I shot Duke a thankful look before asking, “Where do you want to go?”
“My place,” Courtney said. “It’s closer than yours.” Which was true, but not by much. She walked past me, making sure to take a wide berth, and vanished around front.
“We didn’t mean to intrude or step on anyone’s toes,” Duke said. “We’ll work it out.”
“Thanks,” I told him. I wasn’t sure why he put up with Courtney’s drama. It wasn’t like the two of them were dating or anything, so it must be something else. Maybe she had dirt on him and he stayed on to keep her quiet. That made more sense.
We made our way back around front. Courtney was already seated in the van, engine running. “Come on, Duke, let’s go.” He doubled his pace and got in next to her. “See you soon,” she said, before driving off.
“Want me to drive?” I asked, watching her go. When Ben didn’t answer, I turned. “Ben?”
“What?” He turned around, face a light shade of red. “What were you saying?”
I looked past him. A woman in a bikini was watching us from the house next door.
“Do you want me to drive?” I asked him. “Or do you have something else to do?”
He grinned. “Well, if you don’t mind . . .” He glanced back over toward the bikini-clad babe. She waved him over, biting her lower lip seductively as she did.
I held my hand out. “Keys,” I said with a roll of my eyes. He dropped them into my palm without looking away from the woman. She looked to be his age, fit, and exactly his type. “I’ll be back in an hour or two. Think you’ll be all right?”
“Definitely,” he said. He started to walk away, caught himself. “Thanks, Mom.” He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, before jogging over next door.
“Men.” I shook my head, but couldn’t help but smile. One day he would settle down, but today was definitely not that day.
I got into the van, honked once to Ben, and then, regretfully, I was on my way to Courtney’s, where the company wouldn’t be so pleasant.
2
Courtney was out of sight by the time I was on the road, but I knew where I was going. I knew her address, thanks to previous interactions with her, but had never actually been inside her house. Admittedly, I was kind of curious to know if her home was as pink and obnoxious as she was.
Careful to keep my eyes on the road, I picked up my phone from the cup holder where I usually kept it. With only a quick glance at the screen, I hit a button and it dialed for me. It rang twice before there was an answer.
“Hey, Liz. How’s the pickup coming?” Manny asked, sounding chipper, like always. Even when I’d told him I was pregnant, back before either of us were ready to take such a big step in our lives, he’d taken it in stride, not so much as blinking. His positive stoicism was part of the reason I loved him so much.
“We’re running a little late,” I said. “I won’t be bringing Stewie in for another couple of hours. There’s been an unforeseen complication.”
“Oh, boy, that doesn’t sound good. What happened?”
I answered with a question of my own. “Guess who was already there when we arrived?”
“Oh, no.”
“That’s what I said.” I gave him a quick rundown of what happened in Timothy’s backyard. “I’m on the way to have a sit-down with Courtney and Duke now. Hopefully, I’ll get this all worked out quickly so we won’t have to wait until tomorrow to get Stewie his checkup.”
“I can stay late if that helps,” he said. “I’ve got some paperwork I could be doing, so it isn’t like I’ll be bored.”
“I’m hoping it won’t take that long.” But with Courtney, it was hard to tell.
“I do have some shocking news of my own,” Manny said. “You weren’t the only person who had to deal with someone uncooperative today.”
I groaned audibly. I already knew what was coming. “Joanne?”
“In the flesh. I stopped by the house not long after you left to grab my lunch since I forgot it when I walked out the door this morning.”
“I’m going to have to staple it to you if you keep forgetting it,” I said.
He laughed. “You might need to do that. Anyway, Joanne came storming over the moment I pulled into the driveway. Apparently, Leroy and Toby have been barking all day and night for the last two days and she’s had enough.”
“That’s not true!” Granted, beagles tended to have a loud bark, but to say they’d been barking all day and night was an outright lie.
“I know,” Manny said. “She said she was going to call the cops if it didn’t stop, but I managed to talk her down for now. Just beware when you get home. She’s in one of those moods. I wouldn’t put it past her to accost you the moment you get out of the van.”
Great. Not only did I have Courtney to deal with, but now my nosy neighbor was making her presence felt. I swear, that woman lived to complain. Just last week, she went on a rant when she caught me coming home from the grocery. While I stood there, arms loaded down, she’d spent nearly twenty minutes complaining that my shutters were the wrong color. She claimed it brought down the value of the neighborhood—whatever that meant.
“I’ll deal with her,” I said, though I wasn’t looking forward to it. “Did you see Amelia this morning?”
“No, but I heard her. She was up and moving before I left.”
Which was saying something. While Manny’s office didn’t open until eight, he was often there by six, checking on any animals they’d kept overnight.
“Okay, well, Ben said she left early this morning. I was curious to know why. She’s never up before the sun.”
“Can’t help you there. Maybe she’s got a test today and decided to study for it.”
“She left an hour early,” I said. “And she could have studied at home, but she didn’t.”
“You never know, she might have discovered what a library is, and spent her morning studying there.”
That was about as likely as Ben ignoring a pretty girl, but I said, “Maybe.”
