Page 12 of Taking Chances in Cedarwood

“Got it.” Maddie conned the dog toward the house.

Andrew scooped up the offensive-smelling toy with the shovel and carried Gabby’s prize to the garbage can. He loved the dog, but she tended to find the grossest, smelliest things for toys. At least she hadn’t brought a real critter.

He returned the shovel to the barn, then headed to the house. Maddie finished wiping Gabby down. “She’s not as smelly as we thought.” She stood, tossing the cloths. “I gave her a bone, too.”

“Thanks.” He washed his hands in the mud sink. “She keeps things moving.”

“Speaking of moving, I’m not letting you get out of talking about the cutie. What’s his name?” Maddie asked.

“Cain.” He leaned against the rim of the sink. “I don’t know if there’s anything to tell.”

“Why?”

“We’re not that suited for each other. He thinks organic is all there is and doesn’t understand what it is.”

“Huh?”

“Organic is a spectrum of things and not just boutique food.”

She stared at him. “What if he doesn’t know better? Like…what if no one ever told him otherwise? There are a lot of people out there who don’t know food comes from the ground. They think it comes out of cans. What if he’s never been to a farm? We don’t pull the veggies out of our ass.”

“Uh…” That wasn’t the visual he wanted.

She frowned, then laughed. “Sorry. Wrong wording, but you get the idea. What I’m trying to say, though, is that he might be more innocent than you think. He might really not know, so give him a chance.”

“If I see him.” He wasn’t rushing this. If he ran into Cain, then fine. If not, then he didn’t. Cain seemed sort of interested, but not very.

“You never know.” Maddie pointed to the cat bin. “By the way, you need to run into town tonight. You need more cat food. Oh, and get some special indoor blend for Roger.”

“Why don’t you get it, since you know what you’re talking about. I’ll give you money.” He wanted to avoid possibly running into Cain.

“Because I’m heading home to shower. I’m meeting Nic for drinks.” She shrugged. “It’s just drinks.”

“Nic?” The only Nic he knew was a lawyer and the former quarterback for the Cedarwood high school football team back in the day.

“Nic Martins. We were supposed to get together for lunch and to discuss wills—Ross and I were discussing what we wanted to do with our golden years. Since Ross is doing someone else, I don’t give a rip what he does with his years, but I didn’t want to break the date with Nic, so we agreed to go out for drinks.”

“I see.” Now he remembered. Maddie had dated Nic under the radar for a few months. “You were a couple.” At the time, Nic had said he wasn’t embarrassed to be dating a girl whose parents weren’t married and owned a farm, but he hadn’t taken her to the prom or even told people they were together. Back then, Andrew had just learned Maddie was his stepsister. His protective streak hadn’t blossomed yet.

“I know.” She fluttered her hand. “We weren’t a real couple, per se. He dated Heather, and I tried to date his brother Joey, but Joey and Heather hooked up, so that ended that.” She smoothed the wrinkles in her T-shirt. “We got to talking about wills and the conversation switched to things from high school and we realized we still have things in common.”

“Good for you.” He had no room to talk. His love life sucked and if she thought she’d found someone great in an old flame, he wasn’t going to pass judgment.

“I thought I’d help you for a while, and now I’m heading home to get ready. You need to get into town for that food.”

“Isn’t the store on your way?”

“Andy.”

He hated when she called him that and used the whiny voice. He’d never win an argument with her at this rate, either. “Fine. Lock up the house and leave Gabby in here.” If he went to the feed mill, he wouldn’t run into Cain. He picked up his keys and strode out of the house. As he drove, he tried to ignore his irritation with his sister. The niggling feeling that he’d been set up filled his brain. Maybe he hadn’t, but she had a tendency to put him in situations he didn’t like. He pulled into the lot of the grocery store and parked, then cursed himself for forgetting to go to the feed mill.

Damn.He left the truck and pulled a cart from the rack. He pushed the buggy into the store. Instead of wandering in search of anything else he might need while there, he headed straight to the pet aisle. He smiled at his friend, Trixie, and waved to Clint before he loaded the cart with cat food. Despite the wide array of kinds and brands, he finally spotted one formulated for indoor cats. He added the bag to the pile. He’d spend a lot of money, but the cats would be happy.

Andrew pushed the cart to the register.

“I’m sorry, sir. Your card is declined.” The cashier sounded impatient. “I can’t help you.”

Andrew couldn’t see the shopper ahead, but he felt sorry for the person. He’d been the unfortunate victim of his card being declined, too.

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