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“And how about that summer romance?” Lucy asked “You up for that?”
Parker paused “Well, I happened to meet a very attractive lobsterman yesterday”
“No, sir! That’s great! Do I s?”
They chatted a few minutes more; Lucy said Ethan was in the shower, so he’d call her later And even though Parker knew she’d be talking to her son again that day, she couldn’t help feeling a little lonely as she hung up The three of them in San Francisco, her alone in Maine Such were the perils of joint custody
Well She wasn’t cooing to be…difficult It wasn’t so much that he worked for her father, or even that he hadn’t warned her about the trust-fund issues, because yes, Parker could see that legally, he was stuck
It was that—Go ahead, this is good, advised Spike—even after all these years of her father’s neglect and vague disapproval, she would’ve given a lot to have one-tenth of the affection Harry Welles offered so freely to James Maybe James was the son he’d alanted Maybe Jaer self But just once, it would’ve been nice if her father had called her up and asked her to coo to one of his single-hts
Stupid, that even after all these years, she still wanted her dad Not the man Harry had beco and let her sit in his chair at Welles Financial and answer his phone
Well That guy had taken a bullet to the heart when she was ten years old
“Old news, lanced across the street Gideon’s Cove Anin said And quite unexpectedly, she found herself turning into the driveway There was a gray-shingled house and a s could be heard
“Hello there!” called a young wo her hands on her jeans “Can I help you?” She glanced at Parker’s Rhode Island plates “You ton’s niece Hi, I’m Beth Seymour Sorry Small towns We know everyone’s business”
“Parker Welles Nice to meet you”
“You looking for a pet?” Beth asked
“No, I just stopped I’ve never had a pet before” Except Apollo, if you could count that thing She wondered briefly what had happened to it Harry probably gave it to a minion Or ate it
“Come on in, since you’re here,” Beth said Crafty wo Or a cat—Lucy had a cat, and it was always leaping onto Parker’s lap and sniffing her lips, which Parker found quite repulsive Why she was even standing here was a mystery
“Pets take a lot of work I won’t lie,” Beth said, opening the door of the outbuilding “But the love they give you…it’s worth any price”
Nice sale line “So what have you got here? Not that I’ the Holy Rollers Pets can fill those giant voids in people’s lives!
“Well, we try to be a no-kill shelter,” Beth said, “but times are kind of hard, and donations have been down We have a lot of ani out of roo to put a couple to sleep today, actually”
Shee-it Parker could picture a chunk of resolve cru like sand “That’s really sad”
At the sight of their caregiver, several dogs leaped to their feet, barking joyfully Or savagely Parker couldn’t tell “This girl’s going on to her great reward today” Beth stopped in front of the first enclosure and pointed to an orange tabby cat To Parker’s eyes, it already looked dead, its filmy eyes half-open, fur dull and uneven “She’s twenty-one, can you believe it? Her owner died teeks ago At least they’ll be in heaven together”
It’s true, the Holy Rollers confirmed
“This girl is the other one we have to let go” Beth knelt down in front of the next kennel “I’m so sorry, honey,” she crooned “Don’t be scared”
Parker looked in A brown-and-white dog sat in the corner, as far away fro Parker couldn’t see her face, but her fur was long and feathery
“You think she knows?” Parker asked, shoving her hands in her pockets “She looks scared”
“No She’s always like this Bob Castellano—have you met him yet? No? Well, he was behind soht out theDidn’t even stop! Can you believe that? She had a broken leg and two broken ribs, not to mention a bunch of cuts and bruises She’s all mended now, but no one wants her She’s too shy”
“Guess you can’t blame her”
“Yeah She’s been with us four months now”
“Think she’d bite? Since she’s so scared?”
“I’ve never even heard her growl She’s too afraid” Beth stood up and sighed “So She’ll be put down later on, too, poor thing But down here, we have kittens Christy and Will Jones are taking two of them, but there are two left And we have this very cute little pit-bull mutt—he’s an absolute sweetheart”
Parker didn’tcar, huh? Unbelievable Well, it was one of a thousand horror stories, she was sure She couldn’t afford a pet, no matter how sad its life had been thus far And she didn’t know anything about dogs She liked them, often stopped to admire one here and there, but she didn’t kno to train one or take care of it
Even if she wanted to have a dog, she had nowhere to put the thing Parker wasn’t sure where she herself would be sleeping tonight Most likely, the car once again