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I thanked her and walked out to retrieve my car.
The yellow slip of paper under the windshield wiper completed my hellish day.
Devlin, the cop who’d pestered me last night and again at the coffee shop this morning had been busy. His comment to “come by the station to talk about it” must have meant this parking ticket he’d written me. Parking overnight in the “business district” was my crime.
Both my mood and my laptop were completely drained. I stuffed the paper in my purse and started the car. As much as I hated the idea, I had no option now but to think up a Plan C. Returning to Kevin was still a hard no.
But before anything else, I had to get back to the shack and let the dogs out so nobody had an accident.
* * *
Boone
I checkedthe time and walked down the street on my way to meet my brother, Case.
Rose Seneca’s maroon skirt flowed in the wind as she walked toward me.
It was too late to cross the street, so I pulled the phone from my pocket and turned away, hoping it would be my lucky day, and she’d walk right by.
“Afternoon, Boone,” she said.
Or not.I turned back and added surprise to my face. “Hey, Rose. How are you today? Any excitement in your life?” She’d told me more than once that she expected major excitement to enter her life soon.
She looked at me with that infectious smile of hers. “Fine, thank you. Only minor excitement. Do you like cats?”
The subject caught me by surprise. “I’m more of a dog person.”
“Seems I have some extras now. My Eloise just had kittens. Cute little things, but surprised the bejesus out of me yesterday when they popped out, I have to say. I’d always fed her a lot, and they both have such long hair…”
I crossed my arms, ready for my brother to show up and save me from having to take one of her kittens. Marge wouldn’t like that. “You didn’t know she was pregnant?”
“Heavens no. I just thought I was feeding her too much.”
“They have an operation to prevent that,” I informed her.
She nodded. “I’ve been saving up for it, but I thought I could wait because both my cats are female, and I don’t let them out.”
I scanned the parking lot and street for any sign of my brother, not remotely interested in taking one of her kittens.
“The two cats were a gift from my sister, Norma.”
I nodded and kept my mouth shut, lest I lengthen this conversation.
“It’s my fault, I suppose, for not double-checking what I’d been told. Norma said they were both female, but it turns out Sue is really a boy.”
I stifled a laugh, remembering the Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue.” It was a good thing she kept that cat inside; it would have a tough time out on the streets with a name like that.
Case appeared down the sidewalk, and I waved.
“Just goes to show,” Rose said, “how important it is to double-check all the details for yourself before you jump to a conclusion.”
“Yeah,” I told her as I backed away. “Good seein’ ya, Rose. I gotta go.”
I let out a long breath as I continued down the street to meet Case. I’d escaped.
* * *
After hangingout with Case for a bit, I walked into the Lakeview Inn near the end of the day. This was supposed to be the next leg of my little business empire after the hardware store, and it had taken quite a financial stretch to afford it.
