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A favorite thing to do was to ride on the back of Justin’s horse. He pulled her up, and she wrapped her legs around the horse. Brulee ran after them. At the rescue, he stopped next to the deck and helped Maggie get off.
Watching from the yard, Kelly giggled. “I wish I had a camera right now. You two are just hot.”
Smiling at her, Justin tipped an imaginary hat, stretched over to kiss Maggie goodbye, told Brulee to stay, and took off in a gallop.
“Where’s he headed in such a hurry?” Annie asked.
“He’s got office hours in five minutes. I don’t think he’s going to make it.”
“Did you two have an afternoon delight?” Annie asked, but Maggie just laughed.
“I’m not telling.”
“You don’t need to,” Kelly said. “We’re all jealous.”
“You can leave, and I’ll stay and watch things.”
“Forget it,” they chorused, and she laughed at them. Their men weren’t Justin, that was for sure.
“So tell us about Katrina and Alphé. They make a striking couple. Everyone talked about it last night.”
“It’s a romance for sure,” Maggie said, following them into the building. “What can I do to help?”
“Six dogs found adopted families last night,” Kelly said. “When you brought your guests up to see the place, they promised to get in touch today, and all six of them kept their promise. It’s so exciting!”
“How many animals does that leave?” Maggie asked.
“Five adult cats and a litter of four kittens, a chinchilla and a parrot inside, and outside, a mule and a pig.”
“And now they’re bonded, so they have to go as a couple,” Kelly said.
“Or we can just keep them here,” Maggie replied.
The rescue phone rang just then, and Kelly answered it. While she talked, Annie and Maggie caught up.
“Did you have fun last night? It seemed like Steve couldn’t let loose,” Maggie said gently.
“He was miserable,” Annie said, frowning. “I think he regrets getting married big time. I’m just waiting it out. As long as I have this job and your friendship, and now that Katrina is here, I can weather the storm. If he wants to leave, he’ll have to confront me. I have a terrible feeling he’s seeing someone else.”
“No, Annie, I don’t believe it. What makes you think that?”
“You saw how he acted last night. And at home, he’s not interested at all. I mean zero sex in over a month. He must be getting it somewhere. You know how Steve is!”
“When would he have time?”
“When he’s supposed to be working, I guess,” she answered. “Like father, like son. The worst thing was him finding out about that damned Lola Beaumont. Talk about a scourge.”
“I know. I keep wondering if the ex is going to interfere with Kat and Alphé. When I took her into town to get her car, we saw Lola Beaumont in a brand-new Mercedes. Alphé drives a beat-up Ford pickup. I know it bothered Katrina because she said they’d already covered the white-collar, blue-collar thing.”
“Yeah, but it sounds like the ex-wife is going to get the best of everything if that’s the case,” Annie said. “She’s got the house already and now the car. Where’s Alphé going to live?”
“Evidently, he’s moving into the cabin of his fishing boat.”
“That sounds kind of romantic,” Annie said wistfully.
“Katrina enjoyed her sleepover there,” Maggie said, grinning.
Hanging up from the phone call, Kelly joined the conversation, and they stopped talking about Katrina.
