Another Stranger In The Night! or My Cup Of Tea!

Today has been great, even though I overslept this morning. When I came into the kitchen Carlton was flashing and I saw that Tony had left me a note on the breakfast bar, written on one of my pink post-its.

Because I was still sleepy, I decided to make a cup of coffee, to help me wake up, before dealing with anything. Then I read Tony's note.

"Nancy, you need to listen to Carlton and then call Kinky. Love, Tony"

Then I listened to three urgent messages from Kinky. The first time he called was 10:37 and we were already in bed asleep. "Nance, Tone. Nancy, Tony! Please call me as soon as you can." Click.

The second message that he left was at 5:15 this morning, Tony was taking a shower and I was in La La Land, dreaming about my mystery novel's next turn of events. "Are y'all there? Please call me. You're not going to believe who showed up out here. Call me or come over." Click.

Kinky's third and last message that I listened to was at 7:45, while I was dreaming about waking up.
"Nance, where are you? Call Kinky, please." Click.

After I had gone to the restroom and told Roy, "I love you, so much," I picked up the handset and punched in Kink's number and then drank two sips of coffee, as I listened to half of his message, because he picked up the phone. "Morning Nance. You have got to come over here and see who's here."

"Okay. Bye." When I walked outside, Tony arrived in Trigger.

When Trigger, Tony and I pulled up to the Lodge, a gigantic, black Great Dane and little Winston Churchill Friedman came running from the front yard, to greet me, as Kinky came out the kitchen door, wearing a big grin on his face. "I think I want this dog, y'all," Kinky said. "He showed up out here around 10:30 and Winston and I had to sleep with him, in the Annex, because I was worried that he would upset Chumley. He's a fantastic dog. I think he' is either lost or was dumped."

"I think he was dumped," Tony replied, a little bit disgusted.

As Kinky, Tony and I petted the one-hundred-fifty pound furry stranger, we discussed what we should do, because we are at capacity at the rescue ranch. Then Kinky says, "I called the number on the back of his rabies tag, but it is no longer a working number, it says his name is Rocky," Kinky told us."

When I looked at the tag on Rocky's collar, I removed the collar, "Tony, the tag is a 2010 tag and it's from the Kerrville County Veterinary Hospital, on Cully Street. The people who work there are really nice." Then I handed the collar to Tony.

"Kink, can I go use your phone to call them? I bet he was dumped."

"Of course." Then Tony went inside the Lodge to call the hospital. When he came outside, he told us, "They know the dog and check it out and call us back. Come on, Nance. We need to get back over to the rescue ranch."

As we went over the river and through the woods, I said, "Tony, I don't think Rocky was dumped, because when people dump a dog in the country, they always remove the tags, so they can't be traced."

When we arrived home, Carlton was flashing, so Tony pushed the play message button and Carlton says, "You have two new messages." The first call was from the Kerrville County Veterinary Hospital, "We called the owner and her name is Cathy and Rocky ran off late last night with another dog. She was thrilled that he has been found and she is going to call you. Bye." Click. Then there was a moment of silence, as we waited to hear the next message.

"Hello, this is Cathy. I love my dog and am so happy that you found him. Please call me back, so you can tell me when I can come pick him up. My number is..."

"Yeah, I am so glad that he wasn't dumped," I said, as Tony punched in Cathy's phone number. They talked for a few minutes and after he gave her directions to the ranch, they adios-ed each other. Then Tony called Kinky.

"Kinky, we've talked to the owner and she told me that Rocky is the love of her life and she was so grateful for you rescuing him. She was shopping at H-E-B and told me she would be here in about forty minutes." To say the least, all of us were thrilled for Rocky.

Then I returned a couple of phone calls and then I grabbed a coffee cup and a Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger Tea Keurig K-Cup, so I make my cup of tea over at Kinky's and then I went over to Kinky's, to wait for Cathy. When I arrived at the Lodge, Kinky was outside with Rocky, Winston and Sophie. "Your mama's coming," I said to Rocky.

"Dylan is coming out this morning and he should be arriving any minute," Kinky said, and he was right, because one minute later, when Dylan pulled up in his fancy Mustang, Rocky went over to his car and looked down at him, before Dylan could get out of his sports car, which made all of us laugh.

After Dylan had met Rocky and The Friedmans, he and I went into the Lodge and in the kitchen, I loaded my K-Cup, into Kinky's new Keurig single cup coffee brewer and pushed the brew button, for it to make me a single cup of Lemon Zinger tea, while Dylan and I talked about Rocky and what a cool dog he was, as he stared at us through the kitchen door.

When I removed my cup of tea from the Keurig, I set it down on the kitchen table, so it could cool off some, before I drank it and then the funniest thing happened. Dylan bent down to smell the lemony aroma and then he picked up my cup of tea and started drinking it, which I thought was very funny, because I guess he thought that I had made it for him. "Nancy, this tea is so delicious..." Then Cathy arrived.

"Kinky, thank you so much for rescuing Rocky. He's the love of my life..." After we had learned that Rocky was ony four years old and had a fun visit with Cat, I told her, "Last night, Kinky, slept with Winston and Rocky. You can brag that your dog has slept with a famous celebrity." She put her hands to her mouth.

"You're right," Cat said, "and Rocky's father, Maximilian, has too. Many years ago, before we moved out here, Max ran off and got lost and that night he slept with Eugene Cernan."

"Wow," Kinky and Dylan remarked.

"I'm sorry who is he?" I asked.

Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon," Kinky said.Then I took this picture of Rocky reunited with Cat, with Winston in the background.

Early this evening, I called Kinky and went over to the Lodge to retrieve my emptied coffee cup and when I told him about Dylan drinking my tea, because he thought I was making us tea, he thought it was funny too and I can't wait to tease Dylan about it, the next time I see him. And that is about it for tonight.

Y'all have a great evening!