Micayla and her mom are going to get their hair rebraided this morning. I've gone with them a few times, and it's cool, but it takes a really long time.
Bennett's mom is taking him and his little brother, Asher, on a fishing expedition. If Danish were here, we'd go for an early-morning stroll along the beach and then stop at Daisy's for pancakes on the way home. Daisy's is a restaurant for humans and canines. That's what the sign says. Daisy McDougal is a dog lover through and through, and so she set up a little doggie eating area on the porch of her restaurant. There are bowls of water and buckets of treats for the dogs.
It's one of my favorite places on Seagate. I've been avoiding it this summer for obvious reasons.
So instead of pancakes, I decide to smear some cream cheese on a bagel and head over to Marilyn Monroe's. I know it's Amber's house and I'm really there to watch her son, but after just a few mornings together, it seems that my main purpose is to spend time with Marilyn Monroe. And I'm okay with that.
"Oh, what a morning!" Amber says as soon as she sees me. "My personal trainer canceled my afternoon appointment, and Marilyn Monroe was craving a trip to Daisy's-I could tell. But we never made it out for our morning walk."
"That sounds…stressful," I say. Sometimes it's hard for me to really understand what she's worried about.
"But Hudson is down, finally, and Marilyn Monroe was somewhat satisfied with a few extra treats," she tells me. "Thanks again, Remy."
"No problem," I say. "And…um…I could take Marilyn Monroe to Daisy's later, I mean, if you want."
"You'd do that?" she asks. "She can be a handful. She never quite got the hang of walking on a leash, heeling, and all that."
"I can handle it," I say. "I mean, if you want. We can talk about it when you get back. I don't want you to be late."
"You're the best, Remy." Amber grabs all her supplies and her iced coffee and heads out for the art class.
"I love Daisy's too," I tell Mari when we're settled and cozy on the couch. "I understand how you feel."
She does her little "I agree" yelp, and we settle back into the couch for our usual morning chatting session.
"I went to Dog Beach finally," I tell her. "I had been avoiding it, but my friends dragged me there. You haven't met them yet-Micayla and Bennett-but they're pretty awesome."
She looks up at me with her big brown eyes, her ears up as high as they can go, as if she wants to hear more about them. So I tell her about how my mom met Bennett's mom when we were babies and how Micayla came to Seagate the summer before second grade. She sits close to me, not making a peep, with her lips curved up slightly in what I like to call her listening smile.
"Micayla's getting her hair braided this morning and I'm super jealous." I show Marilyn Monroe my boring straight hair. "I wonder what color beads she's going to get."
Marilyn Monroe listens to me, but I can tell she's getting bored. She probably doesn't think much about human hair problems.
"You still want Daisy's," I say. "I can tell. We'll go later."
She jumps onto my lap and licks my face and then settles down.
"Oh, and this other thing happened since I saw you last," I tell her. "So there's this guy, you've probably seen him around, his name is Mr. Brookfield. Anyway, he can do this crazy scream, and it's been in movies."
I try to imitate the Scream, and it sounds really bad. And then Marilyn Monroe starts barking like crazy, like she's trying to imitate it too. And then I get worried we're going to wake Hudson up.
"Shh," I say, and she immediately gets what I'm saying and stops barking. "We make a good team, Marilyn Monroe."
Her lips go from her listening smile to her smiling smile, and I know she agrees.
