed you by hand? Okay, this once, but don’t get used to it.” Ziggie’s haughty expression didn’t change as he waited for her to do his silent bidding.
    Before long, Ziggie had polished off the entire bowl of stew one handful at a time. He licked his chops then waited for more as she held the final bite up to him. “That’s it buddy, all gone.” She held the bowl up for his inspection. He looked at the bowl, glanced at her then lay back down in a stew scented pout.
    She reached to rub his head before going to get her own dinner. His tail gave one quick thump before going back to its normal dejected unfurling.
    Her mouth watered as she scooped stew into a bowl. The entire time she fed Ziggie she was tempted to shove some of it in her mouth. Scott’s voice in her head screamed about all the germs contained in dog saliva, making her want to do it to disobey him, but logic won the argument.
    Before she sat at the small butcher block table she took a roll to Ziggie and laid it next to his head. One eye popped open as he regarded the warm yeasty roll. His eye closed without him snatching the roll. She didn’t see him swallow the roll whole as soon as she wasn’t watching him.
    She settled back in her chair before looking back at Ziggie and noticing the roll was gone. With a satisfied smile she dug into the best homemade stew that had ever passed her lips. She had to remember to thank Noah tomorrow and hit him up for the recipe. From now on she was going to be a cooking maven and do whatever was needed to coax Ziggie out of his self-starving state.
    After dinner was done and dishes were washed she didn’t know what to do with herself. She’d forgotten to factor in the quiet hours when she made Get a Life plans. Her feet carried her with trepidation through the sprawling house. Her footsteps echoing through the empty rooms that had yet to be filled. When she reached the master bedroom, she stopped, unsure of how to proceed.
    From the doorway she could see the rumpled bed covered in a lavender silk sheet, a loose matching sheet on the floor, and a heavy comforter on the floor in front of the queen size bed. Brianna had told her nothing had been touched since the accident, so what she was seeing was left exactly as Cara had left it the morning of her death.
    Harper’s heart threatened to seize in her chest as she scoped the rest of the room. With a small cry she reached for the door handle and slammed the door shut. She was unwilling to torture herself further with the images that flashed behind her eyes.
    Her heart beating a rapid rhythm she returned to the living room. She looked for Ziggie on his bed needing to draw some comfort from the only other living thing in the house, but was surprised he wasn’t lying where she saw him last.
    She let out a startled yelp when a cold wet object touched her hand. Ziggie stood next to her with his nose touching her hand. He must have silently followed her as she made her torturous journey from Cara’s bedroom. With relief her hand settled on his head and her fingers rubbed his ears.
    Her heart slowed its frantic beat and her breathing