Toss Up (The Toss Trilogy) by Susan Craig

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    Yes, it was cold out. No, she didn’t imagine the ‘poor puppies’ would want to stay out until it warmed up some. Yes, she’d love it if Maggie took care of feeding the ‘poor darlings.’ At last, as Maggie headed off toward the kennel wing, Sally sank into the chair facing her computer.
    I love you. She had nearly said, ‘I love you’ to Jim. Good grief! Where had that come from? She felt the shaky sweatiness she associated with nerves and reacted the way she had before shooting a free throw on the court— take a few deep breaths and focus. She shook her head to clear it. This stalker business was really throwing her off her game. Focus . She had a shelter to run.
    Sally booted up the computer and got to work. In her email was a copy of the new schedule Diana had set up for the volunteers. Emba rrassed, she emailed back suggesting that daytime precautions were probably overkill. She didn’t like asking people to rearrange their routines to babysit her, but Diana was adamant. With her best friend and Jim united against her, Sally knew she had no choice but to give in. Fortunately, none of the shelter volunteers asked her for specifics as to why the schedules had changed. They knew how hard Sally worked, so the vague explanation accompanying Diana’s email to the group—that her manager needed a bit more help—had gone down easy.
    There was one extra benefit. With more volunteers around, she had some time to work on her Economics paper.
    By mid-afternoon, when she watched Tyler race toward the shelter from the school bus, Sally had completed an outline based on preliminary research. She gave herself a mental pat on the back. Good progress. I should celebrate.
    Tyler burst through the door. “Look, Mom.” He waved a blue env elope above his head. “Matthew is having a birthday party on Friday. A sleepover birthday party! I get to bring my sleeping bag to school, and a present, and my pajamas and Matthew says we’re going to eat pizza and watch movies and stay up all night!” Tyler beamed at his mother. “I can go, can’t I?”
    “Yes, of course you can go. We’ll go into town tonight and get a pr esent.” And dinner out. Yes! “Get your homework done before it’s time to close the shelter, and we’ll stop by the Dragon King to eat.”
    That was all it took to send Tyler scurrying behind the counter to spread out his books and papers on the desk next to her own. As he bent to the task, Sally gave herself a mental thump on the forehead—Donovan. Well, he’d have to get used to going with the flow. She wasn’t going to deny Tyler what was clearly a big deal to him.
    True to their arrangement, Tyler was finished with homework, packed and ready to roll before the big red RAM pulled into the parking lot. “Mom, Dr. Donovan’s here!”
    “Go ahead out. I’ll be right there.” A few minutes later, she slid into the cab of the truck.
    “Tyler tells me we’re going into town for presents and Chinese food,” Jim said as she buckled up.
    “That’s right. His friend Matthew is having a birthday party Friday.”
    “It’s a sleepover,” bubbled Tyler. “I get to take my sleeping bag to school and everything.”
    “Sounds awesome. What kind of present will you bring for Ma tthew?” As Tyler rattled on about the merits of his various choices, Jim slanted a look toward Sally over the boy’s head. The question in his eyes stopped her diaphragm in mid-breath. How could she have overlooked it? With Tyler at a sleepover, they would be at the house alone. The very thought sent her blood pressure skyrocketing. Maybe she should go stay with Diana and Logan for the evening…or maybe not.
    “Okay.” She took control, stopping Tyler’s ramblings. “We’ll stop at the Dollar Emporium first, and if we don’t find anything there we’ll go to Sports Unlimited.”
    “The Dollar Emporium?” Jim sounded surprised.
    “Lots of fun, great variety, short life-span of both toys and clutter.