Patrick is Reg's oldest friend, and he's living with them in Key West these days. I adore Patrick. He's a good guy and he has Henry's and Reg's best interests at heart.
He told me first that Reg is "mortified" by how he treated me. To which I rather heartlessly replied, "Good." Then I hastened to add that since Reg apologized, I'm willing to put it behind us. But I would be lying if I didn't admit that whole thing -- the confrontational conversation with Henry plus the public slap by Reg -- didn't leave me bruised.
Then Patrick told me that they have two big problems right now:
• Lola, their dog, is having seizures. She's very old, has bad teeth so she no longer enjoys her food, and other age-related health problems, and is suffering. Reg knows it's time to put her to sleep. At moments, Henry will admit he knows it, too. But they just can't bear to do it right now. Can I do anything to try to convince Henry? Lola is in pain, and this situation is not fair to her.
• Reg simply cannot keep taking time off work to drive Henry to and from his job. Henry refuses to take Uber or Lyft for complicated reasons that don't make a great deal of sense to me. Anyway, they can't afford it if Reg's hours -- and his pay -- are cut. Can I try to influence Henry to take cabs or arrange rides on his own?
I said I'd see what I could do, sometime this week. And I will. Just not right away. I have other things on my mind right now, and Reg and Henry are depleting me.
This is not to say that I don't love Henry. I do, and I'm in this for the duration. But when I got home from lunch, all I wanted to was nap. Then I did three loads of wash, and was ready for bed. 9:00 on Sunday. I've done none of the chores I'd planned for today. My tank was empty.
