Page 5 of Spindrift

“’Sup,gang,” Morgan greeted the dogs. Kraken raised his muzzle and sniffed. Morgan’snose caught the same scent: pizza. In order to snag a slice, though, she had topay her dues.

“Ange?”Morgan said as she entered the farmhouse kitchen. Exposed beams and clutteredgranite countertops were eclipsed by Angie herself as she pulled Morgan into ahug.

“Ifeel like I haven’t seen you in ages,” Angie said. Her messy bun of wavy brown hairtickled Morgan’s nose.

“That’sbecause you haven’t.”

“Pizza?Beer?”

“Yespizza, no beer. I’m still on call.”

“Ouch.Pizza it is, then.” Angie waved her hand toward an open box and a stack ofpaper plates. She’d put on more clothes than she usually wore around the house,thanks to the presence of her employees, but she’d paired her work polo withyoga pants and a pair of thick wool socks Morgan recognized as her own.

“Nicesocks.”

“You’rewelcome for doing your laundry.”

Morgancouldn’t argue with that. She’d been too busy the last month to do more thanbrush her teeth. The clinic desperately needed to hire another large animalvet, or at least someone comfortable working in a mixed practice.

“You’relate.” Stevie flung an arm around her shoulders and shoved a beer in her hand.

“I’mnot drinking.”

“Courseyou’re not. Don’t worry. I drank half of it for you.”

Morganeyed the can of beer. She wanted nothing more than to relax. Maybe half a beerwouldn’t kill her. It wasn’t like she’d, say, downed half a bottle of wine andfallen out of her boat. A vivid image of Emilia’s brown eyes filled her vision.

“Fine,”she said, taking a sip. “And I’m not late. I was delayed.”

“Delayed?”

“Someonefell off their boat. I pulled them in.”

“Brrr.”

Morganconsidered telling her more, knowing Stevie would get a kick out of teasingMorgan about rescuing a damsel in distress, but Morgan remembered the grief andhumiliation in Emilia’s face and kept her mouth shut. She also recalled howEmilia had looked wearing Morgan’s spare clothes.Down that road lies peril.Her mind quoted one of the books or shows her friends were so fond of.

“Theyokay?”

“She’llbe fine.” Morgan hid the smile that rose to her lips behind her beer as sherepeated Emilia’s favorite words.

“Anyonewe know?”

“No.Nice dog, though. How’s the party?”

“It’sdevolved into Cards Against Humanity.” Angie jabbed her thumb toward the livingroom, where her employees lounged on the mismatched couches and armchairs thatfilled the space. “I forgot how vulgar Alexa is.”

“Isshe the one with the dildo earrings?” asked Stevie.

“Yes.”

“Andyou hired her why?”

“Becauseit is hard to find people who enjoy getting barked at all day for minimum wage.Plus, those earrings double as earplugs.”

“Amongother things.”

“You’regross.” Angie swatted at Stevie, who had ducked behind Morgan who fielded theblow.

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