And you know what?
They were the easiest words I’d ever spoken.
CHAPTER 19
MASON
FOUR MONTHS LATER
It was a credit to my therapist’s unflappable nature that when I told him I had to reschedule this week because I’d been invited to a goose’s birthday party, all he said was, “Does Monday evening work for you instead?” Or maybe he’d just been Goose Run adjacent for long enough that nothing surprised him anymore. Goose Run was that kind of place, and he must have heard crazier stories from the people who lived there.
Lucille was turning twenty-six, not an unusual age for a domestic goose who had been well cared for, but noteworthy all the same. Not noteworthy enough for most people to think of throwing her a birthday party, but Bobby Merritt wasn’t most people. Bobby Merritt was unlike anyone I’d ever met before.
The party was at the Adventurama, the little petting zoo that took up Bobby’s entire yard. He’d recently added a pair of rescue alpacas, determined to boost his ranking on Tripadvisor to two whole stars. Given the way alpaca spit stank, I wasn’t sure it was going to work out the way he hoped, but Bobby was nothing if not an optimist. Goosapalooza—Chase had started calling Goose Pride that, and the name had stuck in our group—was proof of that. Six months ago Bobby had gone around town handingout confusing flyers and now, somehow, Goose Run’s first Pride festival was only a couple of weeks away and it looked as though it was going to be a wild success. The local church had sure had some things to say about it, but most of the businesses around town were enthusiastically looking forward to those rainbow dollars. Chase claimed there was even going to be a parade, with Lucille and Bobby leading. Personally, I thought it was just Chase talking bullshit, since a Pride Parade in Goose Run would probably consist of Danny and Miller, Wilder and Avery, Chase and Lee, and me and Cash. Then again, this was Bobby we were talking about. Anything was possible.
Either way, Goosapalooza would be a day to remember.
When Cash and I arrived, the party was already in full swing. We went around to the backyard, where we found Bobby trying to wrestle Lucille into a party hat. He wasn’t having much success, what with Lucille trying to eat the hat, but he was persisting.
“Hey there, Mason,” Bobby said, finally abandoning his efforts. “There’s drinks in the cooler and hot dogs on the grill. Help yourself.”
“Thanks,” I said, and then, because it would have been rude not to ask, “How’s the birthday girl?”
“Oh, she’s having a grand old time,” Bobby said. “Now tell me, in your professional opinion, in a fight between a goose and an alpaca, who do you think would win?”
I blinked. It wasn’t the weirdest question I’d ever been asked as a vet, but it was right up there. “Normally I’d say the alpaca, but if the goose is Lucille? All bets are off. Why do you ask?”
“No reason,” Bobby said, petting Lucille’s head. “Just one of them hypotheticals, you know?”
I made a mental note to check the alpacas for signs of a goose attack.
Cash eyed Lucille warily and his gaze darted around the backyard, taking in everyone there. I could tell the moment he spotted his twin, and he made a beeline over to where Chase and Lee were standing. Possibly it was because he missed his brother since he’d stayed with me every night this week, but I suspected it was also to get away from the goose.
I followed him over to where Chase was standing with Tyler from the bakery and a young guy I hadn’t met before. Tyler had a soda in one hand, and his other hand rested protectively over the baby carrier he was wearing. I couldn’t see anything of the baby except a fuzzy hat with a bobble on it.
“Hey, you guys,” he said. “This is Jess’s brother, Alex.” Jess was Tyler’s wife. I’d only met her once before. Tyler craned his head. “Jess is around here somewhere. I think she went to look at the three-legged dog.”
“A local celebrity,” I said and shook Alex’s hand. “I’m Mason, and this is Cash.”
Alex did the usual double take people did with the twins but recovered quickly. “Nice to meet you.”
His accent wasn’t local.
“Fucking kill me, man,” Tyler said in an undertone when Alex had wandered off somewhere. “I love the guy, but how hard can it be to find a place? He’s been living on our couch for amonth.”
I winced in sympathy. That couldn’t have been fun with a new baby.
There were a lot of people in Bobby’s backyard, and Cash whispered something to Chase.
“We’re gonna grab hot dogs,” Chase announced, and Cash fell in behind him like a duckling dutifully following the safe path its mother had made. Then he looked back at me and held out his hand.
I took it, and we followed Chase toward the grill.
“I’m just saying,” Avery said as we approached, “that if I tried to move my hips like that, I’d dislocate them.”
Wilder, an arm around him, grinned. “It would be fun to watch you try, though.”
“Are you guys talking about Wilder’s new routine?” Chase asked.
