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“Can I help here? Ted let me have the rest of the day off. It seems like Wednesdays are the least busy day of the week in the clinic lately. I’ve wanted to come back.”
“If you want to feed puppies, we have more in back. My mother is back there, and if you can stand it, you can give her a hand.”
She led Amber back to the puppy nursery, while Annie quickly sent Maggie a text.If you were thinking of stopping by, don’t. Amber just showed up.
Maggie looked at her phone and then tried to see through the woods to the rescue. In the past week, the trees were leafing out, soon blocking her view.
What does she want?Maggie was resolving her jealous feelings about Amber and Justin, but she still didn’t really want her hanging around.
Annie explained about the supplies. It was something she’d deal with. Ted had been great about providing them with some of the veterinary supplies they needed, like the puppy food and worming medicine, vaccines and other preventative drugs. If Amber was his delivery vehicle, she’d accept it.
Okay, all’s well. I’m a big girl.Then she added the laughing emoji, which was about right.
She had just returned the phone to her pocket when she heard a male voice calling her name. Looking around, she saw Austin Macon coming through the woods. Quickly getting out her phone again, she sent Justin a text.Austin Macon is here.
Justin was with a client when his phone beeped. “Excuse me,” he said, looking at his phone. “You’ll have to excuse me for a moment. I have an emergency.”
He had Dave’s number on speed dial.
“What’s up, buddy?”
“Macon’s at Bayou Cottage.”
“I’ll get a deputy over there right now. Tell Maggie to go to the rescue.”
Justin hung up and called Maggie.
“Get to the rescue.”
“It’s too late. He’s standing right here.”
“Put me on speakerphone but don’t give him your phone.”
She did as he asked.
“Macon, get back in your car and get the hell away from Bayou Cottage. The sheriff is on his way over there now.”
“I’m not causing any trouble. I came here to ask Maggie to run interference for me with Calista.”
“I repeat, go back to your car right now.”
“You know, fuck all of you.”
But he turned and walked away.
“Go inside with Brulee. Call the rescue and tell them to lock up. I’ll be right there.”
She did as he said, keeping an eye on Austin as he disappeared into the woods again. Annie and Kelly got the dogs inside and locked the doors, and then Maggie went inside the cottage and locked up, making sure the back door was secure with a chair pushed under the handle.
Justin apologized to his client and called his father, asking him to take over; there was an emergency at the cottage. Doc Chastain didn’t tell Rose; for all he knew, the problem was with Maggie, and until he knew what was going on, he’d pretend it was a veterinary issue.
Within fifteen minutes, the gate was open, and Justin’s truck was pulling through. The sheriff’s car with a deputy driving turned right, went past the rescue and down the road that Austin would have taken to sneak up on Maggie again.
She opened the door for him. “Well, that was creepy. What the hell is wrong with that guy?”
“Now we have to worry about him sneaking around here. It’s because of me and my great ideas, having the horses brought here.”
Hugging him, she kissed his cheek. “Justin, that’s ridiculous. He’s a jackass. You and the horses are the best thing that ever happened to me. In that order.”
