We will feed, water, and care for your animals WITHOUT JUDGMENT!

BECAUSE JUDGE JUSTINE CARES!

Twenty-seven. That’s how many people had contacted my mother’s office since she’d posted the information about the Little Bridge Hurricane Marilyn Emergency Pet Rescue Mission. Twenty-seven!

I couldn’t believe there were that many people stranded outside the island who’d left their pets behind . . . but there were apparently more coming.

“Shawna’s faxing them over later,” Mrs. Hartwell said. She was making copies of the pages she already had. “I hope you don’t mind about the copies, but I think it’s a good idea if we draw up a schedule. That way, we’ll not only know where you are at any given moment, and be able to find you, but we’ll also make sure all the animals are fed and walked every day around the same time.”

Although everything she was saying made sense, the only thing I could focus on was: “Fax?”

“Yes, from your mother’s office. We decided it would be easier if they just faxed over the names and addresses instead of reading them off. That way, we wouldn’t have to sit there, writing everything down by hand.”

That wasn’t exactly what I meant. “You have a fax machine?”

“Well, yes, of course, for the business. It makes ordering stock so much easier.” She stuck a sheaf of papers in my hands. On the top was a fax cover page addressed to Sabrina Beckham, care of the Hartwells. It was listed as being from Shawna Mitchell, personal assistant to Judge Justine Beckham. Peeking beneath it, I saw several pages of neatly typed names, addresses, and notes about pets, their needs, and how to break into their owners’ homes.

“What’s this, Aunt Lu?” Drew asked. Along one side of the library, Mrs. Hartwell had hung a large bulletin board. On it, she’d stuck a map of Little Bridge Island. The map was dotted with brightly colored pushpins, each connected with color-coordinated yarn. “Your murder board?”

“Certainly not.” Mrs. Hartwell looked down at the list in her hands. “Each pushpin represents a different pet in need. The yellow pins are dogs, red are cats, green are fish or reptiles, and blue are birds. One person has a potbellied pig, so I used white for that. Anyway, I thought this would be a nice, easy way for you to keep track of all the homes you needed to get to, as well as which neighborhood they’re in. As you can see, most of them are over on the Gulf side. But you have a fair number over here, on the Atlantic Ocean side, too.”

Drew stood there, grinning at me, apparently thrilled by his aunt’s take-charge attitude.

“Oh, and Ed said to tell you to use this.” Mrs. Hartwell handed me a small black object.

“A walkie-talkie?”

“That’s right.” She beamed. “It’s Drew’s from when he was a boy, but it still works. It has a range of over a mile. As new calls come in, we can reach you and let you know.”

Drew’s grin was huge. “Wow. Just, wow, Aunt Lucy. Isn’t that great? You’ve thought of everything.”

I had slightly different feelings—of mortification. “I’m so sorry about all this—especially that I, um, wasn’t here to take all these messages for you.”

It seemed to me to be the elephant in the room . . . the fact that I’d been gone all night, then rolled in that morning with her nephew, both of us sporting damp hair and huge, silly grins.

But Mrs. Hartwell seemed nothing but delighted.

“It’s my pleasure! We can’t let the animals go hungry, can we?” Mrs. Hartwell beamed at us. “Now why don’t you grab something to eat from the kitchen if you’re hungry—there’s leftover lobster enchiladas that I just heated up—and then you better get on your way. You have a lot of people’s pets to take care of!”

We did as she suggested—the enchiladas were as delicious as I’d known they’d be—after I stopped upstairs to change into fresh clothes and give Gary his medication.

Gary pretended not to know me at first—I’d never been away from him overnight before—but soon came around when I rolled him over and gave him belly rubs (and some breakfast).

I didn’t want to think too far into the future . . . it was nice to be enjoying the here and now for a change. But what was going to happen if, down the road, things got serious with Drew?

Not that they were going to. This was just a casual fling, probably.

But what if it turned into something deeper? How would Gary get along with the Bobs? He got along well with Patrick and Bill’s pugs, so it wasn’t beyond reason he’d be okay with Drew’s dogs.

But would Drew’s dogs be okay with him? They’d have to be, or there’d be no Drew. That was all.

Why was I thinking about these things after having spent only one night with the guy? Why did I overthink everything? No wonder my parents had never told me the truth about my conception. What was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I ever just enjoy anything for what it was?

“Oh, hey.” Nevaeh paused in the doorway to my room, which I’d left open. “There you are. Where were you last night?”

Ugh, awkward. Of course my new boyfriend’s niece would ask that.

“I was, uh, around.”

“Well, you totally missed it.” Fortunately, it turned out Nevaeh was too wrapped up in her own little world to care much about mine. She came into the room and flopped onto the bed. “Marquise and his brother Prince came by to help with the coolers from the restaurant, and these people down the street set up a fire pit in their front yard and they invited us to come toast marshmallows, so we went and Marquise told me I have pretty eyes. It was so romantic.”

I smiled at her, remembering what it was like to be a teenager with a crush. “That’s sweet. Do you like him?”

She looked surprised by the question. “Sure. Everyone does. He’s super popular.” Then she frowned. “Katie likes him, too. Katie really likes him.”

“Well, be yourself. No boy could help but like you if you act like yourself around him.”

She rolled over with a sigh, then reached out to scratch Gary under the chin. “Everyone is always saying that, but I don’t understand what that means, act like yourself. I’m fifteen. I don’t even know who I am!”

I couldn’t help letting out a laugh. “I know who you are. You’re Nevaeh Montero, soon-to-be high school sophomore, who, from what I hear, gets almost straight As, cares a lot about her family, and works her butt off at her aunt and uncle’s restaurant.”

She sighed. “Yeah, you see? If there were any justice in the world, all the boys would love me. I get great grades and have an actual job. What man wouldn’t prefer a smart woman with her own cash?”

If only it worked that way, I thought. Instead, I said, “From your lips to God’s ears. Can you do me a favor and look after Gary again for me today? I have to go take care of other people’s pets with your uncle Drew.”

“Sure.” Nevaeh stuck her finger in Gary’s direction, and he rubbed his head against it. “You’ve been hanging out with my uncle Drew a lot lately. Do you like him or something?”

I couldn’t suppress a grin. “I do. Would it be weird for you if he and I . . . hung out?”