Page 4 of Midlife Shifter Unexpected

“Yeah, I thought that’s where you worked. I didn’t realize you had a whole side hustle.” Mae laughed as she edged her way through the pack of animals.

“This was my son’s business. I set up for him, but then he left to go to college so I got a job at the sheriff’s station to help pay for it.”

“After all that, you work here at night?” Mae looked positively horrified.

“Yeah, that’s the deal.” I folded my arms over my chest, wondering what she was doing here. We hadn’t parted on poor terms, but I hadn’t had the feeling she’d wanted me around.

“I wanted to apologize for the other night,” Mae blinked , her hands reaching outward to hug me.

I didn’t move. “It didn’t feel good.” My words were clear. I wasn’t afraid to speak the truth.

“Can I help out here?” she asked.

I looked at her with surprise. “Really?”

“Yeah, I wanted to talk about the other night,” Mae said. “It wasn’t what you think it was. I wasn’t trying to exclude you. They are from the club my aunt belonged to. I need to spend some time with them and invest some energy in them. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be your friend. I know you’re really busy, but I’m not, so if you want to hang out or if you need some help, I am here.”

I couldn’t stop the stinging in my eyes, but I blinked the tears back rapidly, determined not to show her any weakness.

“Do you need to go back to the sheriff station?” Mae petted a chocolate Labrador on the head.

“No. I’m just finishing up feeding them and then I’ll put them in their beds for the night.” I wiped my eyes and made a motion towards the feeding bins.

“I can help you,” Mae shrugged, “and then maybe you wanna go for a cup of tea or something afterward?”

“You know, that sounds really nice,” I smiled, all feelings of irritation towards Mae wiped away by her simple apology. I didn’t need to fall all over myself to be her friend, but I didn’t have to shut her out either.

“Great. Just let me know what you need me to do.” Mae said.

It had been almost two years since Dante had left for college. I rarely found myself doing things with other people’s help, but Mae chipped in like a trooper, running around and feeding the dogs and making sure they had plenty of water. She was also really sweet to them.

“Do you like animals?” I asked her as we locked up the warehouse and walked towards the narrow strip that made up downtown Cougar Creek.

“Well, I kind of have a new dog,” Mae said hesitantly. “He’s not doing too well, but I think he’s going to last a while.”

“If you want, I can come and take a look at him,” I offered. “I’m not a vet or anything like that, but I’m used to seeing a few things in animals.”

“I don’t think you’ve met anyone quite like Carl,” Mae said.

I shrugged. Suddenly I stopped in my tracks. I reached out and grabbed her hand. “We can’t go to the Waldorf,” I said. “Let’s go to O’Halloran’s. it’s just on the other side of the creek.”

“Why can’t we go to the Waldorf?” Mae asked, looking at me with a sideways glance.

“We just can’t,” I said. Mae stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, fixing me with a stare that told me she was not going to accept my brush offs.

“Tell me what’s going on.” She reached out a hand to my elbow. “Weren’t you the one who set me up with Branson? Look how that’s turned out.” The grin on her face said more than anything else.

“I’m happy for you.” I returned her smile with genuine care. If there was one thing I’d learned in my life, it was that one shouldn’t stand in the way of romance because you never knew what chance you would have of getting it again. “We’re not getting any younger.”

“You banged the bartender at the Waldorf,” she said with a straight face.

“No, I didn’t!” I exclaimed. “But I’m so flattered you would think he’d want to bang me.”

“You’re kidding me,” Mae groaned as she shook her head. “Have you looked at your peach ass lately?”

I glanced over my shoulder and cringed at the size of my butt. “He asked me on a date.”

“Oh no,” Mae said, stricken. “A date? Like a coffee date, dinner date, or what other kind of a date do they have out here? Bucking hay? Milking cows?”

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