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“Thanks, babe, just put the recipe together today. I think I’m gonna have Anthony put it on the menu.”
Jolene nodded her head repeatedly as she took another bite.
“Yes, absolutely. Anyway. Rocks?”
Clarissa picked up one of the treats as she nodded her head.
“Actually, yes. Hasn’t happened at my place, but Emma was telling me she’s been finding them on her porch. Why, did you find some today?”
Just as Jolene was about to say yes, they heard Cerberus’ loud, aggressive bark pierce through the quiet, evening air. Both of them shot to their feet and began to run down to the beach to reach Emma’s cabin, with Anthony and Jasper coming up quickly behind them as they continued to hear Cerberus’ warning.
5
The first thing Jolene noticed when she approached the back porch was that Emma was okay, and standing by her hot tub with a fluffy, white robe wrapped around her. Like Cerberus, Emma was looking toward the trees that hugged the edge of her yard. Though it was getting darker, the sun had not yet set, and a beautiful, fiery orange glow glittered throughout the lush green woods. There was plenty of light to see anything, but there was nothing but trees.
“Emma,” Anthony breathed, running up to the porch. Jolene watched, touched, as Jasper’s little brother protectively wrapped his arms around the much smaller woman. She also noticed how relieved Emma looked when she felt his embrace and knew that love was blooming between them. She smiled softly as they all let their guard down, and glanced over to Jasper. He too was watching the little romance unfold. Suddenly, his eyes shifted to hers, and for a moment they locked eyes.
“Cerberus,” Anthony commanded, his tone soft but firm, “come, boy.”
The Doberman whimpered after he stopped barking, and looked back at the woods twice before obediently coming back to his master. Anthony let go of Emma gently so he could go to one knee. He opened his arms and Cerberus whimpered once more as the giant dog huddled like a baby in his owner’s arms.
“What’s wrong, boy? What did you see over there?”
Cerberus whimpered as he nudged his head into Anthony’s neck and chest.
“Probably just a wild gator,” Anthony said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
Familiar with the reptiles herself, Jolene knew that it wasn’t that uncommon for them to go a little ways away from their water supply in order to search for fresh food. If she was a dog and suddenly smelled one, she’d probably be whimpering like a pup too. Unlike her rowdy cousins and even Clarissa, Jolene was not a fan of alligators.
“It’s alright,” Anthony told everybody, patting Cerberus one more time before he rose to both of his feet.
“Boy just doesn’t like gators.”
“Heck, I don’t blame him,” Jasper said with a chuckle.
“I second that,” Jolene agreed.
“Sorry to scare you guys,” Emma apologized, smiling meekly. “But, I’m so touched you all came over!”
“Of course we did, honey,” Clarissa replied quickly, walking up to the porch to hug her friend.
Emma hugged her tightly back, smiling, and Jolene felt thankful that her little sister had surrounded herself with good friends.
“So, how are the talks going?” Emma asked, taking a look around at everyone.
Clarissa winked at Jolene and she winked back.
“Good for us,” Clarissa said, bopping her hip against Emma’s. They all turned to look at Anthony and Jasper, and the brothers looked at each other furtively.
“We’re workin’ on it,” Jasper answered reluctantly.
“I think we could use a break,” Anthony added.
Jasper pointed his finger at Anthony and nodded.
“Yep.”
“All right then let’s take a break and do something else together,” Jolene suggested, not wanting the night to end just yet. She wasn’t sure how long she was going to stay and didn’t want to lose any time with Clarissa while she was here.
