Page 25 of Silos and Sabotage

“This is Cassie Cordell, our veterinarian technician.” Jillian fluttered a hand at the receptionist’s desk.

A petite woman in cutoff jeans shorts and boots was stooped over it, riffling through a stack of papers and muttering to herself. Two fat brown braids poked out from beneath her Stetson. “We don’t have a receptionist yet. We just take turns making messes out of all the paperwork.”

“I could help with that,” Ella offered as she scanned the chaos covering the receptionist’s work area.

Jillian’s eyes widened. “I thought your resume said your background was in childcare.”

“I minored in Business Management,” Ella explained. “My goal was, er…isto open a daycare of my own someday.”

The shadow that crossed her features gave Gage’s heart a yank. It was as if it had just then occurred to her that she was five years behind on that particular goal. As their gazes locked, he decided on the spot that he was going to do whatever it took to help her get back on track to achieve every last one of her dreams.

Jillian murmured, “Y’all just ignore me while I drop to the floor and kiss Ella’s tennis shoes in gratitude. If someone had told me when I woke up this morning that we were getting this kind of help…” She reached behind her to untwine Bo’s fingers from her hair, wincing.

He squealed and reached for her hair again.

Cassie made a sound of supreme frustration from the piles of paper she was still wading through. “If anyone finds the shot records for our newest husky, I’m not above getting on the floor and kissing a few toes, either.”

Ella’s gaze lingered on him for a moment. Then she pointed at the computer resting in the center of the receptionist’s booth. “Maybe it’s in the system,” she offered in a helpful voice.

“Aren’t you adorable?” Cassie rolled her eyes as she explained, “Jordan only got the computer hooked up yesterday afternoon, so nothing’s in the system yet.”

“But since it’s Jordan,” Jillian chuckled, “he spent all night designing a custom database for us, so we’re heading in the right direction.”

“Jordan?” Ella glanced between the two women.

“Our resident horse whisperer.” Cassie’s voice rang with pride. “I’m not sure if you follow horse racing, but he and Western Storm are pretty famous.”

There was an awkward pause on Ella’s part. “I, um…not so much lately.”

Gage caught Jillian’s eye, realizing she must not have filled in Cassie on all of Ella’s background.

Jillian hastened to nudge the conversation back to safer territory. “Jordan is also her boyfriend, so if you catch them drooling over each other…”

Cassie stuck her tongue out at her boss. “Anywa-a-a-ay…” Blushing, she waved her hands expressively at the piles of paperwork scattered across the countertop and the built-in workspace below it. “Feel free to play with the new database anytime you want.”

“Honestly? The nerdy side of me would love to get in on the ground floor of setting up your pet records.” Ella started to move around the receptionist’s booth, but Jillian stopped her.

“Don’t you eventhinkabout starting work before you finish the grand tour.” Her gaze fell on the bags still looped over Gage’s shoulders. “What in the world have you got there?”

“Don’t ask me.” He held up his hands, grinning. “I’m just the delivery boy.” He was also going to be serving as Ella’s bodyguard until Johnny Cuba arrived. He glanced at his watch, noting that the guy was cutting it awfully short on his arrival time.

Jillian turned her questioning gaze to Ella, who smiled warmly in return. “I come bearing gifts for the fur herd. I couldn’t resist. I’ve always been a bit of a shopaholic.” She reached up to snatch a stuffed snake out of the top of one of the bags. She wiggled it in the air toward Bo, adding in plenty of hissing sounds.

He eagerly turned his attention from his mother’s hair to the toy, wiggling energetically for her to put him down. She set him on his feet and he lurched eagerly for the stuffed snake.

Ella pretended to wrestle with him by holding on to the snake’s tail, shaking it and hissing some more. However, she let him win in the end. He toddled off, waving the snake in the air and making the same hissing sounds she’d been doing. His sounded a little juicier, since he was spitting as much as hissing in typical boy style.

“He’s such a little varmint.” Jillian gave her son’s retreating chubby frame an affectionate look. “But I adore him to pieces.”

“We all do.” Cassie’s voice was matter-of-fact as she went back to riffling through the papers at the receptionist’s station. “He’s the life of the party around here.

Ella looked utterly entranced. “I bet the animals love having a little boy running around. Watching kids in action is better than TV.”

“You think?” Jillian made a sighing sound. “If you decide to postpone opening your daycare, I might have an office management position with your name on it.”

“Be careful what you offer,” Ella’s voice was only half teasing.

Gage studied her curiously, trying to gauge how serious she was. He wouldn’t mind it one bit if she decided to work full time at the sanctuary. It would be one of the safest places in town to work. Since Jillian was married to one of the partners at Lonestar Security, he had no doubt that the sanctuary boasted one of the best security systems on the market.

---