Page 72 of S.O.S. Billboard

“Damn, you’re cute,” he said instead, then cleared his throat. “Umm, a rental’s not necessary,” he told her. “Del will let me use one of the company SUVs for as long as I need it, and you can take the Bronco.”

She placed a hand over her heart. “Oh, Billboard. Seriously? You’ll trust me with your baby?” she gasped.

“Just don’t wreck her,” Billboard grumbled. He’d just had the rear quarter replaced after Murphy’s messy incursion.

“Well, your Boston trafficisa little wonky…” O’Shea began teasingly.

“Don’t even joke about it,” Billboard admonished, then sighed. “But Iaminsured in case anything happens.”

“Don’t worry, Billboard. I’m an expert driver. I promise. High speed chases have always been my specialty.”

He moaned. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

****

An hour later, O’Shea had to admit that Billboard’s worries about his vehicle weren’t unfounded. The Bronco was still intact, but just barely.

She actually hadn’t known how crazy Boston driversreallywere until she’d been in the thick of traffic. Didn’t anyone obey signs or traffic lights in this city? Apparently, like in the movie Starman, everyone here thought yellow meant “go very fast”. And pedestrians? They had no clue what crosswalks were for, dashing for the opposite sides of the street like maniacs, despite the honking horns. And one-way roads? Forget about those. Perhaps they too, were just a suggestion?

Gripping the wheel ‘til her knuckles were white, O’Shea finally made it back to Billboard’s. Thank God.

Once she got inside and greeted her kitties, she sat and dialed Anna Jakes’ number.

“Hey, O’Shea,” Anna greeted. “I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from you or not. Have you made up your mind?”

“I have. I’d love to come live with you until I figure out my next step.” O’Shea gave the woman one more chance to back out. “Are you sure you’re okay with having me?”

“Of course!” O’Shea could hear the genuine happiness in Anna’s response.

“You know,” Anna continued, “the more I thought about it last night, the more I loved the idea. Having adult company will be a huge perk. Plus, Ethan is home by himself for an hour every afternoon before I get out of work, and maybe if you could skew your schedule a bit, you could be around for him?” She named a time period that didn’t seem too intrusive into whatever O’Shea might have going on.

“Absolutely,” O’Shea agreed immediately. “That is if you don’t mind Ethan and I doing a bunch more training in the woods. Ethan is so good at it by this point, I think he can teach me a lot.”

Anna laughed. “I’m not sure about that, but I’m certain you’re going to be good for his ego. Just don’t let him bully you into doing anything you don’t want to do.”

“No worries. We’ll get along just fine.”

They talked planning for a few minutes; like which shelf in the refrigerator would be hers, and where O’Shea would put the litter box, which, thank the stars didn’t smell anymore. The vet had indeed found a parasitic infection and treated it. It hadn’t been long before the antibiotics had taken effect.

“We’re still a work-in-progress, so don’t sweat anything,” O’Shea assured Anna. “If I do something you don’t like, you have to promise to let me know.”

“Same,” Anna sent back, “and you have a deal.”

“Great. By the time you get home today, the cats and I will be happily ensconced. Oh.” She’d almost forgotten. “Where do you work? I’ll need to pick up a key.”

“I’m the receptionist at a dentist office in Quincy.” She gave the address. “But there’s no need to come here. I leave an emergency key under the back door garden gnome in case Ethan or I forget ours.”

O’Shea didn’t like that, but she wouldn’t rock the boat right away. This new cohabitation was all about building trust, and she didn’t want to get Anna’s back up before O’Shea even moved in.

“Okay. I’ll use that one. And if it’s alright, I’ll find a hardware store and have a copy made for myself.” And maybe, by the time she “remembered” to give the original back, she would have convinced Anna that hiding the key in such an obvious spot wasn’t such a great idea.

Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen any kind of security equipment at the neat little, one-floor ranch.

Maybe she’d find a way to talk Anna into a door camera and some perimeter alarms.

****

Once they’d said goodbye, it was time for O’Shea to get down to business.

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