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“Hey,” he said, when he saw Reba leaning against the exhibit booth.
She smiled up at him and then did a double take. “Are those kittens in your pockets or are you just glad to see me?”
“Some shitbird abandoned these babies. I know we had dinner plans, but do you think you can check them out.”
“Of course. Come on, we can take the golf cart to the clinic.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Not at all. Just hold on to them and make sure they don’t jump out.”
“They seem to be pretty happy to be in there. Must be because of my fleece-lined pockets. Or maybe because I had some beef jerky in there a few days ago.” Shane slid into the seat next to her and put his hands near the kittens while Reba put the golf cart into gear.
She drove like a maniac, not bothering to swerve out of the way if someone was in her path. Shane loved the look of absolute horror on the pedestrian’s face when they realized they were going to get run over if they didn’t move their ass.
The clinic was another temporary building. There were three people inside and he could hear walkie-talkie chat from a few other people.
“Let’s take a look at the babies.”
Shane put them all on the towel that Reba laid out on a stainless-steel table. They mewed in indignation until one of the vet techs brought over a shallow pan of water and then a few tubes of kitten food.
“We had some of these in stock, but it’s the last of it. Just squeeze it and they’ll lick the food out.”
One by one, Reba weighed the kittens and gave them a quick examination. “All in all, they’re relatively healthy,” she said. “A little dehydrated and malnourished, but that’s to be expected. They were lucky you found them when you did. What are you going to do with them?”
“Can any local shelters take them?” he asked.
“I can call around,” the vet tech said.
“Maybe we can get the ASPCA to try and adopt them out at the rodeo?” another vet tech said.
“Get on that,” Reba said. “Can we leave them here while we grab dinner?”
“Sure, but I don’t want to leave them here overnight. We don’t have the supplies for taking care of these guys.”
“I can take them for tonight. Just don’t tell my parents,” Reba said.
“We’ll stop by a pet store, too, for supplies before we come back,” Shane said.
“Just don’t be too late. They’re locking us up at nine.”
Shane glanced at his phone. “Maybe we should take a rain check on dinner.” He hated to cancel, but he’d be worried about the kittens being stuck overnight.
“I got a better idea,” Reba said. “Let’s take the kittens with us now. We’ll stop by the pet store and then head back to my Winnebago and order a pizza.”
Shane couldn’t believe his luck. Abigail would have had a five-star hissy fit if Shane had suggested something like that. “Are you sure that’s okay?”
Reba squinted at him. “You’re not one of those pineapple and bacon people, are you?”
Even if he was, Shane would have lied through his teeth. “No, ma’am.”
“Good.”
“Throw in a detour to the liquor store for some beer, and you got yourself a deal,” Shane said. He put the sleepy kittens back into his pockets. “Let’s take my truck. My assistant probably has it unhitched from the trailer by now.” He called Pat just to check, and even though there were bar noises in the background, Pat assured him that he would take care of anything else that came up tonight.
When they got to the truck, Shane carefully took off his jacket and put it on the bench seat between him and Reba. “You’re going to have to wrangle the kittens while I drive.”
“We weren’t expecting anything but large animals at the vet trailer,” she said. “Otherwise, I could have borrowed a cage or a carrier.” After locking in her seatbelt, she arranged the kittens in a furry puddle and stroked them as they settled down. “They seem pretty tuckered out, though.”
