1
One thing Zander Landry knew for sure was that moments of peace, when everyone around him was safe and nothing crazy was going on, were few and far between. Which meant that he’d learned long ago to enjoy them fully whenever they occurred.
Which, very specifically, meant going fishing as often as possible.
He gave a longing glance to the fishing rod that was propped against the wall just behind where he sat. Just a few more minutes, little girl. Just a few more minutes and then it’s you and me and the water and the quiet.
He was seated in his grandmother's bar with the rest of his family and several friends, just waiting for a lull in the action and conversation to sneak out the back door.
Of course, the definition of “lull” was applied loosely around the Landrys because true quiet, calm moments were a fantasy. For Zander, as part of the Landry family and the town cop—so, smack dab in the middle of both family and town drama in all ways—a lull was simply a string of thirty consecutive minutes where no one was likely to die or need to be arrested.
That was it. He didn’t need to define it any wider than that.
If he did, he’d never fish again.
He’d just shifted forward in his seat, prepared to stand and head for the back door, when the front door to the bar opened. And everyone got quiet.
Well, fuck. No matter how much he wanted quiet, that was never a good sign.
Oh, sure, it seemed like it should be. But to stun the entire clan at once took something big.
He braced himself and looked toward what was distracting them all.
Or rather who.
Yeah, the woman—or at least she and the very wide, very white, very lacy, and very…sparkly dress she was wearing—who had just walked in was big all right.
Dammit.
This woman no doubt drew attention like this wherever she went. She was gorgeous, for sure—like gorgeous. As in, I’ll-fight-dragons-for-her gorgeous.
Which had to be the single most ridiculous thing that had ever crossed Zander’s mind.
But yeah, she walked in and looked around with an air that said she expected dragon slayers to be rushing forward, brandishing their swords, and jostling to be the one she chose.
Jesus, dude, you need to lay off the fantasy romance.
His buddy, Ollie, had let him read an early, unedited version of his third paranormal romance and clearly the dragon and princess thing had sunk in. Zander shook his head. That was not good.
But, in his defense, she was wearing a tiara. An actual tiara. The thing caught the sunlight from the front window—the only window in his grandma’s bar—and sent sparkles dancing across the floor around her like she was moving under her own spotlight. Or disco ball.
Though even without all of that, people would've looked. She was carrying a large pet carrier in one hand and dragging a rolling suitcase with the other.
And she was wearing a wedding dress.
A very big wedding dress.
The skirt was full and the train was long. In fact, she had to stop, let go of her suitcase, stomp back to the door, push it open, yank the back of her dress across the threshold, and then drag it across the wooden floor of the bar to where her suitcase was parked.
The dress also sparkled. Like really fucking sparkled. It had sequins or rhinestones or something all over it and, thanks to the dragon-and-princess-romance he’d just finished last night, he thought for a second that she looked like she might have some fairy magic or something going on.
Zander shoved a hand through his hair. No. He needed some sleep. And to fucking fish. And to stop reading Ollie’s books.
“Hi. Can we help you?” his grandmother Ellie, the owner of the bar, asked the woman. She stepped from behind the long, scarred wooden bar where she'd been serving drinks.
“I assume so,” the woman replied. “I'm looking for Donovan Foster.”
Zander's eyes flickered to Donovan. He was standing just to the side with his girlfriend, Naomi. Everyone else’s very interested gazes flipped between Donovan and the woman and Naomi.
“Swear I've never seen her before in my life,” Donovan told Naomi quickly. Then he stepped forward. “I'm Donovan.”
The woman thrust the pet carrier at him. “Here, I brought this to you. I'm surrendering it.”
Donovan took the carrier with a frown. “What is it?”
The woman lifted a brow. “It will be very obvious when you look inside.”
“Right.” Donovan set the carrier on the table to his right and bent to look inside. He straightened a moment later and turned to stare at the woman, his shock evident. “No way.”
She lifted one slim shoulder, bare in the strapless dress, and a creamy white that nearly matched the silky fabric.
Zander rolled his eyes at himself. He was really noticing her skin tone in such a cliché way?
No more romance for awhile.
But there’s that one…
No!
“He's all yours,” the woman said to Donovan. “I brought him here specifically to you. I know you are an expert and that you have a sanctuary here.”
Donovan was an expert in wild animal rescue and rehabilitation. And they did have a sanctuary here for wild and abused and abandoned animals.
Zander sighed. He did not want to know what was inside the pet carrier.
The woman turned and started for the front door.
“What is it?” Naomi asked Donovan.
“It's…” Donovan clearly decided it was easier to show than tell. He opened the carrier, reached inside, and pulled the animal out, holding it up for everyone to see.
“I kind of feel like that opening song from The Lion King should be playing right now,” one of Zander’s cousins said.
Donovan was holding up a lion cub.
An actual real, live lion cub.
Because of course he was.
“Come on,” someone groaned.
Yeah, Zander felt the same way. But it was a minority opinion that having the local petting zoo turning into an animal park and wildlife sanctuary was a little over the top.
Of course, he was one of only a few who was actually inconvenienced by things like the increased number of visitors to the park causing increased traffic and commotion in town. All of which generally meant more phone calls and paperwork for Zander.
It also meant far fewer fishing trips.
Zander slumped down in his seat and pulled his hat down over his eyes. Any minute someone was going to think that he needed to go after the stranger who had just left the building in a wedding dress after dropping off a lion cub.
But for now, they were distracted by the baby animal. Maybe by the time they realized that there was a human acting unusually, she’d be gone and he wouldn't have to worry about looking into what the hell that was all about.
Though he probably should check on it. Because later he would wonder what the hell it was all about.
Still…she hadn’t done anything wrong. And she hadn’t asked for help. And, while he generally was all about helping people, he also believed in leaving them alone when they didn’t need help and weren’t hurting anyone.
“I guess…we have a lion now,” Donovan said to the room at large.
“Just like that?” Knox, their city manager—who was also often inconvenienced by things having to do with the animal park—asked. He turned to Fiona Grady. “People besides you are going to be bringing stuff here?”