“What if it was an accident?” Rhonda asked.
“Then she’s careless and hasn’t fulfilled the promise she signed off on when she adopted Jamie.”
“What if she calls in the big guns—her political connections?” Peggy asked.
“We’ve got both pictures taken hours apart,” Jack said. “A picture’s worth a thousand words.”
Rhonda agreed. “I’ll have the story up and viral in a half hour.”
Jack stared at Rhonda for a moment before saying, “It might help our cause if we have a reporter there, ready to do the follow-up story of the dog we rescued.”
Rhonda slowly smiled. “I can clear my calendar for the evening. Now get going so I can write!”
Jack tugged on Cait’s hand, pulling her out the door behind him. “Cait, I don’t know what to say.”
“Don’t say anything until we’ve got him back.”
“What if she refuses?” Peggy asked. “What if she calls her lawyer?”
Cait thought about it for a few moments, and then said, “I think image is everything to Ms. Blackwell. She won’t want the bad press this will generate. Once Rhonda makes a promise that something’s going viral, she means it.”
Jack agreed. “Our story and that photo will be everywhere. She’ll have a lot of explaining to do once the ASPCA gets wind of it.”
Cait’s phone rang. She looked at the number and sighed. “Hey, Sis. Yeah, sorry, I’m on my way there right now.” She nodded to Peggy. “That was Grace. She said you have an emergency over at the diner.”
Peggy laughed. “I do…I haven’t seen you in a few days and needed to catch up.” With a sideways glance at Jack, Peggy said, “I hear tell that you’ve been keeping a certain doctor tied up at night. Would you care to elaborate on that?”
Jack chuckled as he pulled Cait in for a quick kiss. “See you later.”
Cait couldn’t stop sighing, watching him sprint down the street to his office.
“Come on,” Peggy said, taking Cait by the hand. “You can fill me in while you check out the back burner on our stove.”
“I thought you just wanted to talk to me?”
“I do, but Grace will probably make an excuse to come on over to make sure you’re working.”
“Right,” Cait agreed. “Let me grab my tools.” She followed Peggy into the diner’s kitchen.
“Hey,” Cait said. “What did you spill down this burner? It’s a mess.”
“Don’t remember,” Peggy said. “Things boil over, we mop up as best we can, but when it’s busy in here, there’s not a whole lot of time.”
“Peggy, dear,” Miss Trudi called out strolling into the diner. “How is your mother?”
“She’s fine, standing watch over our currant berries so the darned catbirds and robins don’t eat them all before they’re ripe.”
“Best jelly in the world,” Miss Trudi agreed. “Always make mine around the Fourth of July.”
“Depends on whether or not my dad wants really tart jelly or just tart jelly,” Peggy said with a smile. “Before the Fourth, super tart, and if Mom waits another few days, just tart.”
Cait wiped her hands on the clean rag she’d put in her toolbox that morning. “Will you call me when your mom is ready to make the jelly?”
Peggy’s smile was filled with understanding. “Absolutely. You know she loves having you there helping—as long as you don’t—”
“I know, I know,” Cait interrupted. “As long as I don’t touch the tops of the jelly jars as they are cooling…then she won’t know which ones were really sealed and which ones I helped to seal.”
“Well now, girls,” Miss Trudi said, after getting their attention. “You’ll both volunteer again to set up and clean up at Founder’s Day, won’t you?”
Peggy and Cait looked at one another and agreed, making Miss Trudi smile. Leaning over the counter so only Miss Trudi could hear, Peggy whispered, “Cait and Doc are going to rescue Jamie tonight. Rhonda’s putting up a story on the Internet right now and then going along later to document the rescue as it’s happening.”
“Well, that’s fine then,” the older woman said. “By the way, Cait, I’m so glad Doc’s tonic worked.”
Cait sputtered and Peggy swallowed her laughter so she could ask Miss Trudi, “Don’t you want a cup of tea?”
“Too busy right now, dear,” the older woman said. “I’ve got to stop off and chat with Honey B.,” she explained. “Details about the vow renewal. We want everything to be just perfect. After all, a woman wants this sort of thing to be just perfect.”