Read The Owl & Moon Cafe: A Novel (No Series) for Free Online

Secret, Cinnabon, and Dillard’s. They never seemed to stop laughing. Lindsay walked the last half block to The Owl & Moon in the rain.
    “Gammy Bess,” Lindsay called out.
    Her great-grandmother was standing in the middle of the restaurant looking at nothing, holding Khan in her arms, petting the tiny black dog a lot harder than he liked, which wasn’t a good idea. Khan had limits, and if you crossed them, he’d bite.
    “What’s the matter?” Lindsay said, scanning the room. There weren’t any late customers, and apparently Simon had already gone home. She held out her arms for the dog, but Gammy hung on to him. That was weird. Every afternoon Lindsay and Allegra took Khan to Dog Beach for his run, well, for as much of a run as any six-pound dog required. If Khan didn’t get his walk, he peed indoors, and then they had to listen to Gammy rant about the Health Department paying The Owl & Moon a surprise visit and shutting them down. “Where’s Allegra?”
    Gammy gave a quick smile, one Lindsay didn’t buy for a minute. She lifted one of Khan’s paws and made him wave. “Well, look who’s here, Khannie. It’s my little honey bun. Alice is out. A doctor’s appointment. Totally routine. Nothing to concern yourself with. Your mother went with her. Just for the company. What do you want for your snack today? There’s a bowl of beef barley soup with your name on it, and I set aside some oatmeal cookies. How about a nice slice of cheddar with that, and some cocoa?”
    Lindsay, who never wanted anything for her afternoon snack but carrot sticks, opted for the soup. While Gammy Bess fetched it, Lindsay took in the aspects of the environment like any good scientist. In times like this, when you clearly weren’t getting the entire story, a person could use Carl Sagan’s Baloney Detection kit.
    Fact: Allegra hated Western medicine. When she felt sick, she went to see Krishna Dahvid, the acupuncturist. If she was at the doctor’s, something could be seriously wrong. A broken bone, or maybe she needed stitches.
    Query: Why keep that a secret? It wasn’t like Lindsay would faint from hearing the news.
    Invoking Occam’s Razor: When a simple answer will do, a scientist has to go with it, even though other more complex answers are also true.
    Conclusion: Allegra was sick-sick. Go-to-the-doctor sick. Scary sick.
    Lindsay ate the vegetables out of her soup while sitting at the table by the window. “Why did Allegra have to get a ride to the doctor? Why not drive herself, in Cronkite?” That was what Allegra called her Volkswagen van.
    “She just wanted company, that’s all. Don’t you like company when you go to the doctor?”
    “Not really,” Lindsay said. “Did she cut herself?”
    “No,” Gammy said. “It’s just a checkup. She’ll be fine.”
    Lindsay watched her great-grandmother start polishing salt and pepper shakers. That meant she was done talking. Lindsay set down her spoon. “Gammy, Khan likes his routine. If it’s all right with you, I’ll take him for his walk now.”
    “Honey, it’s raining. Khan can miss his walk today.”
    “I’ll put on his raincoat. We’ll just go around the block.”
    Her great-grandmother nodded distractedly. “Okay, then. You be careful. Take an umbrella, and wear your rain boots.”
    Lindsay fastened on Khan’s yellow slicker and harness. Allegra loved to dress him up. He had a cowboy outfit and also a Superman cape. At Halloween she made him a bumblebee costume and he won first prize in the Petco parade small dog division. “Bye, Gammy,” Lindsay said, but her great-grandmother stayed right where she was, staring out the café windows as if she were waiting for Publishers Clearing House to show up with the oversized cardboard check. Allegra must be really, really sick.
    Downtown Pacific Grove was a dog walker’s heaven. From Lighthouse Produce to Tillie Gort’s, there were dog biscuits for the asking. Even the bookstore set out a water bowl. Every other