Free 6 Beach Blanket Barbie by Kathi Daley Page A

ready?” I glanced toward the hallway that led to the domestic animal cages.
    “Bobby got them ready yesterday. ”
    “It seems like B obby is really working out. He has a knack for anticipating what needs to be done before we even ask him to do it.”
    “Yeah, Bobby is great,” Tiffany agreed. “Did he tell you that his parents are going to match what he saves toward a new car? He thinks he might be able to afford something by the end of the month.”
    “That’s awesome. I bet he’s really excited. Has he started looking around yet? ”
    “Yeah. Most of the cars he’ s interested in are out of his price range, but I’m sure he’ll find something just for getting around.”
    “I remember my first car .” I thought back to that wonderful moment nine years ago when I laid down my hard-earned cash and bought a beat-up old Mustang. “It was a total clunker, but I was so excited to have my own wheels. Of course, it broke down more often than it ran, but it was mine and I loved it.”
    “My first car was a huge , four-door sedan my grandparents gave me when they got a new car,” Tiffany shared. “I could never afford to drive it since it only got around five miles to the gallon, but it looked good sitting in front of the house. When I looked for the car I have now, I decided to get an economy model that gets good mileage.”
    I laughed. “My Mustang wasn’t all that big , but it did seem to guzzle a lot of gas. I, however, didn’t learn my lesson in terms of expense; my truck gets even fewer miles to the gallon.”
    “Yeah, but it’s perfect for doing what you do. If we were dependent on my little car , we’d never have been able to transport Goliath yesterday.”
    “ True. Did Gunner say how he did last night?” Goliath is a mountain lion that was found by hikers. He’d been shot and was in bad shape, but Scott Walden seemed to think he’d recover. Thanks to my four-wheel drive and high ground clearance, I was able to drive off-road to the spot where the forest service had tracked him down and tranquilized him.
    “Gunner left before I got here,” Tiffany informed me. “I checked on him this morning and he seems to be doing better. I talked to Scott yesterday and he thinks he’ll make a full recovery.”
    “Yeah, I talked to Scott as well. He really is a beautiful animal. ”
    “Scott ’s a really good vet,” Tiffany observed.
    “Yeah, he knows his stuff .”
    “Do you know if he’s involved?” Tiffany asked.
    “Involved?”
    “With a woman . Does he have a wife or a girlfriend?”
    “Not that I know of. You interested?”
    Tiffany blushed. “Maybe. We seem to have a lot in common.”
    “So ask him out,” I suggested.
    “You think I should?” Tiffany seemed uncertain.
    I shrugged. “Sure, why not ? The worst that can happen is that he’ll say no. Keep it light. Suggest a movie, or maybe dinner.”
    “Okay, maybe I will.”
    I stopped into my office to check my messages and then headed down the hall, where I ran into Jeremy.
    “It looks like we have ourselves a bite r.” Jeremy was leading a lab mix on a leash.
    “Oh , no. What happened?” I asked. Once a dog starts biting, it’s often difficult to get it to stop.
    “Scooter Sherwood.”
    I groaned. Scooter was a nine-year-old tornado who tended to blow through town, destroying everything in his path. Saying that Scooter was undisciplined didn’t do justice to how huge a disaster the boy really was. I honestly don’t know why the child hadn’t been taken from his drunk of a father years ago, but apparently as long as a parent required their child to attend school, gave them food and shelter, and didn’t beat them, they were deemed fit.
    “Scooter decided it would be a good idea to pounce on Sally Brown while she was walking Cody, and Cody bit him,” Jeremy explained. “I wasn’t going to bring him in, but Scooter’s dad showed up and insisted on it.”
    “He wouldn’t go for a home quarantine?” I asked.
    “Nope.