Page 56 of Pistol Perfect

There was no point in getting into a discussion with Janice about it though, so she said, “I got the whole package,” and she smiled.

James chuckled, not seeming offended at all. She really didn’t think he would be. He knew she hadn’t married him for his money or for his house.

Although, she supposed a less secure man might be concerned about that.

The girls chattered as Janice went to the back of the car and got suitcases and boxes out of it.

“I didn’t bring their beds or anything. I figured you wouldn’t need them, but if you do, you can hire a moving company to come get them. Just let me know, and I won’t donate them to charity, or sell them, or whatever. I can’t move them, so there was no point in even trying.”

A suitcase, the ends fraying, looking like it was as old as Methuselah, slapped down on the gravel before she reached for another one.

The girls asked questions faster than Mabel could keep up with them, and she didn’t try to answer Janice, other than to say, “I don’t think we need beds.” She looked at James to confirm her words.

He nodded, confirming she was correct.

Janice shrugged and rattled off some instructions, letting Mabel know where they stood with custody and the option for adoption. Thankful that Janice was not going to give her any trouble as she worked on adopting the girls, she nodded her head and listened to the things that Janice had set in motion.

“What’s that?” A voice cut into Janice’s monologue, making Mabel’s head jerk.

“That’s a foal that someone dropped off here this morning. Since Miss Mabel was a vet, I guess they figured she would know what to do with it.”

“It belongs to you?” Annabelle said, disbelief lacing every word of her little squeaky voice.

“Us. It belongs to us,” James corrected her, making Mabel smile.

Janice looked at the girls, almost glaring at them, then almost begrudgingly, she said, “They’re really going to love it here, aren’t they?”

Mabel smiled. “I’m so glad you had the stipulation that you wanted them to have a father. I... I wouldn’t have gotten married without it. And yes. I think they’re going to absolutely love it here.”

“So what, did you just pick him up off the street?” Janice asked as she slammed her trunk closed.

“No. I’ve known James for a long time. He worked with my dad. But he wasn’t really on my radar until I needed someone. And then he stepped up. I’ll always be grateful for that.”

She realized her words were true. That’s exactly what James had done, and he’d done it with no hesitation and no conditions. Just was there when she needed him.

She watched the girls as James showed them how to stroke the filly’s face and pet between her ears.

The filly struggled to get up, and the girls squealed and stepped backward, but she couldn’t make it to her feet and flopped back down.

The girls crept closer again, listening to James as he talked about how they had fed her that morning and how Mabel had decided she would feed her out of a bucket.

She heard the questions going a mile a minute at James and loved seeing how patient he was at answering them.

“You might have gotten yourself a good man there,” Janice said, and again, it sounded like begrudging praise.

Mabel smiled easily. “I know I did.”

“Some people have all the luck,” Janice said, turning back to the suitcases. “There ain’t a whole lot of clothes in there for Annabelle. She grew a whole lot this school year, and didn’t have no money to keep buying her more clothes, so she just had to make do with what she had. You can cut the jeans off, and she can wear cutoffs all summer. That ain’t gonna hurt her none. Then you can buy her clothes for fall.”

“All right. Thank you. We’ll take care of it.”

“I know you will. Vets are rich.”

“Well, I spent a lot of money on school.” She had been blessed that her parents had provided some money for her schooling, and then after they died, money had come from somewhere, she wasn’t even sure where. But she graduated debt-free. As far as she knew, she was the only one in her class who did.

She was definitely grateful.

“All right, girls, I’m gonna leave. I need to get back so I can open the door for the mortgage inspection,” Janice hollered over to the girls, and they slowly stood, walking over to her.