Page 2 of Her Filthy Grump

She stares with her beady eyes and then quacks.

“Right.” I grin. “Teamwork.”

The driver lays on his horn, pulls into the opposite lane, and zips past. I twist at the waist and glare at him as he zooms down the street. What a jerk.

Gertrude and I manage to corral three of the baby ducks into the park as several customers file out of the café to cheer me on.

I lean down and swoosh my arms in the air as another puffball waddles toward the yellow center line. “Oh, no, you don’t.”

At my exaggerated movements, the duckling shoots into the grass like a fox is hot on his tail feathers. “Good job, little one.”

By now, cars on both sides of the road have come to a complete stop. Mayor Wagner steps out of his Cadillac. He leans against the door with his arm resting over the top edge. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”

I swipe a strand of hair out of my eyes. Only to have it fly back in my face. “Yes, it is.”

He chuckles as Gertrude darts to the side of the road and frantically quacks at a duckling that has wandered down the cement gutter. “She sure has her hands full with this batch. I don’t think they’re going to make it.”

“You and me both,” I sigh in utter frustration. There’s no time to make idle conversation. I jog to catch up with them before another unsuspecting driver ends up running over the little family.

Not that there’s anywhere for vehicles to go. The road to the south is blocked by the Mayor and a couple other drivers who’ve stopped to chat with him. And from the north, a large 4x4 is angled sideways to block traffic.

I squint. Who’s that? I don’t recognize the vehicle. Before I can catch a glimpse of the driver, the pipsqueak on the loose slips between the rails of the drain grate and disappears.

“Oh, shit.” My heart skips a beat. I run to the covered trench and stare inside with my co-parent quacking and fluttering her head from side to side.How am I going to get you out of there?

“What’re you doing?” A deep voice booms from behind me.

My mouth drops as I pivot on my heel.Holy hotness, Batman.The man, who has apparently emerged from the monster truck with dual tailpipes, strides across the pavement.

The muscles in his shoulders and neck ripple with each movement. When did superheroes start wearing low-hung jeans and wifebeaters? I swallow over the dry ball of lust in my throat and straighten my back. “Gertrude’s baby duckling fell into the drain.”

He yanks the sunglasses off his face, and the darkest pair of brown eyes stare at me in utter disbelief. Then, he glances in all directions. “And that warrants this mess?”

I jerk backward. “What mess?”

“This.” As he waves his hand in a circle in front of him, his eyes flash with contempt. “You’re holding up traffic. All the lookie-loos are out gawking. And the Mayor’s over there holding an impromptu press conference.”

I spin around to see Mayor Wagner grinning from ear to ear as he uses his hands to talk. Tracie Atherton and Max Parson have their cellphones up as they appear to be recording his conversation.Welcome to Meadow Bay, California.

“Then, move on.” I shrug. “It doesn’t have to be your business.”

The man purses his lips. “Yes, it does. We received a call at the fire department, and I’m the lucky one who got the assignment.”

Chapter Two

Kameron

What a clusterfuck.When I signed up for this gig, I was expecting a nice break from the city’s fast pace.

Granted, the weather’s beautiful, and it feels more like Mayberry than Kansas City, but this? My gaze darts between the quacking duck, the ducklings darting in all directions in the park, and Miss Pollyanna swooshing them all to safety.Lord, save me.

I squat down in front of the grate. The brown fuzzball stares with black eyes and an open beak. “This is why birds don’t live long. Just be glad it’s not raining, or you’d drown.”

“What?” Miss Pollyanna stops in mid-movement and gawks like I said I was going to rip its head off and eat it.

“Birds.” I motion toward the drain. “They’re stupid.”

Her green eyes flash in anger, and the freckles on the bridge of her nose pop as heat floods her face. “Birds aren’t stupid.”

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