them.
Dorcas laughed. ‘‘You’ll never charm Clara. She doesn’t trust anyone unless they were born and raised here.’’
‘‘Forget Clara. I’m working on the dog. I think he likes me better already.’’ Ambrose piloted the scooter past the square and continued on Fifth in the direction of the Whispering Forest.
Outside of town, trees covered in new green leaves arched over the two-lane road. Dorcas took a deep breath and savored the loamy scent of plants coming to life. Up ahead, the granite splendor of Big Knob thrust 192 feet into the air.
Dorcas gazed at the town’s namesake. ‘‘How long since we’ve had outdoor sex?’’
‘‘Too long. I’m not used to these cold winters.’’
‘‘Me, either.’’ Back in Sedona they’d been able to have outdoor sex almost year-round, but sex in the snow wasn’t her idea of fun.
‘‘I don’t think we should try it in the Whispering Forest, though,’’ Ambrose said. ‘‘Just our luck George would decide to patrol at that very moment and he’d be traumatized for life.’’
‘‘He would, now that we’ve become parental figures to him.’’
‘‘The lake’s not such a good spot for outdoor sex right now, either,’’ Ambrose said.
‘‘Because of Dee-Dee?’’
‘‘Dear Zeus, I forgot about her!’’ Ambrose swerved onto the side road leading into the forest and stopped the scooter in a spray of loose dirt.
‘‘Ambrose, for Hera’s sake! What’s wrong with you?’’
Turning in his seat, he looked back at Dorcas. ‘‘Jeremy and Annie will be kayaking across the lake this evening. We have to stop them!’’
‘‘We’ll do no such thing.’’
‘‘But what about Dee-Dee? We don’t know what she might do. We can’t endanger—’’
‘‘I talked with her again this morning. In fact, I took Sabrina with me.’’
Ambrose’s face turned the color of merlot and he could barely speak. ‘‘You—you promised you wouldn’t pursue that if we took on Jeremy and Annie’s case!’’
‘‘I said I’d put it on the back burner. Which I have. I got up very early, before we had anything scheduled, so that’s back burner to the tenth power. You didn’t even know I was gone, did you?’’
‘‘That’s beside the point, and you took Sabrina . She would have been a one-bite snack for that creature, a cheese puff, a snickerdoodle, a—’’
‘‘Nonsense. Dee-Dee’s a vegetarian. Anyway, now Sabrina and Dee-Dee are friends. Dee-Dee took Sabrina on a ride around the lake this morning.’’
"She what ?"
‘‘It’s really adorable, Ambrose. Sabrina perches on Dee-Dee’s head, and off they go. Sabrina sits up there with her ears back and her fur blowing in the wind. She loves it. I wish I’d had a camera.’’
Openmouthed, Ambrose stared at her.
She patted his cheek. ‘‘Don’t worry about Dee-Dee, sweetheart. I’m on the case.’’
Jeremy expected to see Annie sometime during the day because she’d have to send another story to the Tribune . He thought she might come in after lunch, but he was pleasantly surprised when she showed up before noon.
Click-or-Treat was busy. A whole crowd of teenagers often stopped by during their lunch hour to check e-mail, and today they’d also shown up to check out his story in the Trib . Consequently the place was jammed when Annie walked in the front door.
She was carrying her black trench coat instead of wearing it, and when he got a look at her tight jeans and form-fitting red T-shirt, he felt like a cartoon character with spring-loaded eyes. Boing.
He waved to her and she waved back, but a quick glance around the café told him that every terminal was in use. He evaluated who he could bump to give her access and settled on Tony, who was supposed to start working in twenty minutes, anyway. ‘‘I need you to take a break,’’ he said as he approached the teenager. ‘‘Annie’s here to file her story for the Tribune .’’
‘‘You’ve got it, Boss.’’
Dorcas laughed. ‘‘You’ll never charm Clara. She doesn’t trust anyone unless they were born and raised here.’’
‘‘Forget Clara. I’m working on the dog. I think he likes me better already.’’ Ambrose piloted the scooter past the square and continued on Fifth in the direction of the Whispering Forest.
Outside of town, trees covered in new green leaves arched over the two-lane road. Dorcas took a deep breath and savored the loamy scent of plants coming to life. Up ahead, the granite splendor of Big Knob thrust 192 feet into the air.
Dorcas gazed at the town’s namesake. ‘‘How long since we’ve had outdoor sex?’’
‘‘Too long. I’m not used to these cold winters.’’
‘‘Me, either.’’ Back in Sedona they’d been able to have outdoor sex almost year-round, but sex in the snow wasn’t her idea of fun.
‘‘I don’t think we should try it in the Whispering Forest, though,’’ Ambrose said. ‘‘Just our luck George would decide to patrol at that very moment and he’d be traumatized for life.’’
‘‘He would, now that we’ve become parental figures to him.’’
‘‘The lake’s not such a good spot for outdoor sex right now, either,’’ Ambrose said.
‘‘Because of Dee-Dee?’’
‘‘Dear Zeus, I forgot about her!’’ Ambrose swerved onto the side road leading into the forest and stopped the scooter in a spray of loose dirt.
‘‘Ambrose, for Hera’s sake! What’s wrong with you?’’
Turning in his seat, he looked back at Dorcas. ‘‘Jeremy and Annie will be kayaking across the lake this evening. We have to stop them!’’
‘‘We’ll do no such thing.’’
‘‘But what about Dee-Dee? We don’t know what she might do. We can’t endanger—’’
‘‘I talked with her again this morning. In fact, I took Sabrina with me.’’
Ambrose’s face turned the color of merlot and he could barely speak. ‘‘You—you promised you wouldn’t pursue that if we took on Jeremy and Annie’s case!’’
‘‘I said I’d put it on the back burner. Which I have. I got up very early, before we had anything scheduled, so that’s back burner to the tenth power. You didn’t even know I was gone, did you?’’
‘‘That’s beside the point, and you took Sabrina . She would have been a one-bite snack for that creature, a cheese puff, a snickerdoodle, a—’’
‘‘Nonsense. Dee-Dee’s a vegetarian. Anyway, now Sabrina and Dee-Dee are friends. Dee-Dee took Sabrina on a ride around the lake this morning.’’
"She what ?"
‘‘It’s really adorable, Ambrose. Sabrina perches on Dee-Dee’s head, and off they go. Sabrina sits up there with her ears back and her fur blowing in the wind. She loves it. I wish I’d had a camera.’’
Openmouthed, Ambrose stared at her.
She patted his cheek. ‘‘Don’t worry about Dee-Dee, sweetheart. I’m on the case.’’
Jeremy expected to see Annie sometime during the day because she’d have to send another story to the Tribune . He thought she might come in after lunch, but he was pleasantly surprised when she showed up before noon.
Click-or-Treat was busy. A whole crowd of teenagers often stopped by during their lunch hour to check e-mail, and today they’d also shown up to check out his story in the Trib . Consequently the place was jammed when Annie walked in the front door.
She was carrying her black trench coat instead of wearing it, and when he got a look at her tight jeans and form-fitting red T-shirt, he felt like a cartoon character with spring-loaded eyes. Boing.
He waved to her and she waved back, but a quick glance around the café told him that every terminal was in use. He evaluated who he could bump to give her access and settled on Tony, who was supposed to start working in twenty minutes, anyway. ‘‘I need you to take a break,’’ he said as he approached the teenager. ‘‘Annie’s here to file her story for the Tribune .’’
‘‘You’ve got it, Boss.’’
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