“Hi,” the woman who’d been extremely quiet during the entire exchange between Otto and the rest of us said. “I’m Sage.”
I waved at her. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Constance.”
“I know.” She smiled. “Not to interrupt, but I have to get to work soon. Major, are we going to do anything else today?”
Major, who I’d learned earlier was the vice president of the Dixie Wardens MC, brought his wrist up so he could check the time. “I have time. If we do it quick, we can still get some work in. Creed, you still up to play the missing hiker?”
“Yeah.” He frowned. “Though I only have an hour. My girl expects me home before dusk. We have an appointment tonight.”
“Let’s get started, then.” Major clapped. “Black, talk to you later.”
Black nodded as he dropped into his seat and closed the door.
Otto in the back, he rolled out of the parking lot.
When I looked up, Creed was gone, and Major was standing over a map at his truck.
Sage was shifting from foot to foot, and her dog that’d never strayed farther than a foot from her side stared at all of us accusingly. His muzzle made him look mean as hell.
“Are you headed home?” Odin asked.
I scrubbed at my face. “I should probably. Wendy will need dinner.”
He looked at his watch. “She gets out of school soon.”
“She’s already out,” I admitted. “But my dad got her.”
“Okay, good.”
I would not admit that I liked the way he worried about whether my daughter had gotten picked up from school or not.
That was just crazy talk.
It was stupid to be happy that he’d thought of her.
I mean, it was a logical choice to assume that she would need picked up. She was school age, after all.
But still.
It made my insides all gooey.
I stood up and wiped invisible dirt off of my jeans. Picked a piece of lint off my jacket.
“What’s your goal for today?” I blurted out.
“Let Creed get far enough off course and then let Peanut do his thing,” he admitted. “What’s with the bird?”
I looked up at Possum.
“He was caught tangled up in fishing line,” I explained. “As a youth. We try really hard not to let animals imprint on us, because our main goal is to release them back into the wild to live their lives. However, that didn’t work out with Possum. Possum refused to hunt for himself. When we released him, he followed us back home. Flew miles and miles back to our place. Then waited for us like he’d done every morning since he’d been brought to us. Eventually, he started to lose weight. Then he’d venture closer and closer to us, giving us those sad osprey eyes. We knew he’d never be released into the wild. So we made him a nest of his own. He patrols the area. Keeps the rodent population to a minimum. Gets his daily intake of fish.”
“What else do you rehabilitate?” Odin asked.
“I didn’t even know you could talk, Odin,” Major mused. “Are you going to be joining this meeting, or should I…”
Odin sighed. “Head home, Constance. I’ll keep you updated on the saga that is your life.”
I smiled, though it barely reached my eyes. “Would it be okay if I watched y’all work? This sounds exciting.”