“If I see her, I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Okay, thanks.” Courtney’s pink van came into view, parked outside her house, which had lime-green siding and pink trim. It honestly looked like an overlarge dollhouse, and not in a good way. “I’ve got to go. Courtney calls.”
“Good luck.”
“Thanks.” I was sure I’d be needing it.
I hung up and parked next to her van. Side by side, I did have to admit, hers stood out a lot more. But then again, it wasn’t like it was a competition. We could both be doing good work, if only she’d stop acting like I was trying to invade her space every time we were in the same general area.
There was a time when Courtney and I might have been friends, despite the fact she was nearly ten years my junior—and looked closer to twenty. A love of animals often brought people together, and while I might not approve of how she ran her rescue, she was still an animal lover.
But for some reason, she got it in her head that we needed to be rivals. This wasn’t the first time she’d tried to steal an animal out from under me, and I had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last.
I got out of my van and brushed myself off the best I could manage. When you dealt with animals all the time, it was inevitable that you’d end up wearing their hair like a second coat. Some, like Courtney, took great care to lint roll it away every chance she got. Others, like me, just dealt with it. Why bother when you’re just going to get hairy again the moment you sat down?
Noting neither Duke nor Courtney outside, I went to the door and pressed the bell. A sound akin to the first chimes of a princess theme sounded inside. A moment later, the door opened, and a smiling Courtney stepped aside.
“Liz! I’m so glad you came.” She sounded bubbly, and awfully friendly, considering we’d just been spitting insults at one another.
“Courtney,” I said, nervous now. This wasn’t like her, not even remotely.
I entered the house and followed
her into the kitchen where a pitcher of iced tea sat on the counter, along with a trio of glasses. The entire room was decorated with strawberries. We’re talking strawberry wallpaper, strawberry coasters. Even the oven mitt hanging on the side of the fridge had strawberries on it.
And it was clean. There were no musty animal smells here. Taking a deep breath, I smelled lavender, and maybe vanilla. I didn’t see a candle in sight, but did note a few of those plug-in scents around the room.
“Where’s your son?” Courtney asked, seeming to notice his absence for the first time. “Ben?”
I was actually surprised she remembered his name. “He’s with a friend,” I said, though I was pretty sure he’d never met the woman in the bikini before today. It was then I noticed Ben wasn’t the only one missing. “Where’s Duke?”
“He had a few chores he needed to do today,” Courtney said, eyes darting around the room. “He didn’t need to be here for this, so I told him to go ahead and take care of them.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, wondering. Something in her tone told me she wasn’t exactly telling the truth.
Of course, Courtney didn’t notice my distrust, or at least, pretended not to.
“Tea?” she asked, reaching for the pitcher.
“Sure.”
She filled two of the glasses, sliding one over to me. “I don’t know why we have to fight like this all the time,” she said. “We’re after the same thing. We only want what’s best for the animals.”
“We do,” I allowed. “And I’m sorry if I snapped at you back there. I just want Stewie to find a good home. This is already going to be hard enough on him being taken away from his daddy.”
Courtney took a sip of tea, set her glass aside. “His owner, you mean. I swear, I don’t understand why people sometimes act like animals are the same thing as children.”
Which was probably one of the main reasons we didn’t get along. She might love animals, but she didn’t seem to understand the connection people had with their pets.
“Mr. Fuller is going through a really tough time,” I said. “He’s about to lose his dog and be moved from his home. We shouldn’t be making this harder on him than it already is.”
“I agree.”
“Which is why I think you should let me take care of Stewie’s adoption. Timothy called me and asked me to take him in because he didn’t want him to end up in the shelter. A dog that age might not find a home. You know how it is.”
Courtney’s gaze drifted out the window, toward her backyard, as if she’d lost interest in the conversation. I could see a flower garden, perfectly maintained grass, and a small crab apple tree. I wondered if she took care of the maintenance herself, or if she paid someone to do it. I imagined the latter. I couldn’t see Courtney on her knees, digging in the dirt.
“I suppose I can’t change your mind,” she said, returning her attention back to the kitchen. “Though, I could use the extra money.”
I couldn’t suppress the twitch of my left eye when she mentioned money. Sure, sometimes I charged an adoption fee, especially when the cost to spay or neuter, along with the other required tests and procedures, exceeded what I could justify. But I didn’t charge anything more than what I put in for the animal’s care, and often, asked for less.
Courtney, on the other hand, earned a tidy profit on her rescues—and I use that term lightly. She tended to pick up kittens and puppies, knowing how quickly they were often adopted.
So, why the great interest in one old Pomeranian?
“I’m sure there are some kittens who still need a home,” I said. I was going for diplomatic, but it came out sounding cynical. “People are always dumping them.”
“True.” She didn’t sound convinced. “I guess I’m trying to expand my efforts, you know? There are so many pets left on their own these days. Do you know, I came across a pair of pretty Persians at the side of the road just last week. Someone left them there, completely abandoned!” She shook her head as if she couldn’t imagine someone doing such a thing. “Thankfully, I came along.”
