“I don’t get this part.”
“What part?”
“Your reluctance to stay closer to your family when they’re worried about you.”
“My family is very self-sufficient. We were raised to be strong and independent. I think my family understands pretty well what’s going on with me. It’s possible your image of what a family should be like doesn’t reflect the reality of my family.”
Hmm. Molly thought about that. Fair enough.
“Well, are you okay with me sending them a photo of the litter?”
“Sure.”
“Let’s give it a western theme for the marketing angle.”
They spent an hour changing into western garb, leather vests, hats and moccasins, arranging light, setting the tripod, and positioning Shadow and Bear, themselves, and the pups. Most of the time they were chuckling at the awkward logistics. They finally decided they’d each hold five pups with Bear and Shadow lying in front. Molly changed the timer to give her twenty seconds to move from the camera into position. After eight attempts, she finally got the shot she wanted: Bear and Shadow looking at the camera, Molly and Bart in a chuckling pose, and all ten pups visibly cupped in their hands.
Molly studied the photo for a long time. She really liked it. Everything important in her life was right there: Shadow, Bart, the pups. She was sorry Jo missed the pups.
“Your family is going to like this one.”
“Whatever.”
“Bart, I don’t get it.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Molly uploaded the photo to her laptop and wrote an email to Kitty.
Hi Kitty,
The pups arrived this morning!
I thought your family would like to see Bear’s new family.
Bart came out of the mountains yesterday for the birth and is staying at my cabin.
The birth went pretty well. We lost one, but gained ten healthy pups. All are feeding nicely. Shadow is a good mother, Bear is on guard, and Bart and I are standing by.
Bart is planning to attend the Omak Stampede when you’re here.
Photo attached.
Molly
“I know this sounds crazy, but I want to show the pups to my staff.”
“Doesn’t sound crazy. How are you going to move them?”
“I have a basket. I was going to drive them down to the diner at noon. The restaurant will be busy, but everyone will be fascinated to see a litter born this morning.”
“Would you like for me to come?”
“Don’t have to. If you wanted to, you wouldn’t have to come inside the diner. You could flirt with the hot young babes who are landscaping the new outside eating area.”
“Perfect.”
She slugged him in the shoulder.
