He Was Trying to Come Back

At the bottom, she’d added one more item.

Buddy snacks.

He picked up his keys, and Ella glanced toward the front door. He didn’t promise he’d be back in thirty minutes.

He held out her coat instead. She slid her arms into the sleeves, tucked Buddy under one arm, and carried the purple list out to the truck.

Before Andrew started the engine, she buckled the stuffed puppy carefully into the seat beside her.

Then she handed the list to her father and kept her other hand wrapped around his, all the way to the store.

THE END.