If Not For You

Chapter 3-Laundry

Maeve's POV

I woke up the next day and got dressed. It was early June in Nashville, so the weather was perfect. I slipped on some shorts and a t-shirt and walked to the kitchen. Both dogs peeked around the corner from the kitchen at the sound of my footsteps and ran towards me.

"Good morning sweet babies" I said as I sat down on the floor with them climbing all over me.

"Morning." I heard, I looked up to see Sam sitting at the bar on the other side of the kitchen island.

"Morning, have the dogs already been fed?" I asked as I looked for their food bowls,

"They have, I guess I forgot to show you that yesterday." He stood up, placing his coffee down, "Here are their bowls, and their food is in the bottom of the pantry." He opened it and showed me. "Tillie gets 1 scoop in the morning and one at night, and Jack gets a half a scoop in the morning and half at night. They both get these supplements on their food 3x a week." he said pulling out a bag. I nodded as I took mental notes of all the instructions

"Got it, so do you usually feed them when you are here or do I?" I asked "You are paying me to do that." I laughed

"I guess I am huh, I will probably feed them when I am home." He said after thinking for a moment. I walked over to the fridge and got out some orange juice. I glanced at my watch, "What time is your stuff getting dropped off?"

"My friend is bringing it by in about 10 minutes, is that ok?" I asked as I looked for something to eat, settling on cereal with the oat milk in the fridge.

"Of course, you live here now too. You can have people over whenever, as long as it doesn't get too wild" He said shooting me a look

"Alright, good to know." I giggled

"Will you guys need help bringing in the stuff?" He asked as he lifted Jack into his lap

"I don't think so, it's only a few boxes and my guitar." I said as I ate my cereal

"Oh yeah? You play?" He asked looking over to me,

"Nah, I carry it around for funsies." I said sarcastically causing him to roll his eyes,

"Ok I guess that was a dumb question. How long have you been playing?"

"Ever since I was like 10, so like 13 years I guess. That makes it sound like I'd be extremely good at it, but I'm definitely not. It was on and off practice for a few years when I was moving to different foster homes."

"I'm sure you can play beautifully." He said sincerely

"What about you? Play any instruments?" I asked, I watched as he placed Jack on the ground and stood up

"I dabble." He paused, "Since you won't need any help bringing your stuff in, I will go ahead and start getting ready. I have to go into work, I won't be back until tomorrow morning." He said as he walked down the hallway.

"It's Saturday?" I said confused as he walked down the hall

"Yup, let me know if you end up needing help." he said as he walked into his room and closed the door. I finished my cereal and placed the bowl in the sink, I'd just wash it later. A few minutes went by and I heard the intercom beep. I walked over and pressed the button,

"Hey! I'll be right out Frankie" I said as I let the dogs out in the back yard, I didn't want them running out the front door. I walked out to see my best friend standing out by the gate. Her buzzed haircut was bleached and stood out again her dark skin tone. She was wearing a yellow t-shirt tucked into some boyfriend jeans she had cuffed on the ends. Tube socks and converse on her feet, right on brand for her. I hugged her as I approached her, she was about a half foot shorter than me.