Puppy Love. Kelly Moran

      The vets hadn't made her do anything, and Avery had no way of knowing she'd respond that way. Still, mortification scorched her cheeks. “Um, I'm fine. Why did Rosa tweet about me? I don't understand.”

      The woman laughed as if to say, silly, silly girl. “Why, everything is news around here. Rosa's my sister. She manages our Pinterest boards and Twitter account. I'm Marie, the mayor of Redwood Ridge. Welcome to our great town.”

      Crap on a cracker. Avery darted a glance at her mom, but no. She hadn't stepped into the Twilight Zone. She was really standing in her mother's store talking to the mayor about passing out not two hours before. Because it was on Twitter.

      She cleared her throat. “Thank you.”

      The other woman extended her hand. “I'm Gayle, Rosa and Marie's sister. My sons are your new bosses.”

      Oh. Oh God. She saw the resemblance to Cade and Flynn now. Flynn had her coloring with reddish hair and pale skin. Cade had her blue eyes, gray flecks included, and her impossibly long eyelashes. “Very nice to meet you.”

      “What brings you by, honey?” Mom scooted back behind the counter.

      Would this conversation go on Twitter, too? She eyed the other two women, but they seemed in no hurry to leave. Was nothing private in this town?

      “I just got Hailey registered for school, but I need to figure out care afterward. I'll still be at the clinic when she gets out.”

      Mom fluffed her already wild brown hair. “That's easy enough. I can pick her up and bring her back here.”

      Avery opened her mouth to protest when Marie inserted, “Or you could have her attend the recreation center afterward. Some of the kids take the bus right there.”

      “Oh, I don't know.” Avery glanced at Hailey. “She's…” Not like other kids. Different. She didn't want to say that aloud to strangers or make Hailey feel like an outcast. “Her needs are pretty particular. Everyone right now is unfamiliar to her.”

      Marie waved her hand. “Pah. Strangers are friends we've yet to meet. Miles and Anya have other special needs kids at the center, too. She'd be in good hands.” She whipped out a cell phone from her Samsonite-sized purse and thumbed a text. Her dark brown bob didn't move as she bent her head. “There. All taken care of. They'll expect her on Monday after school. You should stop by today to introduce her, though.”

      Avery forced her jaw shut, teetering between anger and shock. A pounding thumped her temples. This was her life, her daughter, and she'd spent enough time under her ex's rules to ever go back to someone else running her life.

      Both Marie and Gayle knelt in front of Hailey and started talking to her as if they were old friends. Even though Hailey didn't converse, the ladies weren't deterred. In honesty, Richard's family and friends ignored Hailey, so the fact that anyone acknowledged her took the anger right out of Avery's sails.

      This wasn't the first time, either. Flynn and Brent had made it a point to address her. They all seemed to know Hailey was autistic, probably because of her mom—or Twitter—but they didn't act uncomfortable. They…included.

      Hailey ate up the attention, flapping her hands and letting out one of her rare barks of laughter. Avery's chest swelled, her throat going tight.

      “We'll…” Avery cleared her throat. “We'll stop by the rec center to check it out. Thank you.”

      Marie rose. “No problem at all. You pop by my office or drop me a call should you need anything. Ta, Justine.”

      “Bye-bye.” Mom sighed dreamily as they disappeared down the walk. “I told you this place was great, didn't I?'

      Avery shook her head, not sure if she was being Punk'd. “Twitter? I was on Twitter?”

      Mom looked at her as if she were the crazy one. She tapped out a few keys on the computer and waved her over.

      Avery made her way around the counter and looked at the screen. Sure enough, there was the @RedwoodRidge account. The banner was a wide pan of the main strip, and the profile picture was a sketch-drawn map with a tiny dot indicating the town. The most recent tweets were like that from a gossip rag.

      Word is our sexy fire dept will be doing another car wash this spring. Rawr, ladies!

      Dr. Cade says the PB butter cookies are his fave. Dr. Flynn says choc chip. Dr. Drake had no comment. Psst, it's snickerdoodles!

      The RR marching band needs new uniforms. Buy candy bars, peeps!

      Wildlife is so gorgeous!

      Attached to that last tweet was a picture of what looked like a ranger leaning against a cypress and wiping his sweaty brow with his forearm. Lordy. Were all the men in Redwood Ridge hot? The veterinarians were.

      New gal in town, Avery, fainted right in our OR. Poor thing!

      Avery rubbed her forehead, her gut churning. There were fifty-three @ responses ranging from oh no to the dear lass to hope she's okay. She pulled out her phone, followed Redwood Ridge, and tweeted: Doing great. Thanks for the concern! Jeez. She had one hundred and twenty-one new followers.

      This was The Twilight Zone. In Mayberry.

      She needed to get out of here. Stimulation overload.

      After giving her mom a hug good-bye, she drove to the rec center to check it out. It was everything the mayor said it would be. They had several after school programs, and the woman who ran the center, Anya, had special needs experience. Figuring she'd give it a try, Avery signed Hailey up and checked the time.

      They only had an hour before Cade was supposed to pick them up to get pet supplies. They'd been living on fast food the past two days while driving, but there wasn't time to make a decent meal and still be ready.

      She drove through a hamburger joint and parked outside an ice cream shop so they could eat in the car. Avery mentally added another twenty minutes to her yoga tomorrow morning to make up for the food. She'd always been just north of chubby, but it seemed after she'd delivered Hailey, the pounds just kept tacking on.

      Richard hadn't wanted to have sex until she'd gotten back to her pre-pregnancy weight. He'd also attended all functions alone until the result of nearly starving herself and a rigorous workout routine got her back into a size twelve. Richard might be gone from her life, but the rejection and ugly feeling remained.

      She longingly looked at the ice cream parlor and decided to go back to her healthy lifestyle tomorrow. A few days' setback wasn't going to kill her. Turning in her seat, she grinned at Hailey. “How about dessert, sweetie?”

      Hailey squealed. Sugar! Sugar, now!

      The kid at the counter was about sixteen and in that awkward stage of gangly limbs before his body filled out. He looked bored to be there, but welcomed them with a drone greeting.

      “I'll have a scoop of…” Oh God. They had rocky road. Rocky road was kryptonite. “Uh, vanilla.” Sigh. Cut at least a couple calories. “And do you have anything nondairy?”

      The teenager rolled his eyes. “Dad!”

      A portly man in his fifties strolled out of the back and wiped his hands on an apron. “Well, hello. I'm Hank. New in town? Just visiting?”

      Avery went through the spiel about being Justine's daughter and just arriving.

      He rubbed his bald head, a habit he seemed unaware of doing. “Heard you took a tumble at the animal doc. How are you?”

      She resisted her own eye roll. Had anyone not heard about her embarrassing intro to her new job? “Great, thanks. I was wondering if you had anything nondairy? Hailey here gets rather sick from milk products.”

      The teenager walked to the freezer and scooped vanilla into a dish.

      “Nothing frozen, I'm afraid, but I've got some cookies from Sweet Tooth down