Page 1 of Perfect Bragg

Chapter 1

Harmony ~ a woman who would rather spend the rest of her days surrounded by animals than speak to another human being

“Don’t you dare,” I growl.

Lucy huffs.

“I’m serious. If you jump over the fence, there will be no watermelon for you.”

At the word watermelon, the llama’s ears perk up. Phew. My shoulders relax. Crisis averted.

I wiggle my fingers at Lucy. “Come here.”

Her head swivels to the fence one more time. Crap on a cracker. She’s going for it. She’s going to escape the Wildlife Refuge. She huffs before taking a running leap at the fence and bounding over it. Crisis not averted.

“No!” I chase after her. “Bad llama! Bad Lucy! Get back here.”

By the time I reach the fence, Lucy is nowhere to be seen. Llamas can run up to forty miles per hour while I have a stitch in my side from sprinting to the fence. What the hell am I going to do?

I can’t phone Juniper, my boss and the manager of the Wildlife Refuge, because it’s her wedding day and I promised her I had everything under control. And I did! Until her future husband decided to stop by the refuge but forgot to say hi to Lucy. An offense Lucy takes very seriously.

I dig my phone out of my pocket. I’ll call a friend to help me out. Except there’s no one to call. All of my friends are busy preparing for the Winter Falls wedding of the century. I’m not exaggerating. Juniper is marrying Maverick Langston – aka the hottest romantic comedy actor in Hollywood – today.

You can phone Elder, a voice I’ve dubbed Rebel Harmony, because she always wants me to do things I shouldn’t do, whispers in my mind.He’ll come running.

Elder is a friend, nothing more, I remind her.But you want more.Oh, shut up.

“Hey, Harmony,” Elder greets when he answers the phone. Rebel Harmony perks up.Elder is coming!

“I need your help.”

“Where are you? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, but Lucy escaped.”

“Which one is Lucy?”

“The llama.”

He chuckles. “You and those animals. I’m getting in my truck now. I’ll meet you at the entrance to the Wildlife Refuge.”

Thank goodness Elder has a truck. Most residents of Winter Falls don’t have vehicles since internal combustion engines are banned in town. As the first carbon neutral town in the world, Winter Falls takes saving the environment very seriously.

But Elder, as co-owner ofNaked Falls Brewing,has an exemption to own a vehicle. You can hardly haul around barrels of beer on a golf cart, which is how most people get around town. I prefer my bike. But my ten-speed is no match for a llama in love with a movie star.

I watch as the brewery’s truck approaches the refuge five minutes later and hurry outside to the parking area. I open the door before Elder comes to a complete stop.

“Hurry. We need to get to Juniper’s house before Lucy does.”

“Hello to you, too, Harmony.”

I scowl at him. “This is no time to be cute.”

“Cute? You think I’m cute?” He puffs out his chest. “I prefer hunky, but I’ll settle for cute.”

“Hunky? Do people under the age of seventy use the word hunky? How old are you again?”

“I’m thirty-two and three-quarters.”

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