Grace laughed. “You are smart, but my dad says my mom has been dreaming of this since I was a little girl, so how can I disappoint her and Flo?”
“I guess you can’t. Well, if I am the maid of honor, you better have it quick before I can’t even waddle down the aisle,” Hannah said with a sigh, thinking of how fat she’d look in a few months. It was bad enough she always felt so scruffy around Dorothy, how would she feel when she resembled a whale?
Grace giggled. “I will. Boy, I needed this. Just peace and quiet for a little while and no wedding planning.”
They both fell asleep until the sound of a horse galloping woke them up. Hannah peeked up and saw her brother Jackson getting off his horse, shooing the barking dogs away from him.
“Sorry to interrupt your relaxation, ladies, but Hannah, you’re needed at the shelter,” he said in a concerned tone.
Hannah sat up, immediately concerned, knowing her brother wouldn’t come out here unless it was something serious. She looked at
his face but couldn’t see his expression under his cowboy hat. “What happened?”
“Someone broke the big window at the shelter. When Amy went to open up she found a brick inside and called the station,” he explained. “Ben is waiting for you at the house to take you up there. He didn’t want you driving to town while upset.”
Jackson helped them gather their things as Hannah threw on her shorts and T-shirt over her bikini. “Don’t panic, sis, and go slowly. Billy already called the window company to fix it,” Jackson yelled as Hannah jumped on Goldie.
Hannah rode Goldie slowly back to the house. She couldn’t help but worry. She loved the shelter and wondered who would do such a thing. In all the years they had been open she had never had any problems or complaints. The residents of Bear Creek had always been supportive of the animal shelter.
Ben helped her get off the horse as soon as he saw her and kissed her forehead. “Sorry to mess up your quiet time, honey, but Amy said she needed you there. She was a little scared and unsure of what to do.”
“It’s okay. Any idea what happened?” she said, handing Louis, the ranch foreman, the reins to Goldie, her horse. She was anxious to get to the shelter.
Ben shook his head. “Amy found the window broken this morning when she opened up. Probably kids being bored.”
He drove her to town and she went inside the shelter. Billy was leaning against the counter talking to Amy. Amy cried in relief when she saw Hannah and hugged her. “Oh, Hannah. I am so glad you are here. This is just awful, isn’t it? That window is huge and will eat up a lot of our budget that we can’t afford already.”
Hannah hugged a teary Amy back. “We’ll figure it out, Amy. We always do. Thank God you weren’t here or you could have gotten hurt.”
“Any ideas who it could be?” Billy asked. “Any mad people come in here lately with complaints?”
Richard walked in at that moment and observed the mess all over the floor and shook his head. “Just one person a few days ago. Dorothy from the hair shop. She was yelling at Hannah when I walked in on them.”
Ben looked at Hannah as if Richard was lying. “Is this true?”
Hannah sighed and nodded. She hadn’t been planning to tell Ben about her confrontation with that woman. “Yes, she threatened me and told me to stay away from you or else.”
“Why didn’t you call me right away?” Ben asked, looking at her angrily as if it was her fault.
Hannah put her arms across her chest defensively, feeling her temper flare up. How dare he be mad at her? “Why bother, Ben? She’s your little groupie and you always defend poor, helpless, gentle Dorothy.”
“Gentle? Helpless?” Richard snorted, looking at Ben angrily. “That woman is a piranha, Ben. Just because she pretends to be kind and harmless in front of you doesn’t mean she is.”
Ben paced up and down the floor of the waiting room, feeling defensive that everyone thought he was being foolish and blind.
“I know she slashed my tires, Ben, and pushed me on purpose at the bar, too,” Hannah continued, her voice calm, knowing it was useless trying to convince Ben of Dorothy’s true nature but at least she could say she had tried.
Ben looked at her as if she had gone crazy and huffed. “She apologized to you, Hannah. She was just clumsy. Billy asked around and no one saw anything concerning your truck. You can’t just accuse people of crimes because you don’t like them.”
“See? That’s why I didn’t tell you. I knew you would find an excuse for her,” Hannah yelled out in frustration. “I have work to do, Ben, so just leave and go comfort poor Dorothy, since you obviously think we are all lying about her.”
“I am not defending her. I just can’t believe she’d be involved in vandalism,” he replied quickly in a frustrated voice. “She may be annoying but she is harmless. You’re just jealous of her and want to find any excuse to make her look bad.”
He couldn’t have chosen a better way to hurt her. She felt icy cold inside and the hurt showed on her face as she bravely blinked back the tears, refusing to let them fall. Not in front of everyone, later when she was alone she’d let the tears loose.
Amy and Richard both gasped at him in shock and stood by Hannah’s side, disbelief clearly written on both their faces.
“Hannah has no need to be jealous of that horrible woman. She is worth a hundred Dorothys,” Amy said firmly, her voice shaking from anger. “Shame on you, sheriff, for even saying that.”