Wanda looked beautifully tired, and with good reason. The kittens she’d fostered needed to be fed every two hours, but as a result of her love and care, they were healthy and happy and ready to be adopted.
George winced and shot her a sheepish smile. “They really gave you a run for your money, huh?”
She flapped her hands and smiled her warm smile. “Totally worth it. So where are they? Can I take a peek at my sweeties?”
“Ohhh, you guys haven’t seen yet!” George said. “Did I tell you we were having housing built for each species?”
“I wanna see,” Marty cooed, grabbing George’s hand, her bangle bracelets clinking in the sun.
George led them to the new cat house, complete with heat and air conditioning. They’d had it custom built around a huge oak tree in the back, so the cats would have plenty of places to climb and scratching posts. Inside, it was sectioned off for the smaller weaning kittens, the ones with physical challenges, and the older, grumpier lot.
“You did not,” Marty said as she laughed, looking at the plaque hanging on the outside of the shingled structure. “Catican? You called it Catican City?”
George chuckled and pointed upward. “Just a little homage to Rome and the big guy who runs the show there.”
Nina barked a laugh as she looked around at the newly renovated farmhouse, at the new gardens, and the gazebo. “You guys have really done some shit. It’s pretty great, kiddo.”
Wanda wrapped an arm around her shoulders and nodded with a breathy sigh. “You sure have. Just look at how far you’ve come, honey.”
She had come a long way from the woman who’d wanted to end her life not long ago. As she stood with these smart, strong, resourceful women, she felt grateful to call them friends.
“We’re so proud of you,” Marty whispered, dropping a kiss on her cheek and giving her shoulders a squeeze, making George blush. “Now, I’m going to find myself a hot dog with lots of mustard and relish. I see Darnell’s already got the grill fired up. Love you, honey. Can’t wait to see those wings!”
Marty scurried off to join Darnell, who was studiously following Arch’s instructions about grilling—because was there any other way when it came to Arch the perfectionist?
Gladys lie under a beautiful maple on a soft bed, with Susan curled up in her tail. The two of them had a sketchy start, but now you couldn’t pry them out of each other’s space. They slept together every night, with an occasional threesome nap with Sauerkraut when Joe-Joe brought her by the house.
“It’s goddamn magical around here, kiddo. Shit, I’m proud of you. Really proud.”
George looked down at her ballet slippers, embarrassed. “Thanks, Vampire Lady.”
Nina wrapped an arm around her neck and squeezed her tight, plopping a kiss on the top of her head. “Pure, fucking magic, Wings,” she said before strolling over to the grill to chat with Darnell and Carl.
Well, it wasn’t all magical. Helping to run a rescue was hard work. There were so many animals they couldn’t save. And then there were the animals people dumped when they grew tired of them. The animals they pulled and rescued from euthanasia.
But it had all been worth it for every animal they were able to save. Side by side, she and Dex had worked hard to set up volunteer and foster programs with her seniors at Mom and Dad’s Place. They’d implemented rules and shared ideas with the schools to bring in more kids to help volunteer.
They’d gutted the inside of the house and, with the help of some amazing contractors and help from the girls, Arch, Darnell and Carl, turned it into a home, one she and Dex planned to share.
To see it now, with its sweeping front porch and wood-wrapped columns, the gorgeous hydrangeas and roses in the front garden, it all made her heart happy.
So happy.
They’d built outdoor play areas for the dogs, with a pool and hurdles for the more active canines to jump. They’d designed heated and air-conditioned housing for the adoptees, and no animal was turned away. They’d hired Joe-Joe to help with training the animals, and both he and Sauerkraut now lived in a small cottage behind the house, where he’d been on his meds and successfully started his life over.
He was happy and healthy and amazing with the animals.
Justin was still coming to the rescue every day, and now, during the summer, he volunteered around the job he’d gotten at a local eatery. His mother was thriving and healthy. She’d been sober for six months now, she had a job, and she was working hard to repair her relationship with her son. It had been a long road so far, filled with potholes that Dex and George had helped him through, but they were going to make it—and if Justin needed them, they’d be there.
Best of all? Justin was happy. He smiled more. He laughed more. He hugged them often.
As to her father? Titus had dealt with him, and she refused to look back. But her father’s money? That had been put to the best use of all—saving lives, but not just animals’ lives. She’d donated millions of his fortune to women’s shelters and to therapy programs all over the country to help aide their recovery. To help the children of abuse heal and find healthy lives moving forward—a healthy life she, too, was working hard, through therapy to achieve.
And she reveled in her new life. There’d been assignments along the way, and she was getting better and better all the time at navigating the tricky waters she swam as a guardian angel.
Titus had finally found a place to sneak her in upstairs, and he’d even told her she could come clean to upper management if what he’d asked Dex to do weighed too heavy on her.
But she’d dismissed that as nonsense. Her life was amazing because of what Titus had done. What did it
