The Mane Squeeze
Page 30
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Welluhumwould you like some coffee, my dear?
Gwen grinned. Id love some.
By the time they were finished installing the new water heater, hauling out the old onehelped along by Lock being able to simply pick it up and carry it outand ensuring the basement was dry, it was late. Nearly seven oclock.
Gwen sat on the curb behind the MacRyrie family home. She watched the company truck driven by one of her employees head off down the street while she checked in with Blayne.
How did your job go? Blayne asked after complaining for nearly ten minutes about her own.
New waterless water heater installed and working fine.
Water heater installation. Ka-ching!
Youre not going to believe whose house this is, though.
Whose?
She smiled, thinking of Lock keeping his father busy and out of her hair anytime the man even glanced toward the basement. The bears.
What bear?
The one from the infamous Labor Day weekend fiasco. The one who left me at the whim of organ thieves.
Stop saying that! I told you what happened.
Yeah. Whatever. He apologized, anyway.
You made that man apologize?
Yes! As a matter of fact, I did.
Youre unbelievable.
I was owed an apology.
Im not arguing with you on this. Ive gotta go.
Gwens eyes narrowed. Oh? Where to?
Touh
Gwens eyes narrowed more until they were nothing but slits. The wolfdog was up to something, had been for weeks, and Gwen was determined to find out what. To she prompted.
To the hospital.
Gwens back went straight. What the
As a volunteer.
A volunteer?
Uh-huh.
Blayne was lying and they both knew it. Thats where youve been going after work the last few weeks?
Uhhuh.
To a hospital?
Yuppers!
As what? A therapy dog?
Blaynes gasp of outrage came through the phone. Low blow, ONeill! Yeah. It was. But she hated when Blayne lied to her. Still, that was too low, even for Gwen.
Blayne, wait. Im sor
Not surprisingly, the phone call abruptly ended, leaving Gwen to stare at the disconnected message on her screen until she heard something breathing beside her.
Youre supposed to lumber, she accused softly, looking overat the grizzly quietly sitting next to her.
Poor full-humans. Without the same hearing as Gwen, theyd never know the bear was next to them until he said something or until the mauling started. She shuddered at the thought. Because I can hear lumbering.
I do lumber. Since I was eight.
You need to lumber louder. No one wants to look up and see a bear sitting next to them. Breathing.
Gee, thanks. He jerked his thumb toward his house. My mothers home. She wants to talk to you.
Youre not going to get a better deal from anyone else, Gwen tossed out.
Would you stop doing that?
Doing what?
Arguing a point before anyones given you a reason to. Dont preemptive argue. Its annoying. He stood up and so did Gwen. The reason Im talking to you now is that I need to warn you about my mother.
Gwen put her hands on her hips. Let me guess. She doesnt like cats. Shes going to say snide remarks about climbing trees and hacking up hairballs, and youre going to apologize now for whatever she says.
Right?
Youre doing it again, he accused.
Shit. She was.
If youd let me talk for myself, I was going to say that my mother is a dyed-in-the-wool feminist and shes dying to meet you because shes completely in love with the idea of a female plumber putting in her new water heater. She also may ask to interview you for her monthly newsletter, but youre not obliged to do that unless you want to.
Gwen could say with all honesty she hadnt been expecting any of that. Oh. All right then.
He leaned down until their noses almost touched. Did you know that youre very frustrating?
Maybe, once or twice, Ive heard that before.
His mother was in love. Lock knew it as soon as she set eyes on Gwen that shed fallen head over heels in love.
First off, Gwen was dressed correctly. Sturdy work boots, no cute shoes. Curly hair held off her face with a headband, no cute hairstyle more concerned with glamour rather than functionality. Cargo pants with lots of pockets for easy access to often-used small tools or pen and paper, no cute jeans with a thong hanging out.
Long-sleeved Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt that had seen better days but still did the job, no Im your sexy plumber cute T-shirt in pink.
But what made it perfection for Dr. Alla Baranova-MacRyrie was that Gwen had those nails, because in his mothers mind that meant she embraced her femininity even while rejecting societys standards for women.
