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“Do you think he’s drunk?” Miranda asked

Dumbfounded, Olivia shook her head “He didn’t slur”

“Here comes another bus,” Natalie said as she handed Olivia a roll of raffle tickets “Go get ’em”

Still trying to work out the e of the open-air beer garden to greet the newco out raffle tickets to what seemed like half the town, she realized the bus was still in the parking lot The driver should have shut the doors and gone back for another group by now, but it remained parked with the doors open

Figuring there was soan walking over, but Mateo’s dog appeared in the doorway

He paused for a second, happily panting as he looked around The moment he spotted Olivia, he turned into a multicolored fur flash as he sprinted down the steps and across the parking lot to her

“What in the world are you doing here?” She knelt down to pet hi Luciana and her brood were about to debark, but no one did Looking down at the dog, she noticed he had a brand new bright-yellow collar A rolled-up piece of paper dangled from it

Heart fluttering, she glanced up, looking for Mateo He was the only ould send his dog with a note, but he wasn’t , she unhooked the note frouy’s licks as much as possible

HI, MY NAME’S TROUBLE MY PERSON IS AN IDIOT CAN YOU HELP ME FIND HIM?

She bit her botto and buried her face in Trouble’s soft fur Her heart was held together eak glue and Scotch tape; another swift kick by Mateo’s boot and she wasn’t sure she’d be able to put it back together again

Even though it was the last thing she should do, she looked up at the bus The doors were still open He had to be in there Excitement, hope and a belief in happily ever afters pushed its way to the forefront It lightened her footsteps as she walked toward the bus, the dog following behind

But before she reached it, the driver closed the doors and the bus rolled forward on its return trip to S

alvation

One by one, the butterflies fluttering in her stomach dropped dead as the bus pulled away It wasn’t until it was al behind it

Mateo stood alone in the parking lot wearing a T-shirt that read: I’M THE IDIOT