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“Oh my god, Kelly, I never expected that.”
“It’s fine, Maggie. They do so much for my brother, I think this is their way of trying to even things up. I do want to pay Steve though because Annie just lost her job.”
“That’s another thing. I already hired her.”
“Well, there you go! Perfect symmetry,” Kelly said, smiling. “Everything is falling into place.”
“And you’re here with your man,” Maggie whispered.
“Yeah, it’s weird. He just showed up. I’m sure he must be feeling guilty about something. I’ll do damage control when we get back home.”
Maggie knew it had to have something to do with Amber.
“Let me not keep you, then. Take notes and tell me all about it the next time we talk.”
They got the little dogs, Mindy and Marco, into two dog carriers, and Justin put them in the back of the truck. Brulee wanted to ride back there with them, and it took both Maggie and Justin to get her into the cab. After they drove off, Kelly locked up the rescue with Ted standing over her.
“That was so normal,” he said.
“It was? In what way?”
“My girlfriend and Justin’s girlfriend talking, and me and the other vet in town chatting. It just felt right.”
“Am I really your girlfriend?”
“I hope you will be, Kelly, because I need you in my life. I got weird again this afternoon, it made no sense at all, and suddenly, I knew I was acting inappropriate. All I wanted was to be with you.”
“I’m not even going to ask what you did.”
“Thank you. But I promise you, I’m going to get back into therapy. And when that happens, will you be my girl?”
“I think we’ve already gone through this before, but yes, once again, I’ll be your girl. One day at a time.”
***
After introducing the two fluff balls to their very own pee-pee yard at Bayou Cottage, Maggie got them situated in beds Kelly had given them, and remembered she didn’t have anything made for dinner.
“I’m a terrible girlfriend,” she said. “Are you starving?”
“I’m hungry, but we can find something in that fridge of yours. The last time I looked, it was packed.”
“I have stuff from Thursday. Is three days too old?”
“Like food from Thanksgiving dinner? No, that’s fine.”
They took leftovers from her aunt Elizabeth’s Thanksgiving out of the fridge, creole food and all kinds of salads and barbeque, and sat at the table, catching up. Maggie told him about the plan to move Kelly’s rescue over to Bayou Cottage, and all the exciting developments with the double-wide and the foundation.
While they ate and talked, Maggie had the impression that Justin held back a little bit. Maybe he had misgivings about the rescue idea that he wasn’t sharing with her.
“If you have an opinion, I’ll listen,” she said, taking her plate to the sink.
“Me? No, I’m glad for you. I’ll do what I can to help you. I can be your resident vet if you’d like. Unless you want Ted.” He snickered, just teasing her.
“No, I want you. But Kelly might want Ted, so we can battle that out later. Anything else?”
He stood up from the table, and she glanced over at his body first and turned away to grin; he was just there, waiting for her to jump.
“The other night at the roadhouse made me realize how much I want to be with you all the time.” They looked into each other’s eyes, and she could see that he was struggling. It was time for her to share her feelings, regardless of how vulnerable it made her feel. This was about Justin.
