Page 81 of For the Birds

“What does that have to do with findin’ Scooter?” she asked.

“I couldn’t see anything about findin’ Scooter, so I asked what happened after we found him. Maybe you’re gonna go straight to seeJed.”

“Maybe . . .”

We couldn’t figure it out, so I started to drive to Walmart. Muffy made a contented sound as she snuggled up with Neely Kate, drawing my attention to her. “I think it’s too hot to leave Muffy in the truck, but I think both of us should goin.”

“Do you want to drop her off with Maeve at the nursery?”

“I know I should, but I’m still reeling from Mike’s insistence that we sell Momma’s house. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk to Violet about it yet.” I didn’t necessarily mind selling Momma’s house. I had very few fond memories of the place. It was the way it was being handled, like Mike wanted to sell it out from under Violet. Something was off. Especially since he’d asked me to keep it a secret. I wanted to talk to Violet, but we needed to discuss this alone.

“I doubt she’s gonna be there anyway,” Neely Kate said. “She’s still settlin’ in.”

I thought about it for a moment. “Let’s try to keep Muffy with us. I didn’t get to see her at all yesterday.” Truth was I missedher.

“How are we gonna take herin?”

“How about we make her a pursedog?”

Neely Kate snorted. “Your brand-new purse? She’s barely gonnafit.”

She was right. While Muffy wasn’t that big, she was nearly ten pounds and about a foot and a half long. But my new purse was a lot larger than my old one, mostly because I’d started carrying assorted self-defense items. “I’ll take everything out.” I reached down and rubbed Muffy’s head. “I want to keep her withme.”

A couple of minutes later, we were walking across the parking lot, me with my bag slung over my shoulder and a dubious Muffy stuffed inside. Her head stuck out under my armpit, making me wish Neely Kate had remembered to pack deodorant in my cosmetics bag. But Muffy didn’t seem to mind that part—it was the lack of anything hard to sit on in the bottom of the bag that was making her anxious. She was trying to stand and couldn’t get her footing.

Then a nasty smell hit my nose, and I realized my BO was nothing compared to the smells my little dog was producing.

“I’m not sure this is gonna work,” I mused as we walked through the automatic entrance doors.

“I’ll make it work. We’re gonna sneak you right in,” Neely Kate said, walking in with her head held high like she owned the place. We started to walk past the greeter, and Neely Kate squealed as she rushed over to him. “Oh, my goodness! Ben! Is thatyou?”

The gray-haired man looked confused, not that I was surprised. I was part of this operation, and I was confused, but Neely Kate subtly waved me past her. As soon as I was a good ways past them, I edged into an aisle and lookedback.

The elderly gentleman squinted at Neely Kate. “Sarah Beth? You sure have gotten big. And prettier.”

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I thought you were my granny’s old beau. My mistake.”

A smile lit up his face. “If your granny looks anything like you, I’ll be happy to be her newone.”

Neely Kate gave him an ornery grin. “Isn’t that a wedding ring on yourhand?”

He laughed and winked. “What Carol don’t know won’t hurt her. Especially since she ran off to Florida with the yard boy. I can’t get this damn thingoff.”

“You should get it cut off,” Neely Kate told him. “Get you a fresh start.”

“And ruin a perfectly good gold ring? I’ll just save it for my nextwife.”

She laughed and leaned closer. “My granny plays bingo every Tuesday night.” With a wink and a wave, she said, “I’ll be theretoo.”

He waved back as she walked towardme.

“Did you really just try to set up your granny?”

“It’s never too late for love, Rose. Besides, Granny’s frugal enough to appreciate not havin’ to buy him a weddin’ ring.” Then she grabbed my purse arm, getting a lick from Muffy in the process, and led me down to the checkout lanes.

I wished we’d thought to ask Bruce Wayne what Jeanne looked like. It would have been easier to find her . . . if she was working. There was no guarantee ofthat.

We walked down the line, trying to read the name tags of the four cashiers we could see, but two of the women were turned away fromus.

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