Page 19 of Mace

Dusty replied totally unruffled, “Yeah, dogs will do it if you train them with dog biscuits. Cats will do it out of love.”

“Don’t cats need to be trained too?” I ask.

Dusty snorted a laugh, “Everyone knows that you don’t train cats. They train you.”

I opened my mouth to object, but Dusty cut me off. “Think about it. If a cat accidentally wanders into your house, what do you do?”

My first response was, “You run out and buy cat food and kitty litter.”

“Exactly,” she said gleefully. “Cats are so precious that no one even thinks of turning them away.”

Finally, I smiled at her. “You got me on that one.”

Her expression turned happy. “Don’t feel bad. I’ve been doing this for a long time. By the way, my dad is Celt, I don’t know if you met him? Big man with an Irish accent.”

“I think I did, though I couldn’t understand him,” I admitted. I was okay with American accents, but one of the brothers sounded like he was speaking another language.

“Don’t worry, I reckon half the people in town have trouble understanding my dad,” she responded with a laugh.

My eyes went to the corridor, I must have looked anxious because Dusty said, “I hear Mace is getting patched in today. Is he excited?”

“I would have to say yes, he is. He seems to be all about his tribe, family, and club.”

Nine put his huge paw on my arm and I held up my hand to his paw, surprised that it was almost the same size. “And his favorite wolfdog. How could I have forgotten such a good boy.”

Dusty laughed at my absurd interaction with Nine. “I’ll let you off the hook because I can see you really are a dog person.”

Brenda added, “And her dog could probably fit your cat into his mouth at once.”

Rosie laughed, but Dusty made a disgruntled sound and walked off in a huff.

Brenda said, “Woops. Guess I should go and apologize. I don’t want Celt on my ass, much less Gracie.”

When she raced off after Dusty, I turned to Rosie, “Gracie’s her mom?”

Rosie nodded and poured me another juice. She poured a measure of vodka in it and slid it across the counter to me. When I glanced at the clock, she just shrugged. “It’s eleven o’clock somewhere in the world right now.”

I took a sip, and it was sweet enough to curl my toes. I swallowed and told Rosie, “Best drink ever.”

She grinned, “Why thank you, ma’am. Now, tell me a little about yourself. Are you really with Mace? You’re both look pretty young.”

“I just turned twenty-one and I think he’s around twenty-five.”

“You two are just babes in the woods,” she responded with an indulgent smile.

“I suppose we are, especially me. I’m coming out of my shell though. Mace took me canoeing, and for a ride on the back of his bike. I grew up on my father’s farm in Mexico and didn’t get to do many fun things, so I’m really excited to be experiencing new things now I’m in America.”

“Mace will be fun companion for you. He’s into all kinds of neat stuff. His whole family is really nice.”

“Yeah, I talked to them on a video call. It was a bit awkward at first. I kind of suggested I thought Mace might be a serial killer.”

Rosie grinned like the Cheshire cat. “Oh wow. I bet that went down well with Ruby! I’ve known his grandmother since I was in high school. She used to be one of my teachers.”

“Let me guess, she was the strict one.”

Rosie nodded, “But she was also the most understanding. She really took time to listen to and understand where we were coming from.

“Well, when I talked to her, she seemed quite feisty.”

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