Paige nodded. “She always did that for me.”
Tori laughed. “Well, it would have been very difficult to get all of those cats to the clinic at once.”
“How many cats?” Juliet asked.
“Um… more than ten,” Paige hedged. She knew she was a borderline crazy cat lady.
Tori shared a smile with her. Tori knew how many there were, but she wasn’t telling. And this was the kind of thing that made Tori so damned likable.
The other woman was older by a few years and had grown up in the next town over, but Paige hadn’t known her until Tori had called about an orphaned litter of kittens and had then become Paige’s vet.
They’d spent the house calls talking and playing with cats, and the time had extended long beyond the appointment and had included opening a bottle of wine at least twice.
Having another woman about her age who was animal crazy had made Paige feel a little less odd. She suspected Tori felt the same way about their relationship. Paige had been sad when Tori had told her she was moving to Louisiana.
“So the petting zoo is made up of all of your farm animals?” Paige asked Tori.
“Yep.”
Maddie grinned. “The cow and the pigs and the goats and the llamas are all here.”
“Actually, they’re alpacas,” Tori and Paige said in unison. Then grinned at each other.
Maddie laughed. “Right. Well, anyway, they’re all adorable, and one night when we were all sitting here talking about the otter encounter and how we should call the whole thing Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild as a joke, Josh brought up how much her cow and the pig and the goats would love the attention too, and the idea was born.”
Paige had to admit that was funny. Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild definitely brought to mind images of alligators. Maybe even a wild cat or a bear or something. Not pot-bellied pigs, alpacas, and otters.
“I love it,” she said. “How long until it’s open?”
“Probably a month or so,” Tori said. “We’re just building the enclosure—well, Mitch and Zeke are building the enclosure with Zander and Fletcher’s help. Then we need some new fences and pathways for people to walk.”
“And a concession stand,” Maddie said. “And a gift shop. And an office.” She shook her head. “We actually have a lot of work to do. But it’s not that different, business-wise, from what we do with the tour boat business, so it shouldn’t be too long.”
“Mitch can build all of that?” Paige asked. She definitely found his handyman side sexy, but she hadn’t known how far it extended.
“For sure,” Maddie said. “And Zeke is in construction for a living. He owns his own contracting company. And Zander is his main right-hand guy.”
“They’re twins, right?” Paige remembered Mitch mentioning them last week in Appleby.
“Yep. Ezekiel and Alexander Landry,” Maddie said with a grin. “Their mother hates that we shorten their very noble names, but they’ve been Zeke and Zander as long as I’ve known them. She’s the only one who calls them by their full names. Unless Ellie’s pissed at them. Which does happen pretty regularly now that I think about it.”
Paige lifted a brow. “Trouble makers?”
“For sure,” Maddie said. She lifted a shoulder. “Makes Zander being a cop extra hilarious.”
“But they’re Landrys,” Maddie went on. “I mean, Owen has plenty of great stories too. So does Fletch. And Mitch.” She gave Paige a wink.
“From what I understand, a lot of Owen’s stories involved a feisty blond who liked to set stuff on fire,” Tori mused.
“I did not like setting stuff on fire. That just kind of happened,” Maddie clarified. But she didn’t look abashed by the fact.
Tori and Juliet laughed, and Paige made a mental note to ask Mitch about that story.
The history here between all of these people was a warm, almost tangible presence. They had secrets and jokes and stories and clearly loved and supported each other even during the crazy times.
“Well, anyway,” Juliet said with a grin. “Everyone’s working hard to keep things going and to expand the Gone Wild business. So it’s great that you’re here to help out in the office.”
Paige realized she admired these people. They were all invested in the tour business to the point of helping out on top of their own work. She guessed that if Juliet needed extra hands stuffing envelopes or answering phones at her office, or Tori needed people at the farm, they’d all be there for that too.
It was just a feeling in the air around these people, and Paige found it very appealing. She wanted to be a part of it. She was glad she was going to be able to help out by being here and make it so they didn’t have to work at the tour company office.
She shook that off. She’d think about it later. Or she’d ignore that all later.
It wasn’t a brand-new concept. She’d helped out at the bakery where her sister worked when they needed extra hands. Her friend Piper had plans to start a summer camp for kids in Appleby and, if she were there, Paige would be happy to help with that too. She knew what it was like to pitch in. Of course. People in Appleby did it all the time.
But she knew those people. These people, the Landrys, were strangers. Yet, she felt compelled to jump in and be a part of the group and a part of what made everything run here.
That was so weird.
She hadn’t even wanted to meet them all. She’d hoped to lay low.
Now here she was on day two, not just in the midst of the group of women, but already doing something important. Not just because it was assisting their customers and keeping the business running smoothly but because her being here helped each of them individually.
That felt good.
And weird.
She shot a glance at Ellie, who was still behind the bar, chatting with the people—older men mostly—who occupied the stools on the other side, and filling orders.
Ellie was clearly not as enthusiastic about her being here. But Tori was happy, and Cora had been welcoming, and once they’d gotten past the don’t-you-dare-hurt-him stuff, Kennedy had been great. And now Paige was going to be able to help Juliet and Maddie out.
This was good.
And, yep, weird.
“Yeah, I guess our after-hours stuff will be with the animals now instead of at the docks,” Maddie said with a sigh.
“The guys are doing a great job though,” Tori assured her. “I even caught Griffin over there helping them the other night after he’d made a couple of house calls for me.”
“You let Griffin make house calls for you?” Juliet asked. “Since when?”
Tori shrugged. “There’s no reason he can’t do that.”
“Agreed,” Juliet said. “But you’ve never let him before. You’re very protective of your patients.”
Tori nodded. “Yeah, but Griffin is great.”
“Of course, he is,” Juliet said. “We’ve been telling you that for two months.”
“I know.” Tori suddenly blinked quickly. Then she sniffed.
Maddie frowned. “Tor? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
Maddie and Juliet exchanged concerned expressions. Juliet sat forward. “Tori?”