Ezzie moved closer to Jordan. “See what I did there?” she whispered as Mila continued with her opening remarks.
“No,” Jordan murmured back.
“Kept the talk going and saved you from Kat, amiga. Watch out for her. She’s a matchmaker.”
“Picked up on that.” She sent Ezzie a smile before giving her attention to Mila.
“I’m excited to have you all here,” Mila said. “Now that we all have beverages and snacks, I’ll introduce my family and then I’d like each of you to introduce yourselves.”
When Jordan’s turn came, she gave M.R. Morrison credit for alerting her to H&H and didn’t mention her connection to Luis. Three of the other five women also had heard about the sanctuary through Morrison’s newsletter.
“Okay, Claudie.” Mila glanced down to the other end of the table. “Tell everyone how you came up with this adoption plan.”
“It was thanks to M.R. Morrison. She put a piece in her newsletter about the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Kenya and its adoption program for orphaned elephants. I decided we could do the same thing with wild horses.”
“Brilliant, right?” Mila said. “Except those elephant babies live in a contained area, convenient for naming and photos. Our wild horses are scattered all over the place and tend to be camera shy.”
“Yeah.” Claudette laughed. “I’m sure there were times Mila and Luis wished I’d kept that brilliant idea to myself. We spent months taking pictures and naming horses.”
“So worth it, though,” said a trim, white-haired woman. “I’ve sent donations here before, but it didn’t feel very personal. Adopting a horse, or in my case five, makes it so real.”
“It is real.” Mila sat forward, her expression eager. “On Sunday you’ll see for yourselves.”
“I can’t wait,” said a thirty-something woman who dressed in bright colors. “You two are amazing. Let’s all give them a big hand!”
After the applause died down, Claudette opened a large tote and passed out caps and T-shirts to anyone who wanted them. Jordan asked for a cap. Then she pulled her T-shirt from her backpack and described getting nailed by the cannon, which made Claudette laugh.
Before the group broke up, the visitors each grabbed a moment to change in the bathroom so everyone except the Dazzling Damsels left wearing H&H T-shirts and caps. Jordan enjoyed the heck out of their display of camaraderie. Bonding over a love of animals was pretty cool.
On the way out, Kat was right behind her. “Jordan, can I have a minute?”
“Of course.” She stepped to one side of the door.
Kat looked her in the eye. They were almost exactly the same height. “I’ll bet Ezzie warned you that I’d try to play matchmaker this weekend.”
“She did.”
“Well, I won’t.”
“Oh?”
“Marriage was never for me, but when I see two people who are obviously perfect for each other, I can’t resist playing Cupid. That said, I respect your ambition and dedication to making it on your own.”
“Thank you.”
“You remind me of me. Single-minded, in every sense of the word. I wouldn’t dream of interfering.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I’m also crazy about Luis.” Kat’s eyes gleamed with fierce, protective love.
“I promise to be very, very careful.”
“Good.” She linked her arm through Jordan’s. “Let’s check out the dunking booth. I’ve been working on my fastball.”
Chapter Five
Returning to town after the parade had always been the highlight of the day for Luis. No more performance anxiety. Nothing to do but have fun.
