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“Hey, ladies,” he said in a thick Acadian accent. “You just in time for a delivery. We having twins today.”
“Twin what?”
“Twin sheep,” he said. “This is lambing time in the South. We be eating some fresh lamb for Thanksgivin’ this year.”
“Oh, jeez, shut the hell up, will you, please? That’s disgusting.”
“Where you think meat come from? It don’t grow up from the ground like a ear o’ corn.”
Laughing and shaking her head, Kelly nodded toward him. “See? He’s like a hick,” she drawled. Ted pulled her into an embrace, Kelly screaming at the blue glove. “Don’t touch me with that thing!”
“Aw, it just got a little sheep smut on it, sweetheart.”
For trying to keep their relationship private, Ted certainly didn’t look like he was holding up his end of the bargain.
“Amber must not be in yet,” Kelly said.
“Nope, she starts after lunch today,” he said, peeling the glove off. “Show me what you got in your van. I guess I’m going into the household pet business.”
“No, honey, all you got to do is hold ’em for me. I’ll find the homes. You can spay and neuter, too, if you’d like, but I know that’s askin’ a lot.”
“I’ll do whatever you need me to do, sweetheart.” He focused on Maggie, making her skin crawl. “And I’m sorry, in all the joking around, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Ted LeBlanc.”
“This is Justin’s girl, Maggie Angel,” Kelly said. “Annie’s friend. She introduced Annie and Steve, by the way.”
Ted stretched his hand out to shake Maggie’s. As soon as she could, she’d get the hand sanitizer from her bag for a squirt.
“Okay, I got it. We have so much inbreeding here in Cypress Cove, I thought we were gonna get new blood. Three new ladies, all related to Lonnie Langtry.”
“He’s my grandfather so not exactly new blood. Did you know him?”
“My mother is a Langtry. She’s Lonnie’s second cousin. I think that’s how it goes. She’s younger, of course. More your aunt Elizabeth’s age. My mother knew Elizabeth Bonnet.”
“So you two are related,” Kelly said, smiling, and secretly relieved; Ted wouldn’t flirt with a cousin now, would he?
“I guess I need to look at a family tree,” Maggie said, getting a headache.
How much longer were they going to stay? She should have cleared that up from the get-go. Maybe if she didn’t contribute to the conversation, they’d get the hint and finish the work.
“Let’s unload this treasure trove,” Ted said in a minute.
The three of them got the larger cages out and situated in the travel trailer. But while they were in there, it gave Maggie an idea. Maybe she could get a trailer on her property and have a little rescue out there without the bother of a big barn and all the hassle and time. Keeping her thoughts to herself, she’d talk to Justin about it later. She wouldn’t want a place full of cages though. Maybe a big living room with lots of couches, and a big fenced area where they could play.
“I guess we’re done here if you’re ready to head back to civilization,” Kelly said, looking at her watch. She wondered when Amber was going to arrive but didn’t have the time to wait around.
“I’m ready,” Maggie said.
“It was nice meeting you,” Ted said, with a wave. “Say hello to Justin for me.”
“Oh, don’t let him kid you,” Kelly said slyly. “He’ll be on the phone to Justin as soon as we pull out of the driveway, braggin’ on you.”
Flaring her nostrils, Maggie wasn’t sure what that meant, but it sounded awful, so she ignored it, opening the van door and getting in. The first thing she did before putting on the seatbelt was get that hand sanitizer out while Kelly and Ted said their final goodbye.
“What’d you think?” Kelly asked when she was in the van.
“It’s a nice setup. I think the animals will do well there.”
“No, I mean what’d you think of Ted? Do you think he’s sincere about liking me?”
