One Good Cowboy. Catherine Mann

Mariah, Johanna put a reassuring hand on the woman’s arm. “You don’t have to do this, Mrs. McNair. The dogs can stay with you. They can stay here now and even if the time comes...” She swallowed back a lump of emotion. “Even if the time comes when you’re not here. This is their home.”

      Mariah patted Johanna’s hand. “It’s okay, really. I love them enough to do what’s best for them. I’ll be in and out of the hospital quite often, and they deserve attention.”

      “Everyone here will take care of them.” She held on tighter to this strong, brilliant woman who was already showing signs of fading away. She had new gaunt angles and a darkness around her eyes that showed her exhaustion in spite of keeping up appearances of normalcy with a red denim dress and boots. “You must realize that.”

      “I do, but I need to know they’re settled permanently, for my own peace of mind.” Mariah stroked the scruffy little terrier, adjusting the dog’s bejeweled collar. “They deserve to be a part of a family and not just a task for the staff, or an obligation for a relative who doesn’t really want them.”

      “They could be a comfort to you. Even if you kept one of them, like Pearl or Sterling, maybe...”

      Mariah’s touch skimmed from pup to pup until she’d petted all four. “I couldn’t choose. It would be like playing favorites with my children or grandchildren.”

      There was an undeniable truth in her words and a selflessness that made Johanna ache all over again at the thought of losing her. “I wish there were more people like you in the world.”