Rescue Me (a quirky romance novel about secrets, forgiveness and falling in love) by Sydney Allan

contesting the will and the courts were involved. The closing would be delayed for who knew how long.
    What else could go wrong?
    "Look," she said, "we've got to get ready for tomorrow's pet adoption day at the Discount Pet Center. We'll talk later, okay?"
    "Fine. But I'm not going to let it go. You know that, don't you?" he asked with a smirk.
    Dodging past him to the solitude of her office, she said, "Yeah."
    "And if you won't talk to me, I'll call in the Big Guns."
    "Sure you will." She popped her head out of her office. "Speaking of Big Guns, where is Pete?" She peered at the clock, then at the schedule posted on the wall. He had several sterilizations scheduled for this morning. It wasn't like him to pull a no-show.
    "Don't know. He hasn't called." Andrew resumed working, punching keys at the computer. "You want me to call him?"
    "No. I think I will." She sat at her desk and dialed Pete's phone number, but after the answering machine picked up, she hung up. "Strange. I wonder if something's wrong?"
    She gave herself a mental shake, deciding she was making problems where there weren't any. She had enough real problems without the burden of imaginary ones. He was probably stuck in traffic. That wasn't unheard of. On occasion an accident clogged the local two-lane roads.
    She left her office. A few sloppy kisses from her canine friends, and a few puppy nips, would set her on the right track. When she stepped into the lobby, Amy's voice echoed from the back, and she smiled. Amy hated bath day.
    When Hailey reached the back room, she burst out laughing. Amy stood knee deep in the metal bathtub. Oscar, the full sized Saint Bernard, cowered on the floor next to the tub, but the sight of the resistant dog hadn't made her laugh. It was what Amy wore: green waders, like the ones people used when fishing, and a rain parka.
    Amy met Hailey's gaze and smiled triumphantly, raising a scrub brush and bottle of doggy shampoo, ready for battle. "I came prepared today."
    "I see," Hailey said, swallowing a few more chuckles. "But how do you intend to get Oscar in there with you?"
    "Piece of cake." Amy stepped from the tub and set down her weapons. She went to the cabinet, fished in its depths and withdrew a ball with a bell in its center. Shaking it, she whistled, and Oscar's head lifted. "Here, boy. Get the ball," Amy said in a happy voice.
    Oscar responded by standing, his tail wagging in a wide arc. Amy lobbed the ball, and Oscar, being a puppy at heart, scrambled to catch it, landing all four paws in the tub.
    Hailey clapped her hands in approval as Amy ran to the tub to bathe Oscar before he realized where he was. For added encouragement, she slipped the dripping dog a few goodies, and he thanked her with another wide swipe of his tail and a lick. The chime at the front door sounded, and she ran to answer it, relieved when Pete's friendly face greeted her. "There you are! I thought you were going to play hooky. By the way, why did you ring the bell? Where are your keys?"
    "I forgot them at home. I can't believe you thought I was skipping. I've never missed a day of work. I was handling another issue this morning. We have a problem." He walked behind the counter and opened his office door.
    "Do you mean the property?" She followed him.
    "Yeah, that's it."
    "I know all about that. Nancy called this morning. What can we do? I don't want to make her do too much, since she's volunteering," she said, silently grateful for Nancy's generous donation of time. She wasn't the most experienced lawyer in town, but she was a junior partner at a great firm.
    "I'm no lawyer, but I don't think we can do much." He slipped on his white lab coat.
    "Damn! We don't have enough money to buy coastland property! That'll cost a fortune." She sat on the edge of his desk.
    His mouth drawn and down-turned, he sat in his chair. "I know. We may either have to reconsider where we're planning on operating our rescue, or we may have to put it on hold until this