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15
Carmen pulledup to Cimarron Elementary and stepped out of the car. She put her hands on her hips and glared at Frederick and Mickey as they strolled up to her.
“Pyre and Roman approved the outing,” Frederick said.
“I would have attended without their approval,” she said and turned to Maddie as she climbed out of the passenger seat of the Aston. She wore Carmen’s thigh-high boots with jeans and a white tee. Carmen grinned as she glanced down at the scuffed Converse sneakers she had borrowed from Maddie. Maddie had been horrified when she found them in the back of her closet, but she was in love with them. It brought her back to a simpler time. Little things. That was how she was getting through. She also borrowed an olive-green bomber jacket from her new sis, which she wore over a black knit body con dress.
She’d spent the past two days at Marv’s house, doing nothing more strenuous than sleeping, eating, and watching Netflix. She had a few breakdowns, but they didn’t last long. How could it when such nice, caring people surrounded her? She told Charisse that something came up and that they would have to resume their house hunting next week. After two days at Marv’s house, she had a better idea of what she wanted for her next home, and it wasn’t as grand as what she’d had in the past. It would be smaller, homey, safe. Surely, she could find a home with those qualities? Despite the love bursting at the seams in Marv’s house, she couldn’t stay there. She was sharing a bathroom with Maddie, and the closet was the size of a linen closet. Nope.
“You made it!”
Alice rushed toward them wearing a ball cap, fluorescent jacket, and gold shoelaces. She was also accompanied by a dachshund wearing a red bandanna. Alice’s eyes were shining, and she looked adorable. If men could see this version of her, she’d have to beat them off with a stick.
“Hey,” Alice gushed and smiled at Maddie. “I’m Alice.”
“This is my sister, Maddie,” Carmen said.
Alice blinked as she shook Maddie’s hand. “Oh, wow. That’s awesome.”
“Maddie’s in school for hotel management and business and interested in helping out with your events. I’m going to see if I can get her into the intern program at Pyre Casinos.”
Alice beamed. “That’s fantastic.” She looked past Maddie as Frederick and Mickey helped a large truck back up. “What’s going on?”
Carmen clapped her hands together. “I bought some goodies.”
“Goodies?” Alice echoed as two delivery guys opened the back of the truck.
“I got things a new pet owner would need. Scratching posts, puppy pads, leashes, food. I thought it would help. What we don’t use, we can donate to the shelters.”
“Did Gavin authorize this?” Alice was clearly ill at ease.
“No, this is my contribution.”
“Carmen, we can’t accept this.”
“Why not? I’m a Pyre, aren’t I? I can do good Samaritan shit.” She had enough money to feed a country. Maybe she should do that—
Alice gave her an enthusiastic one-armed hug. “You’re amazing; you know that, right?”
“I’ve heard that once or twice,” she said.
Alice hollered to some volunteers to help before she grabbed Maddie’s hand. “Come, let me show you everything!”
Alice led them toward a cluster of tents and volunteers wearing gold Pyre Foundation T-shirts. There were pens full of puppies, kittens, and older dogs wearing bandannas or cute sweaters. Kids ran with the dogs on their heels, and manly men with tattoos allowed their faces to be pawed by tiny kittens. Elderly people bonded with the mature dogs who needed a pair of feet to snooze beside for the handful of years they had left.
She was pleased to see her mother’s friends from cha-cha with their grandkids. Alice flitted from here to there with Maddie in tow. There was happy madness everywhere she looked. She ran into Shonda and Keenan from the salon and chatted with them for a minute. Keenan adopted a black cat with mesmerizing blue eyes. She pointed them toward the free stuff and was happy to see that the pregnant waitress and her boyfriend had adopted an old, gray-faced Chihuahua who sat docile in her arms.
Mom and Marv arrived holdings hands. Her mother was glowing. It was hard to be stuck in the doldrums when her mother was so happy.
“Carmen!” Marv boomed as if he hadn’t seen her in days when it had been less than two hours.
He hugged her tight. If she’d had any doubts about her mom’s relationship, they were put to rest after spending time with the Armstrongs. Marv and Maddie were amazing, and she felt as if she had known them all her life. She’d been so absorbed by the brutal tragedies that plagued their family that she couldn’t see past that to anything clean or normal until now. It took Marv almost a decade to recover from losing his wife, so he didn’t think her inability to move on after two years was odd in the slightest.
“Levi’s here,” Marv said.
Before she could ask who that was, a brawny arm slid over her shoulders. She looked up at a handsome guy with Maddie’s hazel eyes and dark hair. “So you’re my new smoking hot sister?”
Marv sputtered. “Levi, don’t talk like that to your stepsister!”
