Caitlyn rolled her eyes. They knew that she’d always liked Taran. This was blackmail. Old-fashioned, down-and-dirty blackmail. Their breezy, happy talk had a devious purpose: they wanted Caitlyn to fix whatever was going on at the clinic.

Some people rescued animals. Her uncles rescued people they thought were being abused in any way.

“Look at us,” Seth said one night at dinner. “We know about discrimination. We’re not allowed to legally marry, but who’s more married than us?”

Miguel had spoken up. “I agree. Why should just us straight guys be miserable?”

Caitlyn started to reply to them, but what could she say? That she’d fix it? That’s what they wanted, but Kelly’s clinic wasn’t something she knew much about. On the other hand, what possible reason could the new vet have for being angry at Mrs. Lewis? If she was like her son, she was perfect. “I better go,” Caitlyn said. She wasn’t going to let them talk her into taking on a new job. “I’ll be home soon.” She hung up.

As she checked out of the hotel, she left bags of fruit at the desk. She labeled hers Good and the grocery products as Tasteless. “No subtlety in our Caitlyn,” Uncle Pauly often said. She smiled at the thought.

She put her case in the back of her Jeep. As she started the engine, she thought about what her uncles wanted her to do and grimaced in defeat. Okay, she’d stop by and see what was going on. But that didn’t mean she wanted to do it.

Thirty minutes into the drive, she was growing angry. All she wanted was to be at home. No strangers, no things happening that would turn her world upside down, no one asking her endless questions about why she’d done what she did. Just quiet and peace. Home.

She did not want to think of a prizefighter of a stranger living in the old trailer just a few feet from her house. Why had the uncles agreed to that when Kelly suggested it?

“You can show him around Mason,” Kelly had said.

Well, that’s fifteen minutes, Caitlyn thought.

Was it the man’s idea to live so near other people? If it was, then why was he refusing a dinner invitation? Why did he—? She drew in her breath so sharply that she nearly swerved off the road. Maybe he didn’t want to go to dinner with them because he didn’t approve of Seth and Pauly. Maybe this Dr. Jones was homophobic!

By the time Caitlyn pulled into the parking lot of the Mason Veterinary Clinic, she wasn’t in a good mood.

Cooper opened the file drawer to put away a card recording his treatment of a Hatten horse.