Kimberly Cates - The Perfect Match

Rowena swallowed a lump in her throat.

God, why had she taken Clancy with her to the Lawless house? Let the dog see Charlie again? Ever since that day, the Newfoundland hadn’t been himself. He’d carried his mangled football with him everywhere, barely putting it down to eat. An anxiety behavior if Rowena had ever seen one. She’d worked so hard to obliterate those from Clancy’s repertoire. But for some reason, Clancy’s encounter with Charlie had brought the dog’s insecurities flooding back.

Restless, whining, never settling down, Clancy behaved as if he knew as well as Rowena did how wrong things were with the solemn-eyed little girl and felt as if he should fix them.

Surely it wasn’t possible that the dog…what? Rowena brought herself up sharply. Logged on to Map Quest when she wasn’t looking and found Charlie Lawless’s address? Then had Shakespeare the cat boost him up over the fence so he could navigate the streets of Whitewater and knock on Charlie’s door?

Right, Rowena. Get real. There was no way Clancy could find the place, even if he wanted to.

And yet, it was as if the 175-pound dog had just vanished in a puff of smoke.

But she couldn’t spend another day trolling the streets, looking for him. She had a shop full of other animals that needed to be cared for. A business that had to be open if it was going to bring in any money. And, as Rowena often told the pets who clamored for her attention when she needed to be restocking shelves and such—dog biscuits weren’t free.

Rowena crossed to the nearby sink and splashed cold water onto her face. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and tried to paste on a smile to fool any customer that happened by.

Not that she had been able to fool her mother into thinking everything in Whitewater was going as smoothly as Auntie Maeve had predicted the last time Rowena and Nadine Brown had stopped by the hospital room before the Irishwoman had died.

Rowena winced, remembering her mother’s reaction, one that had only grown fiercer than ever since Rowena had moved to the town where her godmother had predicted her soul mate was waiting for her. Whitewater, Illinois… Maeve had said, pointing to a River Road tourist pamphlet someone had left in a magazine. Rowena, that is where you will find him…

Nadine Brown had blustered her protest the whole way home, and in the months that followed. My God, Rowena, Maeve believes in fairies and the banshee and—and Santa Claus, for all I know! Building your whole future on the ramblings of a senile old woman is insane, no matter how much you love her!

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