The Great Jackalope Stampede Read Online Free PDF

done.”
    He should go help her finish it. “How’s Harley doing?”
    “Okay but he’s pretty growly. I overheard him bitching at Mom last night to stop treating him like a baby when she asked if he was ready for his bath.”
    According to Claire, her grandfather was more than growly. She’d used words on the phone this week like “pissy,” “impossible to live with,” and “ornery as hell.” Unfortunately, with Deborah on the premises, Mac had a feeling that Harley’s attitude would only get worse. Teddy Bear Chollas would be less prickly.
    He opened the other can of beer. “Jess, I don’t think your mom would like you using the word bitching .”
    “I’m sixteen now. That’s old enough to cuss.”
    “I know you’re old enough.” He’d been swearing plenty by her age. “I’m just saying you probably shouldn’t practice it when your mom is within a one-mile radius.”
    The door banged open. “Jessica!” Ruby’s face looked two shades angrier than when Mac had left her a moment ago. “Get out here and help me with Deborah’s luggage.”
    “Why me? My toenails are wet. Can’t Mac do it?”
    “I don’t give a darn tootin’ about your nails. Get your hiney out here right now.” Ruby’s green gaze flashed in Mac’s direction. “Mac, will you go find Harley and tell him that his daughter is here and fixin’ to have a fit if he doesn’t come to the house right now to greet her after she flew all of the way from South Dakota.”
    Put more space between him and Deborah? No problem. With a nod, Mac grabbed his beer off the counter and pushed through the cigar smoke-filled green velvet curtain that divided the General Store from his aunt’s rec room.
    He looked around the room and noticed Ruby had bought a new loveseat to replace the green sofa that had been left over from the disco decade. The orange shag carpet was still there, though, along with the faded picture of a ten-point buck that hung on the opposite wall. The long walnut bar shined with a layer of polish he hadn’t seen coating it in the five-plus years Ruby had lived in the house. She must have been busy preparing for Deborah’s white-glove inspection. Mac would bet his next paycheck that short of knocking down the walls and rebuilding the whole two-story house, no amount of sprucing would be good enough for Claire’s mom.
    Mac headed out the back door to find Claire and her grandfather. His upper lip was sweating by the time he reached the back of the R.V. park where he found Harley and his two cronies sitting in lawn chairs drinking cheap beer. Henry, Claire’s least favorite beagle on earth, lay on his side next to his owner’s one dusty sneaker.
    Where was Claire? There was no sign of life on the roof of the stud-framed building in front of the three troublemakers.
    “What in the hell are you drinking, boy?” Chester said as a greeting. “That stuff won’t even put hair on your chest.”
    “Yours seems to be adding a winter coat’s worth to your back,” Mac said, grinning at the bristly vet.
    Manny chuckled and petted Chester’s hairy shoulder. “The women line up to brush his shiny fur these days.”
    “At least they are lining up for me, Carrera. That caterpillar you wear on your upper lip keeps scaring them away.”
    “How’s the leg?” Mac asked Claire’s grandfather.
    Harley pierced him with a glare straight out of the old West. “Well, if it isn’t the Lone Ranger, here to take care of all our problems.”
    What the hell? Harley must have his boxers on crooked. Mac ignored the crabby jab and delivered his aunt’s message. “Ruby sent me to tell you that your daughter is here.”
    “Such a good boy,” Harley said, “always doing what your aunt asks you, aren’t you?”
    Mac took a step back. “Are you drunk?”
    Harley threw his empty beer can on the ground. “I wish. It would sure make my situation more palatable this afternoon.”
    His situation? Did he mean his obnoxious daughter showing up for