Gwen grinned. Id love some.
By the time they were finished installing the new water heater, hauling out the old onehelped along by Lock being able to simply pick it up and carry it outand ensuring the basement was dry, it was late. Nearly seven oclock.
Gwen sat on the curb behind the MacRyrie family home. She watched the company truck driven by one of her employees head off down the street while she checked in with Blayne.
How did your job go? Blayne asked after complaining for nearly ten minutes about her own.
New waterless water heater installed and working fine.
Water heater installation. Ka-ching!
Youre not going to believe whose house this is, though.
Whose?
She smiled, thinking of Lock keeping his father busy and out of her hair anytime the man even glanced toward the basement. The bears.
What bear?
The one from the infamous Labor Day weekend fiasco. The one who left me at the whim of organ thieves.
Stop saying that! I told you what happened.
Yeah. Whatever. He apologized, anyway.
You made that man apologize?
Yes! As a matter of fact, I did.
Youre unbelievable.
I was owed an apology.
Im not arguing with you on this. Ive gotta go.
Gwens eyes narrowed. Oh? Where to?
Touh
Gwens eyes narrowed more until they were nothing but slits. The wolfdog was up to something, had been for weeks, and Gwen was determined to find out what. To she prompted.
To the hospital.
Gwens back went straight. What the
As a volunteer.
A volunteer?
Uh-huh.
Blayne was lying and they both knew it. Thats where youve been going after work the last few weeks?
Uhhuh.
To a hospital?
Yuppers!
As what? A therapy dog?
Blaynes gasp of outrage came through the phone. Low blow, ONeill! Yeah. It was. But she hated when Blayne lied to her. Still, that was too low, even for Gwen.
Blayne, wait. Im sor
Not surprisingly, the phone call abruptly ended, leaving Gwen to stare at the disconnected message on her screen until she heard something breathing beside her.
Youre supposed to lumber, she accused softly, looking overat the grizzly quietly sitting next to her.
Poor full-humans. Without the same hearing as Gwen, theyd never know the bear was next to them until he said something or until the mauling started. She shuddered at the thought. Because I can hear lumbering.
I do lumber. Since I was eight.
You need to lumber louder. No one wants to look up and see a bear sitting next to them. Breathing.
Gee, thanks. He jerked his thumb toward his house. My mothers home. She wants to talk to you.
Youre not going to get a better deal from anyone else, Gwen tossed out.
Would you stop doing that?
Doing what?
Arguing a point before anyones given you a reason to. Dont preemptive argue. Its annoying. He stood up and so did Gwen. The reason Im talking to you now is that I need to warn you about my mother.
Gwen put her hands on her hips. Let me guess. She doesnt like cats. Shes going to say snide remarks about climbing trees and hacking up hairballs, and youre going to apologize now for whatever she says.
Right?
Youre doing it again, he accused.
Shit. She was.
If youd let me talk for myself, I was going to say that my mother is a dyed-in-the-wool feminist and shes dying to meet you because shes completely in love with the idea of a female plumber putting in her new water heater. She also may ask to interview you for her monthly newsletter, but youre not obliged to do that unless you want to.
Gwen could say with all honesty she hadnt been expecting any of that. Oh. All right then.
He leaned down until their noses almost touched. Did you know that youre very frustrating?
Maybe, once or twice, Ive heard that before.
His mother was in love. Lock knew it as soon as she set eyes on Gwen that shed fallen head over heels in love.
First off, Gwen was dressed correctly. Sturdy work boots, no cute shoes. Curly hair held off her face with a headband, no cute hairstyle more concerned with glamour rather than functionality. Cargo pants with lots of pockets for easy access to often-used small tools or pen and paper, no cute jeans with a thong hanging out.
Long-sleeved Philadelphia Eagles sweatshirt that had seen better days but still did the job, no Im your sexy plumber cute T-shirt in pink.
But what made it perfection for Dr. Alla Baranova-MacRyrie was that Gwen had those nails, because in his mothers mind that meant she embraced her femininity even while rejecting societys standards for women.
