“There’s a goat in my truck.”
He lets out a booming laugh, but I don’t say anything as Doughnut answers for me.Baa.
“Well, shit! I just heard that. Is it really a goat?”
I try to hide my smirk. “Yeah. And I think she has a heart condition or something. I thought I’d killed her because she toppled over when I scared her. I tried to give her mouth-to-mouth, but luckily she woke up before I had to do that. Eeek!”
Gino lets out another chuckle as I sit back, rubbing behind Doughnut’s ear.
Oh, she seems to like that.
“I don’t know what to tell you,bella. I definitely don’t have a goat. It must have walked off the street and jumped in while we were processing your payment.”
“Okay, thanks, Gino. I’ll figure something out.”
“If you need to, bring it back here, and I’ll make good use of it.”
I know exactly whatthatmeans.
Gino’s a wholesaler. Not just of flowers, but grocery and meat products too.
No way Doughnut’s going back there any time soon.
“Thanks for the flowers, Gino. Gotta go.”
“Ciao, bella.” He ends the call.
I glance back at the goat. How in the world am I going to find out anything about your owners, Doughnut? The thing is, I have the Art Festival to contend with. And, worse than that, I’m back to my initial problem, a distinct lack of flowers.
Great job, Doughnut.
Finding Doughnut’s owners will have to take a back seat.
With a quick sigh, I stand, loop my fingers through Doughnut’s collar, and she comes willingly, as I lead her to the edge of the truck. She’s actually super tame and easy to workwith. I know whoever’s misplaced their goat is going to be upset and missing her. I’ve known her for all of five minutes, and I can already feel myself becoming attached.
“C’mon, miss, let’s get you out the back.” I walk with her in tow around the rear of Love and Lavender. She’s a little wobbly, almost like she’s drunk, and I wonder if she’s going to pass out again. I can’t tell if she’s blind, or maybe she’s blind drunk on the flowers she’s eaten. But then again, if she were blind, how would she have gotten up into the truck to begin with? Maybe it was the scent of the flowers she’s now had for breakfast.
Luckily, the shop is based out of an old townhouse, so it has a nice big backyard where I can store Doughnut until I can figure out what to do. In the meantime, she can roam around and not have to worry about bumping into much out there if sheisblind.
I open the tall wooden gate and walk us through onto the grassy patch. While I find a bucket to fill with water, I let her roam free for the moment. Leaning over, I grab one of the larger ones from yesterday’s deliveries, empty the leaf debris, rinse it out thoroughly, then fill it with fresh, clean water. I call Doughnut over and splash the surface, showing her the liquid. She dips her head in immediately, lapping up some droplets. It makes me feel better knowing she understands.
Maybe she isn’t blind after all?
“Okay, little Doughnut, I gotta go to work. But you stay out here. Don’t you go anywhere, okay?”
Baa.
“Good girl. I’ll come get you after work, and we’ll find your owners.”
Baa.
“Okay, deal,” I agree, petting her on her cute little head.
The back door is open, and Rory’s standing there with a big, toothy grin on her face. She’s wearing her Hufflepuff-inspired striped, tight-fitting sweater and tartan skirt, and her makeup isdone to perfection. She’s a walking contradiction. Total nerd, yet glam squad queen at the same time. I have no idea how she pulls off that look, but she always does. Her short, black bob frames her thin, pale face as she stares at me, oozing curiosity.
“So, I send you out for flowers, but you come back with a goat?” she quips.
I groan. “Oh, wait till I tell you what just happened to me!”
