Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“That’s actually clever,” she admitted belligerently, which was Amanda for why didn’t I think of that.
Another car stopped behind Amanda’s then, and it was Victoria Day, one of Lorne’s two deputies. Immediately, from her slumped shoulders as she exited the car, and the way she bit her lip before she took a breath and started toward us, I knew something was wrong.
“Chief,” she greeted him, and grimaced.
He squinted at her. “What did I say you had to admit to when it all went to hell?”
Clearly, he already knew what the issue was.
Her sigh was long, and she muttered something under her breath.
“Sorry?” he goaded her, which was terrible. I would have said something, but first, I had no idea what they were talking about, and second, he was in work mode, which meant I needed to keep quiet in front of his deputy. If I made a peep, he’d murder me, and I didn’t want that. I had to work today.
“You were right, and I was wrong,” she said louder. “Things have escalated.”
“Imagine that.” He sounded really sarcastic.
“I didn’t think it would.”
“Tell me what happened.”
“Apparently, ahead of this last rain,” she began, “Mrs. Burley threw clover seeds into Mr. Taylor’s newly tilled and leveled, ready for new sod, backyard, and you can picture what it looks like now.”
I certainly could.
“Go on.”
“In return, Mr. Taylor put his goats into Mrs. Burley’s backyard, and now her award-winning Peace Roses—”
“The irony,” Amanda chimed in with a snort.
Lorne scowled at her.
“Sorry.”
Victoria cleared her throat. “Three rose bushes were decimated before she got out there.”
“And now?”
“And now Mrs. Burley says she’s keeping the goats, partly because she’s always liked them and partly to piss off Mr. Taylor.”
“Certainly,” Lorne reasoned.
“And then Mr. Santos—”
“Who lives behind them,” Lorne added, crossing his arms.
“Who lives behind them,” Victoria repeated with a sharp exhale, “says that if he has to hear them both screaming at five in the morning, then he’s going to really give them something to yell about from now on.”
“Okay,” Lorne said with a long-beleaguered sigh.
“Sad to hear about the roses,” I commented. “They’re amazing. But those goats are more like his pets, so she really can’t be allowed to keep them.”
He ignored me. “Two months ago I said that the two of them together have to pay to fix the fence that was damaged last winter, even though it technically sits on Mrs. Burley’s land, because it functions to keep her vast jungle of a garden from spilling over into his yard and his goats and llamas from—”
“Alpacas,” she corrected him.
“Alpacas,” he amended, “from wandering into her yard after he lets them out of the barn first thing in the morning.”
“I thought if I talked to them, they would get behind the communal-fence idea.”
“Despite my directive they get it done by the end of June.”
“Yes,” she reluctantly muttered.
“Where is Pete now?”
“Out there, trying to herd goats.”
“Uh-huh,” Lorne snapped. “Both you and Pete said you had this.”
“I know.”
“And now, what do we think will happen with the increasing animosity between Mr. Taylor and Mrs. Burley?”
“I’m not sure if—”
“Even though they’ve lived next door to one another for how long?”
“Forty years,” she answered him.
“So forty years means nothing, and they’re choosing to go to war, right?”
“I don’t know,” Victoria contended. “They’ve never been this insane before. But it’s not just them, as you know. It seems like everyone in town has had a short fuse lately.”
“True,” he agreed. “I blame the hot, sticky summer.”
But it wasn’t any hotter than usual. The fact was, though, Lorne had been complaining for the past two weeks that his office was getting slammed by a mounting number of disturbance calls. People seemed to be on a hair trigger, which was simply odd for the residents of Osprey. It was normally a quaint, amiable little town, both picturesque and filled with charming locals.
“So where does that leave us with them?” Victoria asked him, sounding forlorn.
“I think I’m going to remind Mrs. Burley about the area on the left side of her property that she’s going to have to pay to get cleared, and then point out that Mr. Taylor’s goats could be helpful in that endeavor. And clover is actually really good for the soil, so I’m going to remind Mr. Taylor that all he had was dirt in his backyard two weeks ago.”
It seemed like a good plan to me. There could be benefits on both sides.
“Let’s go,” Lorne announced to his deputy.
“Yeah, but what if they don’t listen to you?” Victoria asked him.
“Then I’m confiscating all her remaining rose bushes and all the animals.”
I didn’t think he could legally do that, but this was not the moment to bring that up.
“What are you going to do with goats and alpacas?” she wanted to know.
“I see a petting zoo in our future. That way the tourists can bring their kids.”