“Is there any news about the inspector?” I blurted.
Daniel had promised to do all he could to get the man off our backs. If that threat was eliminated, that would be a relief.
Not to say Teague’s father couldn’t have another one show up.
Vivian was silent. Too quiet for too long for my liking.
“Not yet. He’s pulling in every resource he has,” she finally said.
“Thank you.”
“Samuel Hollingsworth is a powerful man. If it were anyone else, this would already be taken care of, but people have to choose sides carefully in this fight.”
Because if they picked wrong, there could be big consequences. I’d already had a taste of what Teague’s father was capable of. I didn’t want to think what would happen if he applied more pressure.
“If you need to let this go, I understand.” I fiddled with the button of my overalls. “I’m sorry I put you in the middle of this mess.”
“We like being in the middle of messes,” she said lightly. Not this one. “Ow.” Her voice was muffled. “I know it’s a bad situation. M said I shouldn’t act so nonchalant about it. I didn’t mean it that way. We’re going to get through this.”
“I hope so.” We had to. There was no other choice.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Hang on a sec, Vivian.”
I opened the door to the front room a crack and peeked through.
No. He couldn’t be here.
Surely we hadn’t already run out of time.
Chapter Twelve
Pepper
If I ignored him long enough, he’d go away, right?
No matter how I shushed them, the dogs wouldn’t stop barking. I couldn’t even hear if the inspector was still knocking on the door.
One day of peace.
Heck, at this point I’d take a few hours.
That was a big ask.
I tossed dog treat after dog treat in an attempt to quiet the barks. I reached in the tin while keeping one eye focused through the crack.
My fingers grazed crumbs and metal.
And now they were barking because I was out of Garrison’s treats.
I squinted, the metal frame of the front door blocking my view.
“Shhh.” I put my finger up to my lips.
It was useless.
I closed the door and leaned against it. Teague left a few hours ago. He’d said he wanted some time to sort himself out before he confronted his father.
Now it was almost six.
Might as well feed Sadie.
At least I could use the excuse I didn’t hear the door if the inspector didn’t leave. That wasn’t too far from the truth now.
I sent up a quick mental message to Miss Adeline to stay upstairs. As much as I’d like to see her handle that man, I wasn’t totally sure exactly how she’d go about it. My guess was it might not be pretty.
Or maybe she’d flirt with him.
Nah.
Firemen were more her thing. Or was it men in suits? I’d lost track.
Bless that old woman for making me temporarily forget about the trouble on our doorstep. Literally.
BANG. BANG. BANG.
Oh no.
Someone was at the back door. I had no peephole, and there was no way I’d open it even a millimeter.
BARK. BARK. WOOF. WOOF.
The dogs rushed toward the knocking. They jumped and pawed and scratched at the metal door.
Well, this was going to be an exercise in patience.
Or I’d pass out from a heart attack.
With the way my heartbeat drummed, I’d bet on the second.
I couldn’t avoid the man forever. But I wasn’t ready to face whatever he had to say. Because I didn’t think he’d dropped by to tell us what a great job we were doing or to see if there was anything the city could do to help us out.
We weren’t perfect, but we did our best. And we didn’t deserve this.
Under normal circumstances, I’d have already let the man inside. No one was playing by the rules. I had to do what was best to protect my family.
This bordered on harassment. Who was I going to call? The city would laugh at me, especially since it seemed to work based on who had the most money to grease palms.
A piece of paper slid partially under the door. Muffy jumped with both paws, attacking as if it were something to play with.
We had no idea exactly what horrors most of these dogs had been through. I marveled at their resilience. To watch them thrive after only a little love inspired me.
If only we humans could live with even a fraction of their innocent and forgiving spirits, I might not be standing statue still, pretending if I didn’t move the inspector would eventually go away. But if he did, he’d be back.
I crept toward the back door, almost afraid to touch the paper. If I picked it up and he was on the opposite side, he’d know I was here and avoiding him.
I craned my neck, and my knees almost gave way when I read the words in thick black ink.
It’s Lexie. I tried to call.
I corralled the dogs away from the door and opened it as she hopped into her aqua and white retro van. I waved, relieved to see the two faces who made the gourmet dog food the pups were crazy over. She waved back and jumped out.
The passenger window rolled down. “Can I come see your doggies, Pepper?”
“If it’s okay with your sister, Eric.”
Lexie’s brother beamed at me. He practically leapt out of the van. Every day he was so enthusiastic and bright, something that certainly made this sweet man with Down syndrome even easier to love. I’d never asked how old he was, but I’d guess in his mid to late twenties. He was Lexie’s sidekick, and while I didn’t know for certain, I was pretty sure she was his sole caretaker.
“Hey. I wasn’t sure if I stirred up the pooches for nothing.” She hustled around on skyscraper heels like she had on tennis shoes. “Sorry I’m late,” she said breathlessly.
Today she had on a royal blue silk jumpsuit with the collar flipped up. I’d never seen her in jeans or anything less than runway ready. More than once, I’d wondered if she made the dog food in her beautiful clothes.
She slung open the van door with ease. If I were wearing that outfit, I’d have tripped six times just going around the front. She made it look easy.
“You look sharp today.” I flicked my chin toward Eric’s bow tie.
“Dressed for success.” He held up his hand for a high five.
“Saved the best for last.” Lexie pulled out a couple of massive glass containers.
“They’re going to jump on you.” I winced. “Give me a sec to get them into the kennels.”
“Don’t be silly.” She carried on toward me. “I’m all about the puppy love.”
“But your outfit—”
“We go through this every time we come by,” she said good-naturedly. “They’re only clothes, right, Eric?”
“Right.”
My interaction with them was limited to a few minutes a day. In that time, I’d never once seen Lexie treat her brother like he had a disability.
“With what I’ve made off Beau, I can afford a replacement.” She winked.
I didn’t know their arrangement, but I had the sense Lexie was donating her time and resources to feed our dogs.