Page 13 of Tack’s Bounty

“It’s too much. How are our newbies settling in?” Sophia questioned Lake.

“Good. Freedom is doing rounds while I eat, and then I’ll pick up where she left off when I’m done. We cleared today so that you can catch up on sleep and then check over any rescues that have changed status. Have you thought more about fostering with anyone?” Lake asked.

“Oh, what’s it take to be a foster because, oh my, some of those darlings might need to come home with me,” Ruthy questioned.

“It was so busy. I didn’t have a chance to think. If anyone calls in, why don’t you take their name and number. We can talk more about a form maybe…” Sophia paused at the chime of her front doorbell.

“I’ll check who it is,” Stinger replied.

Sophia strained to hear what was being said, but she could only distinguish murmuring conversation with laughter. She sipped the orange juice Tack had placed in front of her. She was glad he didn’t make her coffee because she didn’t want or need caffeine. She craved sleep.

Stinger walked back in leading two police officers, chuckling and shaking his head.

“I invited them for breakfast and coffee since they were brought out on a fool’s errand,” Stinger revealed, pouring them both cups of coffee.

She wasn’t firing on very many cylinders, but she was positive she knew who had called them.

“What did the old goat complain about now?” Sophia asked.

“She called in a noise complaint because of the animal sounds and also that there were ruffians hanging around,” the one officer laughed.

“We were the winners. At least six other teams put down money to have dispatch send them the call after the great Kansas City Squirrel Abduction,” he snickered, high-fiving his partner.

Sophia rolled her eyes at Jolene’s actions. She still couldn’t figure out what was going on and why the woman wouldn’t leave her alone. The divorce was final, and nothing was ever going to happen with Rufus.

Sophia took the last bite of her biscuit and gravy. “Thank you, Ruthy. This was delicious.”

“Oh, you’re welcome. Why don’t you head to bed? I’ll finish feeding everyone and then clean up before I go,” she offered.

Sophia nodded, a huge yawn cracking open her jaw. “If I don’t wake by noon, come wake me, Lake. I want to check over the ones that might need it,” she directed around another yawn.

Tack’s warm hands on her shoulders turned her toward the stairs and her bedroom.

“We’ve got this unless you need me to tuck you in,” he grinned, waggling his eyebrows.

“I’m too tired to enjoy that,” she admitted.

“Go catch some sleep, and I’ll see you later,” he promised, his finger touching her nose.

She turned and went up the stairs. She would have loved for him to tuck her in, but she’d be asleep before she could appreciate it. She’d get some sleep, then check on her babies. Maybe sometime after that, she could think about Tack and what she wanted from him, and if she was willing to risk her heart on another man.

Chapter Eight

Sophia sat in the passenger seat of the SUV, amazed at how quickly Ruthy, Ariel, the President’s wife, and Adley had swept into the house and convinced her that she was going with them to shop for some of the items for the adoption event. When Ruthy had said the club would cover whatever she wanted, it had been a no-brainer. She never had carte blanche for the clinic or adoption events. They’d grinned when she immediately said yes, as if they’d known that was her weak point. She had hoped to see Tack, but he’d been working the last two days. Even though they hadn’t seen each other in person, he’d texted her a couple of times, and multiple people from the MC had dropped by to help with the animals, mentioning Tack had sent them. She wasn’t sure how to take all the sweet things he was doing, but she was going to enjoy them and maybe eventually get to go on that date or motorcycle ride with him.

“Okay, I’ve waited as long as I could. I have the best mother-in-law…” Adley praised. Ruthy beamed and winked at Adley in the rearview mirror. “Was Jolene crazy the whole time you were married?”

Sophia despised thinking about how weak she’d been because she didn’t like the feelings it brought up, but they deserved to know.

“Four years ago, I was working with my dad in the clinic. I’d been out of vet school for eight years. We expanded into a rescue because that was our dream. I lived in the house with them, but we were at the place financially that I’d paid off my school loans and put enough away that I was planning on building a smaller cottage farther back, about an acre behind the barn, for some privacy. We have eleven acres, with the house and barn only taking up two acres. The road would have split at the front of the barn, with one side leading back to my cottage. We’d barely brought in equipment to clear some of the land while leaving as many trees as possible when my parents were killed in a car accident. I buried them on my thirty-second birthday. I was barely surviving because it had been just us in the clinic. My mom did the books and scheduling. Even though Jolene lived across the street, we didn’t spend much time with her. After they passed, she started dropping off meals for me. A little while after their death, her son Rufus showed up. I’d never met him. He does investments and had moved back to be close to her,” she trailed off, wishing she could go back and smack herself for agreeing to coffee with him.

“Did you fall in love with him?” Adley questioned.

“Looking back now that we’re farther from losing them, I realize I was lonely, grieving, and foggy. I know I didn’t love him. Now that we’re divorced, I look back and have no idea why I married him, but everything was just a blur,” Sophia admitted.

“Grief is such a journey that is two steps forward and nine steps back. I can’t think that if you didn’t have a relationship before you lost them that you were in any condition to agree to anything. Most studies suggest people don’t make huge decisions in the six to twelve months after a loss. Our analytical thinking is overwhelmed by the grief,” Ariel shared.

“I’d like to meet both of them because something seems off to me,” Ruthy prompted.