“I only know what I’ve been told. Kelly adores her, and I know Adam and Vera were friends.”

“Oh, yes. You said he was going back to Africa with Kelly’s older sister. I didn’t put the Exton name together. Was it the Peace Corps?”

“I think so.” She didn’t feel a need to elaborate on that connection. Mason was already sounding like a soap opera. “I think Vera was different. I guess you’d say she never really belonged here. Kelly said her sister had always wanted to leave. As soon as Kelly got her vet license, Vera left Mason and didn’t come back until she had to. She was more involved in the world than in little Mason, Kansas. Somebody told me she was shot once.”

“In 1987. Thirty-first of July. At Mecca. The Saudi police opened fire against demonstrators. She was one of the wounded and helicoptered out of there. I read that when she was young, she demonstrated against the Vietnam War. That would have been when she lived here.”

“I don’t know about that. It was well before my time.”

“The gossip machine didn’t tell you?”

“No, which means she probably didn’t do it unless she somehow managed to keep it a secret. But that’s not possible in this town.”

“Even though I’ve heard that ‘Caitlyn has secrets’?”

He was teasing but she didn’t like it and her frown told him so.

“Sorry. Overstepping again.” He stood up to look at the neatly stacked cards. “That’s the last of them. We can put them back in the drawers now.”

The reorganization had taken hours. It was dark outside and Caitlyn knew she should say good-night and wish him luck, but she didn’t feel tired. “So where’s this storeroom where Betty hid the surgical instruments?”

“That door.” When Cait started toward it, he said, “No! That is a cave of chaos. I’m afraid there are snakes in there.”

“Kelly would never mistreat an animal. More likely it’s full of I-may-need-that-someday items.” She opened the door, then stood there in shock.

Coop stood beside her. “It’s not really my business to tackle this. I just need to search through it for supplies. Of course, someone could ask Betty where she put what.”

“She gets fired, then she’s going to help you? I don’t think so.”

“I’ll drive you home. Then next weekend I can—”

Cait removed a box from a shelf. On the bottom were leather straps so old that they had cracked. But on top were new boxes of sterile gloves.

“I need those!”

She put the boxes in his arms. “Know where the trash bags are?”

“No idea. I worry that Kelly might kill me for rearranging her stuff.”

“You think she never asked me to do this? Ha! I made Jared help me organize his parents’ garage. His dad said I did such a good job that Jared should—” She cut herself off.

“Should marry you?” Coop asked softly.

“Yes.” There was pain in her eyes.