You’re not a pushover! We have more chores than almost any of my friends, if that makes you feel better. And our rules are good. I mean, they’re a bit vague, maybe, but….”
“What are our rules?”
“I don’t know. Like… tell people where you’re going to be. That’s a good one. Help out with the little guys, clean up your own stuff. It’s not like it’s all written down somewhere….” She raised her head with the sideways tilt it got when she had an idea she really liked. “Some houses are like Canada, or the States, with a written constitution that they all think is really important. And some are like the UK. They don’t have a written constitution… did you know that? Not, like, one big document that has all the big rules in it. Just a lot of scraps here and there, and a lot of tradition. That’s what we’re like. Our rules are mostly tradition, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t real.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to be a lawyer?” Joe asked as he stepped aside and let the young ones precede him out of the house. “This whole vet thing might not be your future after all.”
“Help us, Ally!” she said in a squeaky, distant voice. “We’re waiting! Help us!” She skipped down the walkway, holding Austin’s hand. Over her shoulder she said, “That was the animals.”
“I thought it might be.”
“They still need me.”
“I wonder how many of our current animals will still be alive by the time you get out of vet school.”
She gave him a dirty look. “The horses still should be, at least.”
“I’d say there’s a 10 percent chance of me putting a bullet in Misery’s head on any given day. The odds of her making it that much longer….”
“There’s a zero percent chance of you ever doing that.” Ally corrected. She let go of Austin’s hand, and he stopped walking as if his off switch had been tripped. Ally stepped back and punched Joe in the shoulder. “You love that horse, and we all know it.”
“The feeling is not reciprocal,” he said gloomily, and he tried not to let his mind jump to another relationship where Joe’s affections may not be returned. Mackenzie was back in the city for another shoot, being reminded of all the things he was missing up in the country. After their previous conversation, Joe’s brain seemed to have stopped torturing him with images of cheating, but it still liked to remind him that Mackenzie could call anytime he wanted and say he’d changed his mind and wasn’t coming back. That could happen, and Joe wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. So he shouldn’t think about it, not if there was any way to avoid it.
“Let’s go find a dog,” he said, swooping Austin up and giving him an airplane ride to the truck.
Three hours later, they were back at the house with Jasper and a young ferret. Joe should have known better. Ally and him in an animal shelter? It was a wonder they hadn’t come back with all the residents. As it was, they’d both resolutely maintained their focus on the task at hand until Austin had seen a volunteer playing with the rodent and fallen in love.
“It’s time he had a pet of his own,” Joe rationalized as he unloaded the wire cage they’d bought on the way home.
“It’ll help him learn responsibility!” Ally said brightly. She grabbed the tote bag full of ferret supplies, Jasper’s leash in her other hand.
“Might be good for the girls too,” Joe said. “It’ll show them it’s not a big deal that they get a pet. We’re casual about that around here.”
“Excellent point,” Ally agreed. She really was a good coconspirator. “It would have been irresponsible to come home without a ferret.”
“Absolutely,” Joe said. “We probably should have gotten two.”
“Do you have a plan for introductions to the other dogs?”
“To the ferret? I was planning on keeping them away from each other.”
“No, to Jasper. Although I think we could probably introduce them to the ferret
“What are our rules?”
“I don’t know. Like… tell people where you’re going to be. That’s a good one. Help out with the little guys, clean up your own stuff. It’s not like it’s all written down somewhere….” She raised her head with the sideways tilt it got when she had an idea she really liked. “Some houses are like Canada, or the States, with a written constitution that they all think is really important. And some are like the UK. They don’t have a written constitution… did you know that? Not, like, one big document that has all the big rules in it. Just a lot of scraps here and there, and a lot of tradition. That’s what we’re like. Our rules are mostly tradition, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t real.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to be a lawyer?” Joe asked as he stepped aside and let the young ones precede him out of the house. “This whole vet thing might not be your future after all.”
“Help us, Ally!” she said in a squeaky, distant voice. “We’re waiting! Help us!” She skipped down the walkway, holding Austin’s hand. Over her shoulder she said, “That was the animals.”
“I thought it might be.”
“They still need me.”
“I wonder how many of our current animals will still be alive by the time you get out of vet school.”
She gave him a dirty look. “The horses still should be, at least.”
“I’d say there’s a 10 percent chance of me putting a bullet in Misery’s head on any given day. The odds of her making it that much longer….”
“There’s a zero percent chance of you ever doing that.” Ally corrected. She let go of Austin’s hand, and he stopped walking as if his off switch had been tripped. Ally stepped back and punched Joe in the shoulder. “You love that horse, and we all know it.”
“The feeling is not reciprocal,” he said gloomily, and he tried not to let his mind jump to another relationship where Joe’s affections may not be returned. Mackenzie was back in the city for another shoot, being reminded of all the things he was missing up in the country. After their previous conversation, Joe’s brain seemed to have stopped torturing him with images of cheating, but it still liked to remind him that Mackenzie could call anytime he wanted and say he’d changed his mind and wasn’t coming back. That could happen, and Joe wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it. So he shouldn’t think about it, not if there was any way to avoid it.
“Let’s go find a dog,” he said, swooping Austin up and giving him an airplane ride to the truck.
Three hours later, they were back at the house with Jasper and a young ferret. Joe should have known better. Ally and him in an animal shelter? It was a wonder they hadn’t come back with all the residents. As it was, they’d both resolutely maintained their focus on the task at hand until Austin had seen a volunteer playing with the rodent and fallen in love.
“It’s time he had a pet of his own,” Joe rationalized as he unloaded the wire cage they’d bought on the way home.
“It’ll help him learn responsibility!” Ally said brightly. She grabbed the tote bag full of ferret supplies, Jasper’s leash in her other hand.
“Might be good for the girls too,” Joe said. “It’ll show them it’s not a big deal that they get a pet. We’re casual about that around here.”
“Excellent point,” Ally agreed. She really was a good coconspirator. “It would have been irresponsible to come home without a ferret.”
“Absolutely,” Joe said. “We probably should have gotten two.”
“Do you have a plan for introductions to the other dogs?”
“To the ferret? I was planning on keeping them away from each other.”
“No, to Jasper. Although I think we could probably introduce them to the ferret
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