Free Ninja Soccer Moms by Jennifer Apodaca

to Elsinore. She’s his only family since his sister died. Roxy’s the best thing that ever happened to Duncan.”
    I smiled. Roxy had it tough with no dad and her mom dying, but having someone love her so much healed the deep wounds, or at least helped her cope with the wounds. “Maybe that’s it, Grandpa. Maybe no man can live up to Duncan for Roxy. I sure don’t know any man who could ever live up to you.”
    â€œSure, Sammy, you really lowered your standards with Gabe.” He kissed me as he walked past. “Gotta go. Those kids don’t like to be kept waiting.” He carried his coffee out the door.
    â€œGrandpa, you be careful driving with that coffee.”
    In the doorway he turned back and grinned. “I’m a magician. I can make it disappear.” Then he drank it all and held out the empty cup.
    I went to get the Styrofoam cup. “You’re a riot, Grandpa,” I said as I watched him walk across the wet pavement to his black jeep.
    I went to the folding chairs and picked up my coat.
    â€œBoss, Ali can stay here,” Blaine said.
    Ali got down from the desk and went to the door.
    I looked at Blaine and shrugged. “She likes to go in the car. She can come with me.”
    He waved us off. “I’m entering Lionel’s information in the computer. Can’t do more than that until Gabe clears the security check. See ya.”
    Gabe. Ouch, that was a sore spot. “Right, I have the form in my purse. I’ll get it to him soon.” Ali and I left.
    In the T-bird, Ali sat up on the red passenger seat, with her head hanging out the opened window. She loved it in the summer when I took the hardtop off and we zoomed around town topless. But on a rainy January day, Ali made do with the opened window.
    Heading right on Mission Trail, we made it to Duncan’s Nursery in a few minutes. I made a left into the dirt parking lot, shut off the car, grabbed my purse, and got out. Ali jumped out after me. I figured enough time had passed that Roxy would be here by now, but I didn’t see her black Jaguar.
    Ali dropped her nose to the muddy parking lot and sniffed around. Her ears twitched. So many scents. Wagging her long tail, she got busy chasing down the smells.
    I spotted Duncan Baird. He was a slim rectangular man who looked like he should be out on the range breaking ponies. Right now, he was lifting heavy bags of manure into the back of a Toyota pickup with the easy grace of a man who lived his life outdoors in the sun.
    I leaned against the side of the car and watched Ali. She raced back and forth across the parking lot, and then she spotted a few birds that had ventured out now that the rain had stopped. She barked and chased them into a row of trees lined up in ten-gallon cans. Water dropped from the leaves onto her nose. She stopped and sneezed, then shook her head.
    I laughed at her. She was having a blast. God, I loved that dog. She was so well behaved that we hardly even thought to take a leash with us anywhere. Now Ali was sniffing along the edge, between the parking lot and the plants. Long railroad ties marked it off. Ali wandered up toward the trailer office when she froze.
    Uh-oh. I pushed off the car and started toward her. I’d seen that intent look before. It usually meant she found something important. Maybe a hurt kitten or a nest of baby birds. Or a snake . . . Wait, it was the wrong time of year for snakes. I felt one of my boots sink in the mud and stopped. These were suede boots, not meant for mud walking.
    â€œSam, what can I do for you today?”
    I jumped and turned to look into Duncan’s craggy face. “How are you, Duncan?”
    His peeling lips twitched in a smile as he looked down to my boots. “Can’t complain. We needed the rain. And my boots are waterproof.”
    â€œWaterproof never crossed my mind when I shopped for these.” I lifted a foot to show him my black suede boots. We both