The jingle of a small bell drew my eye. A gorgeous blue-eyed, white-furred Siamese strode into the room. The bell was attached to a blue collar that matched the hue of her eyes. She glanced at me briefly, and as her owner was wont to do, dismissed me immediately. She strode over to Courtney and waited for her to pick her up.
“Have you ever met Princess?” Courtney asked, picking up and stroking her cat.
“Not until just now.” I longed to reach out and pet her, but kept myself in check. I wouldn’t put it past Courtney to be offended, or for the cat to bite my hand off, if she took after her owner.
“She’s my perfect little angel.” She kissed the top of Princess’s head, and then set her back down. “I’ve had her since she was a kitten.”
“She’s beautiful.”
And as if she understood me, Princess raised her chin, swished her tail, and then sauntered off, looking about as close to a runway model as a cat could.
“I’ve entered her into a few shows. She’s won all of them.” She frowned. “Well, except for one, but that wasn’t her fault. The judge was prejudiced against her. And I think he was sleeping with one of the other owners.”
“I’m sure he was,” I said, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.
“Excuse me a moment.” Courtney followed her cat out of the room, leaving me alone in the kitchen.
I sipped at my tea and considered what I could say to change Courtney’s mind about Stewie. Even if she did take him on, it was unlikely she’d earn much of a profit from him. And with Courtney, profit was all that mattered.
She returned a few minutes later, and I had yet to come up with an argument I thought would work. She didn’t explain her absence, just resumed her place at the counter and said, “Well, I suppose you can go. Take Chewy and do whatever you want with him.”
I almost corrected her again, but decided it wasn’t worth the effort. If she hadn’t gotten Stewie’s name right by now, she never would.
“Thank you,” I said, happy we hadn’t spent hours arguing. I did wish she would have given in before Timothy had kicked us out, but what’s done is done.
Courtney didn’t appear inclined to walk me to the door, so I showed myself out. On the way, I noticed the living room was done in light, summery tones. It made me wonder if the bathrooms were likewise matching, perhaps seashells or ocean vistas. How someone could live like that, I’d never know. It made the house feel like a model home, not somewhere where someone actually lived.
I stepped outside and got into my van. Before I started it up, I called Ben to let him know I was coming. Not surprisingly, I only got his voicemail, so I left him a brief message, one I doubted he’d get until later. His entire attention was likely focused on Ms. Bikini. I’d be lucky to convince him to leave her to come home.
Checking the clock, I realized it had been almost an hour since I’d left him, though it sure didn’t feel like it. It was going to take another twenty minutes to get back to Timothy’s house. Hopefully, Ben would be done with his flirting by then, though I doubted it.
As I drove, I started to get worried about Duke. Why had Courtney waited until after we’d gone to her house before giving in? It wasn’t like we talked about Stewie all that much. Had she been buying time? I wouldn’t put it past her to have sent Duke to pick up Stewie while she distracted me. I only hoped that if that was the case, Ben noticed and stepped in.
Yeah right. The chances of him noticing Duke were about as good as him answering his phone to talk to his mom while he was entertaining a good-looking woman in a bikini.
I turned onto the street on which Timothy Fuller lived, and nearly slammed on the brakes when I saw what awaited me.
Flashing red-and-blue lights illuminated the house. A police cruiser sat parked just off the road, wheels firmly in Timothy’s yard. An ambulance took up the space behind the cars in the driveway.
I’m too late. Poor Junior. I knew Timothy was ill, b
ut hadn’t realized it was that bad. I hoped he hadn’t had a heart attack or stroke because of the fight with Courtney. Stress wasn’t good for someone with a bad heart, not that I knew exactly what was wrong with him. And then to think about Stewie, having to see his owner die. It was going to be brutal on the poor thing.
I parked behind the police cruiser, not wanting to get in the way of the ambulance, but wanting to be on hand in case someone needed me to take the Pomeranian. As I got out of the van, I could hear other sirens in the distance, and wondered if they were headed here, or were going elsewhere.
Only a few neighbors stood outside, watching. I didn’t see Duke anywhere, which made me feel bad about suspecting him of doing something behind my back. He might work with Courtney, but he wasn’t a bad man.
Checking next door, I saw the woman in the bikini watching, but Ben wasn’t with her as far as I could tell. He must have gone inside to help when Mr. Fuller had gone down.
I started forward, but was stopped as a policeman approached.
“Excuse me, miss,” he said, holding out a hand. “Please step back.” He was an older man with dark skin, hair gone to gray, but the command in his voice was strong enough that I stopped in my tracks.
“What happened?” I asked. “I was just here an hour or so ago.”
Before the policeman—whose name tag read Perry—could answer, someone else called to me.
“Mom?”
“Ben?” I looked around, but didn’t see him at first.
And then I noticed the open cruiser doors. Seated inside, hands cuffed behind his back, was my son.
“What’s going on here?” I asked, voice pitched to a near wail. “Why’s my son sitting in your car?”
Officer Perry looked pained as he took me by the elbow and guided me back a step, away from the cruiser. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know you were related.”
Okay, that was great and all, but it didn’t answer my question. “Please, Officer. What’s going on? Ben? What happened?”
Ben didn’t answer. Neither did the policeman.
The Pomeranian Always Barks Twice Page 2