Page 33 of Tack’s Bounty

“Oh my, yes. She did not want to have anything to do with a motorcycle club or Justice. It was quite the adventure watching them,” Ruthy said.

Ruthy leaned closer. “I don’t know if Tack has had a chance to update you, but so far, Jolene and Rufus aren’t talking. Now, we’re just detaining them and asking questions while allowing Cuffs and some others to dig deeper into them.”

Sophia was glad for an update. Before Tack had left yesterday, he’d mentioned they’d made no headway, but Ruthy was a little more forthcoming.

“And this is for both of us,” Adley said, handing Justice an envelope with a smirk.

Justice’s brow furrowed as he opened it, but then he whooped and picked Adley up, spinning her around in his arms.

“Whoa, don’t make me nauseous,” Adley pleaded.

Justice paused, letting Adley slide down, and then turned to everyone. “We’re having a baby,” he crowed.

Sophia jumped up with everyone to congratulate the couple. Tack hugged Justice while she embraced Adley.

“Congratulations. I’m so happy for you,” Sophia said.

“Thank you,” Adley replied.

Once everyone had their turn congratulating the couple, the club settled back to relax. Cue was delivering barbecue for supper in a little bit, and Sophia’s surprise should be pulling in.

At the sound of a horn honking, Sophia stood up.

“Umm, my surprise isn’t as special as Adley’s, but I hope you all will take it in the spirit it was intended. If you absolutely hate what I’ve done, you can say no,” Sophia ventured softly.

“Babe, anything you do will be fine,” Tack reassured her.

“I hope so,” she breathed, walking out to get the first present. Freedom and Lake had given them baths before bringing them.

Sophia took the two that Ruthy had mentioned but were too sick to even leave the clinic last week. A dark gold male cocker spaniel and a Blenheim-colored Cavalier King Charles Spaniel female, who Sophia had discovered was pregnant. She led the two into the room, walking over to Ruthy.

“Happy Fostering Day! You can totally say no, but these both are okay for fostering. The female is pregnant, and they seem to be bonded because they cry if they are separated. Would you be willing to foster?” Sophia asked, slightly worried Ruthy might say no.

“Do I get first chance to adopt them?” Ruthy pressed, crouching down on the floor to scratch behind the ears of each dog.

“Of course,” Sophia conceded.

“Then yes, I’d be happy to, but if you have any cats or kittens that get along well with these sweeties, then I’d take a couple,” Ruthy said.

“Hey, does this mean we all get to be fosters?” Ariel asked with a grin.

“Umm, yes. Please don’t be mad,” Sophia pleaded.

“Why would we be mad? You went shopping for us,” Ariel replied.

Sophia opened the door to accept the next animals. She walked them over to Shield. “I know you hadn’t agreed to training yet, but hopefully, after you foster these three, you’ll be convinced that you can’t live without having dogs to train.”

Shield grinned and nodded at her. “Thank you,” he said, crouching down to love on the three dogs.

Sophia led the next puppies over to Ariel and Pit and to Justice and Adley. “Now these are only fosters, so you’re not committing to anything unless you want to,” she informed them, handing the leashes to each woman. Sophia grinned at Justice, introducing Ian to the dog. They all had collars with their names engraved on them to help them keep the dogs straight. The puppies she’d picked for the boys were Australian Shepherds and were so friendly. She’d known they’d be perfect for the boys, with Teddy turning one this month and Ian being eighteen months.

“Thank you, Sophia,” Justice said.

Sophia nodded and took the next handoff from Lake. She walked toward Charlie with the carrier. “You mentioned you loved the cats you’d had growing up, so I thought you’d be perfect to foster these sweet ones. From what I can tell, they’ve all had multiple litters. They’ve all been spayed so they can enjoy being cats, and you don’t have to worry about any more kittens except for the one that hangs out with them. He cried when I put them in the carrier to bring them, so I brought him too. He’s neutered, but if five cats are too many, I can see how he does separated from them,” Sophia explained.

Charlie leaned down and peered into the carrier. “Oh, aren’t you all just so cute. I’ll get you a cat tree or two and you can enjoy hanging out,” Charlie cooed. She stood up and hugged Sophia. “I’d love having them all as long as I get them after I foster them,” Charlie said.

Sophia nodded. This was working out better than she’d hoped.