A Grave Exchange by Jane White Pillatzke Read Free Book Online Page B

the car . H e crossed in front and came to open my door . I grinned as I left the vehicle. Nothing made a woman feel more cherished and ladylike than a chivalrous man . When I got to the Society’s front door , I scrounged around in my bag , looking for my keys to open up . Just as I worried I may have somehow lost them, my fingers closed around the cool, metal keyring, and I pulled them out with a flourish.
    Lucius smiled and cupped my cheek . “I will come back for you tonight, to take you out to dinner. What time do you close?”
    “The shelter doesn’t close until 8:00 p.m., but I get off at 5:00,” I told him. “And dinner sounds wonderful.”
    “Then it’s a date. I’ll be back here just before five.”
    I nodded and stepped back, then turned to unlock the door. I then turned to bid Lucius good-bye, but before I could speak, he bent and claimed my mouth with his. I heard my bag clatter to the ground as my arms snaked around his neck . Our soft moans filled my ears, and Lucius pulled me closer. The evidence of his desire for me pressed hard against my thigh. I groaned—I wanted him, and I wanted him now—and Lucius chuckled, no doubt having once again read my thoughts. Shamelessly, I grind ed against my crotch against his . With a low growl, Lucius broke the kiss and lifted his head.
    “Ivy , please, you are killing me .” He gently pulled my arms down, then bent and kissed the tip of my nose. “ I f I don’t walk away now, I’m going to take you right here, on the front porch at your workplace. I don’t think that would bode well for you keeping your job. But rest assured , I will be in some pain until later.”
    Giggling , I turned back around and pushed open the door of the shelter .

 
     
    Chapte r Seven
     
    As I stepped inside the shelter , I switched on all the lights . It was still early, and the sun had yet to rise on this cool October morning . I checked to make certain the heating was set at the correct temperature , and then walked into the kitchenette to start making the coffee for the busy day ahead . After I had the coffee percolating , I went into the back room of the shelter to start putting feed into the animal s’ bowls . It took a good half hour to get them all filled with various foods and whatever medicines they might need . I carefully carried an armload of food into the surgery area and started feeding the sick animals first , some of which I had grown to love deeply . I half - wish ed they wouldn’t be adopted , as I ’d never see them again if they found homes . Shaking my head , I sighed . T he sad fact was that I’d get my wish with many of them, as quite a few would never see a loving home.
    The doorbell chimed . Visitors, already . I walked back through the surgery and into the foyer .
    “ Gretchen, ” I said, greeting the tiny, old lady. “How lovely to see you!”
    Although she stood barely five feet tall and was thin as a rail, Gretchen was a firecracker with a huge heart , and a regular volunteer at the Society.
    “And it’s always a joy to see you here, too, Ivy.” She spoke with a thick accent, despite having arrived in the U.S. from Germany over eighty years ago, as in infant in her mother’s arms.
    I smiled and reached for the bag the old woman carried. “Here, let me take that for you.”
    Gretchen always arrived with a donation of some sort—usually pillows she made herself and puppy or kitten food . Without people like her , we would be closed in no time . I set the bag behind the front counter, and then invited her into the other room for some coffee.
    We talked a while about some of the animals we’d had around for awhile and sipped our coffee . An hour or so later , a young couple came in , asking to see the kittens .
    Mr. and Mrs. Clark—Adam and Elizabeth— were new to the area , they said, and they wanted a new addition to their family . Just as I started to lead them into the back, where we kept the kittens, the phone in the little