Font Size:  

In a leisurely atmosphere, the leaders gave the volunteers a briefing of news and issues that needed addressing. A benefactor had given them a large amount of injectable contraceptive material, and Justin and his partner, another volunteer, retired veterinarian Grace Breaux, would spend the morning inoculating females by darting them.

In a huddle, the group discussed the best way to go about the procedure, when out of the corner of his eye, Justin saw Amber Greely walk into the meeting. His heart did a little squeeze; getting involved with her was the best example of why you shouldn’t shit where you eat.

After the meeting was over, everyone went to their respective jobs, and Justin wanted to confront Amber as soon as he could.

“I’ll be right with you,” he told his partner. “Meet you at my truck.”

When she left the room, Justin hunted down Amber, who in addition to her volunteerism with the horse group was on the city council and was up for re-election, with goals of running for state office in the next election. She had a lot to lose risking it on stalking.

“Get away from me, two-timer,” she hissed when he approached her.

“Stay away from Cypress Cove,” he said, ignoring her comment. “If I find out you’re out there again, I’m calling the sheriff. That wouldn’t look very good on your reelection attempt.”

“Nice show you put on last night, by the way. It made me sick to my stomach, you pig. She’s a pig, too.”

He cringed; that meant she had been in the woods when they were making love on the dock. Thank god there wasn’t a full moon.

“So you admit you’ve been peeping. You are definitely not going to get reelected if you’re arrested for that, Amber.”

“She’s too young for you.”

“That’s none of your business,” Justin said. “Again, stay away from the cottage. I might give Dave a heads-up anyway, just to be safe.”

“Go ahead and tell that degenerate. I’ll do what I want and go where I want.”

“Amber, I’m not kidding. I’m calling Dave, then, as soon as we’re done here today. Trespassing and peeping is pretty creepy. You’re acting desperate.”

“I hate you,” she hissed. “Now get away from me beforeIcall Dave.”

Not putting it past her to accuse him of something, he backed off right away, but as soon as he was out of the building, he called Dave, the sheriff and his brother, and told him what was happening.

“I’m afraid she’ll retaliate,” Justin said.

“Look, I can only admit this to you because you’re my brother, but I had a similar problem with her. I wish you had told me you were going to hook up. She’s trouble with a capital T. Actually, she’s a maniac.”

“It just happened at the spur of the moment, as hooking up sometimes does. Now she’s sneaking around Maggie’s cottage after dark, scaring the crap out of me.”

“You were there?”

“Um, yeah, you can say that again.”

Justin said goodbye and hung up from the call, not wanting to keep his partner waiting. They had a great day out in the field, darting mares with contraceptive inoculations. Controlling the horses’ reproduction was one of the positive things that could be done for the wild horse population.

When they finished up, he tracked down one of the leaders of the organization to tell her that Maggie was willing to allow a band of horses to be moved to her property in addition to the band that was already there.

They’d be careful to choose a group of mares and their youngsters, including young males, so the hierarchy wouldn’t be disturbed too much. The leaders had observed this group long enough to know which horses should be moved together, and Justin trusted their wisdom about it.

Back at Bayou Cottage, Steve Casson had come by boat to talk to Maggie about a fence for Brulee.

“Have something to drink before you go.”

“I can do that. I look forward to coming here, so any excuse to hang around,” he said, laughing.

“I’ll work at getting my friends to visit. I have more single women friends than you can imagine.”

“Aw, I guess that means you’re not interested,” he replied, an exaggerated sulk on his face. He was half teasing, half-serious.

“Truthfully, I’m interested in Justin Chastain. I’ve had a thing for him since I was a kid,” she said honestly. “I enjoy your company, so I hope you won’t stop visiting.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
Articles you may like