A Fool's Gold Christmas (Fool's Gold #9.5)(35)

“Is that what you’re doing?”

He patted his stomach. “Charlie’s making sure of it.”

She waved her hand. “Okay, whatever.” She looked at all of them. “While I appreciate the effort, you can’t barge in here without calling first. Understood?”

They nodded.

“We wanted to surprise you,” Rafe said.

“Then you achieved your goal.”

He studied her. “Evie, I know it was bad before. When we were kids.”

It had been, she thought. She could be mad at them forever, but to what end? They were her brothers. They’d had their own growing up to do. She’d been a lot younger and the only girl.

“We all did the best we could,” she told him.

For a second she thought one of them might ask the inevitable “Even Mom?” But none of them did. Shane walked around the counter and pulled her close. Clay and Rafe joined in for the group hug. For the first time in as long as she could remember, her brothers held her.

When they’d released her, she smiled at Rafe. “Just so you know, I wasn’t a virgin.”

He groaned and covered his ears with his hands. “Stop! You have to stop.”

Clay chuckled. “Feeling pretty good about yourself, aren’t you?”

“I am.”

Chapter Eleven

Late Monday morning, Evie parked in front of the Fool’s Gold animal shelter. There was a large sign stating that over nine hundred and forty-seven animals had been adopted by the community and that donations were always welcome. When she got out of the car, she heard a couple dozen dogs barking and figured the meeting would be loud, if nothing else.

She walked toward the front door. Another car drove in and she recognized her mother’s Mercedes. As May got out of her car, Evie braced herself for whatever was to come. She was relatively sure her brothers would have shared the details of their visit to her place the previous morning. She wasn’t exactly thrilled about discussing her sex life with her mother, but she wasn’t sure she could actually get out of the conversation.

She waited for her mother to join her. May smiled broadly as she approached.

“This is going to be so exciting,” she said happily. “I can’t wait to meet all the animals. Rina was telling me that last year there was an iguana up for adoption. Though she said she decided not to give it any special beauty treatment for the holidays.”

“Aren’t iguanas huge?” Evie asked. “What was she going to do? Paint its toenails?”

“As long as she doesn’t expect us to do that.”

They walked inside and were met by a pretty young woman in her mid-twenties.

“Hi. I’m Tammy Blalock. I work here at the shelter.” Tammy smiled. “I also have a shift at Starbucks. So if you think you’ve seen me around town, you have.”

“You keep busy,” May said.

“I know. Life’s more fun that way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Evie said, suddenly feeling like a slacker.

“Rina’s already here,” Tammy said, leading them through the small office and into the back of the building. “She’s putting together a list of who we have to put up for adoption. We already have pictures up on our website and we’ve done some holiday graphics.”

Tammy’s long blond ponytail swung as she walked. Evie and May followed her into an open area with a thick outdoor rug and several low chairs. There were also toys and a feline climbing post.

“This is our biggest greeting area,” Tammy told them. “Where potential pet parents can spend time with some of our residents. Cats are this way and dogs are over there.”

As she spoke, she pointed at two different doors. One had a big cat painted on it, the other had a grinning cartoon beagle.

“Rina’s in with the cats,” Tammy continued and held open the appropriate door.

Evie and May walked inside. There were dozens of large, airy cages and nearly as many cats. Calicos and marmalades, tabbies and cats in solid colors. Some were sleeping, a few kittens were playing together in one of the larger cages. Evie was immediately drawn to a black-and-white long-haired tuxedo cat with green eyes and a disdainful expression.

Evie crossed to him and offered her fingers for him to sniff. He leaned forward slightly and touched his nose to the edge of her finger, then turned a little, as if offering his cheek. She rubbed his soft fur.

“Hi, handsome,” she murmured.

“That’s Alexander,” Tammy told her. “He’s about two or three years old. We’re not sure. He was found abandoned and starving a couple of months ago. He’s friendly enough around people, but understandably wary. He won’t purr for anyone. People want to adopt a cat who purrs.”

Alexander looked at her, as if asking if she would be willing to purr, under the circumstances.

“No, I wouldn’t,” she told him.

Carina McKenzie, otherwise known as Rina, walked into the cat room, clipboard in hand. “Hi, May. Nice to see you again. You must be Evie.”

“Hi,” Evie said. “Nice to meet you.”

“You, too. I really appreciate the help with the adoption. I didn’t want to give it up this year, but Dr. Galloway keeps telling me to stay off my feet as much as possible.” Rina wrinkled her nose. “She’s gotten more stern and is threatening to put me on bed rest if I don’t start listening.”