Page 53 of Not Mine to Rescue

I’d been too wrapped up in work. I’d avoided him. We never got that date I’d promised. Which really meant there was no reason I could be jealous because there was nothing there.

Right?

Why was I watching her face so closely?

“Don’t worry. He’s been busy with the club a lot lately. I hope it calms down before March.”

“What happens in March?”

She shot me a long-suffering sigh. “Orphan season.”

My heart caught. I couldn’t get the word out.

Lemon must have seen my distress and elaborated. “It usually starts with a squirrel or two. Or maybe even a possum batch. Then there’s bunnies and raccoons and skunks, and that’s not even so bad. It’s when all the kittens show up.” Her eyes went a little crazy for a moment. “They need to be fed every two to three hours.”

Was it evil of me to think about gifting Jim and Denise a kitten?

I shoved that aside and focused on Lemon. “How do you manage?”

She shrugged. “Wombat helps. He also makes sure whoever is prospecting is on kitten duty. It’s become a thing. Big bad bikers with tattoos wiping kitten butts.” Her laughter turned a little wicked.

“That I’d pay to see.”

“The funniest one was Fly. He was useless.” She got quiet for a minute. “But, he’s the only one who comes back, and this year he’s got his own recovery to work so...”

“He was the one in the hospital?”

“Yep. Fell out a window.”

Or was pushed according to the police report. I bet that wasn’t the whole story. It happened the same day I met Wombat.

No wonder he was so anxious to post bail.

Speaking of the devil... his truck rumbled down the driveway. He parked it next to my car. DA was with him and bounded out to sniff around Molly. They greeted each other like they hadn’t seen each other in months. I had a hard time wrangling the leash.

Wombat spoke a sharp word to DA, and he sat in place. His tongue lolled out and drool dripped to the ground.

Molly wasn’t much better. She’d sat at Wombat’s command, too, but was having a much harder time sitting still. She edged closer to DA until they were almost within touching distance.

“All that training...right out the window when those two see each other.” Lemon mused. To her brother she said, “You’re home, finally.”

Wombat’s eyes met mine. “Yeah. Finally.”

He looked guilty. Interesting.

Lemon interrupted with, “I was just telling Honor that it’s okay to be a jealous bitch once in while.”

She was? I glared at her because Wombat didn’t need to know that. Especially when it didn’t apply to him. I needed to set the record straight. “It’s about Jim and Denise. He brought their newborn to show off the firm.” I almost couldn’t wait until this paternity leave was over. Maybe then he’d stop.

Wombat’s expression morphed into a frown. “That’s cold.”

The words flew out of my mouth before I thought about them. “No shit.”

“Oh, you’re jealous of his girlfriend?” Lemon asked.

“Wife,” I corrected. And no. Not really.

“The side chick before divorce finalized.” Wombat snuck in because Lemon’s questions were written all over her face.