Marla patted my arm. “We’ll see. The Sheriff and I have been dating for quite some time. Did you know that?”
My eyes widened. “No. I sure didn’t.”
“Okay,” Mimi said, “let’s get down to business.”
The girls unpacked while I got bottles of green tea out of the refrigerator. I didn’t have enough cups to go around, so bottled tea would have to do.
“So here’s the plan,” Mimi said. “Next week when your pretty little bracelet comes off, we’re all going over to the site where the development is scheduled to take place and protest. We will keep it up until something is done. Imagine that kind of thing going on here in our county and no one knew!”
“You girls are the best,” I said. “I can teach you a lot about the proper way to protest.”
“Let’s do it!” Ingrid cried. “And that Bernie Schuler better leave those poofy shrimp alone or my Saxe blade may do some protesting of her own!”
My eyes widened. While I liked Ingrid, she really scared me. All her talk about bloodshed and knife fighting made me a little queasy.
We spent the afternoon painting and decorating signs. Kat and her Dalmatian puppy, Blaze, came over around four, and she helped us with the signs—well, whenever she wasn’t chasing Blaze around that is. When Chase’s truck drove up the driveway, I was once again shocked to realize the hours had flown by.
“That’s our cue,” Mimi said. “We better get out of here.”
“I’m meeting Caleb at his house for dinner,” Kat said, “so I better get going, too.”
As I walked the girls downstairs, they chatted about their big Friday night plans. I had to admit, I was a little jealous. I didn’t have any plans…well, except to sit upstairs and read.
Or so I thought. What happened next was like a comedy of errors. I’d just opened the front door as Kat clipped on Blaze’s leash. At the same time, Chase openedhisfront door to the apartment and Rocky came running out. Blaze, either frightened or excited, bolted outside, leash trailing behind him, Rocky close on his heels.
“Stop him!” Kat cried.
Without thinking, I stepped outside and made a grab for the leash. It wasn’t until I stood up next to the steps and saw everyone’s faces that I realized what I’d done. I looked down at my ankle and screamed.
I tried to run back inside, but the dogs must have thought I was playing, because they both started yipping and dashing around my feet. I took a step forward, tripped over Blaze’s leash, and fell down hard. Unfortunately, I was so close to the edge of the stairs, that my butt hit the top step and with nothing there to lean against, I continued to roll down the four steps. I landed on my ankle and winced. Luckily it wasn’t the monitored ankle.
“Are you okay?”
I looked up into Chase’s eyes and tried to smile. “Yeah. No. I don’t know.”
“Here.” He reached under my arms and hauled me up to my feet.
The pain was immediate. “Ah!” I would have crumbled right there if he hadn’t reached out and steadied me.
“So not okay,” he murmured.
“What have I done?” I moaned. “I’m going to be in so much trouble!”
He chuckled. “No, you won’t. I’ll put a call in to Clifford and explain what happened, but right now we need to get you inside and look at your ankle.”
“I’m so sorry, Alexa,” Kat said. She reached down and snatched Blaze’s leash up from off the ground. “Are you okay?”
No.
“Yeah, I think so.”
“You go on and give Caleb my best,” Mimi said. “We’ll just help Alexa inside.”
Kat apologized once more before dashing to her car and driving away. I glanced down at Rocky, sitting on his hind legs, tongue hanging out, perfectly happy.
“Can you make it up the steps?” Chase asked.
“I think so.”
