Roxie had told him he could take the cat in the next time he went to the shelter.
Next month. There was no way that would stick.
So now they had a dog and a cat. He’d gone from being single with no responsibilities to having a girlfriend and two pets to take care of. He was good at this relationship thing. If he didn’t watch out, he might wake up next week with a wife and two point five kids.
Maybe his momma was right about the condoms.
“Well, I could start a page on the county website and list the animals we’ve found.” He’d done it for the shelter he volunteered at. It shouldn’t be too hard here in Papillon, though he wasn’t sure what the parish’s infrastructure was like when it came to the website. “Maybe I can convince Sylvie to open up the town website and let me upload a page explaining what to do if you’ve lost a pet or found one.”
“You could do that,” she said in a way that made him think she had a better idea.
Before she could say anything more, his brother was walking up the steps with Lisa Guidry at his side.
“What are you doing here?” Zep asked. Remy never came to town meetings. “You said town halls were nothing but slightly contained chaos.”
His brother slapped him on the arm in a sign of fraternal affection. “Oh, but this time you’re the one trying to contain it, and that is one show I wouldn’t miss for the world.”
His sister-in-law grinned. “Besides, we have to find that rougarou and fast. I think you’ll discover that there’s a citizen’s posse forming. They were talking about it at lunch today. We live in interesting times.”
Dear lord. “I get to deal with that. Yay.”
“Oh, if there’s a posse running around, I’ll deal with it,” Roxie promised. “You handle the talking and I’ll be the muscle. You’re really too pretty to put in the line of fire.” She went on her toes and kissed him. “I’m getting some popcorn. See you inside.”
“I’ll go with Roxie,” Lisa offered, stepping away from her husband. “Your sister is already in there with Harry and Luc.”
Roxie frowned. “If Harry and Sera are in there, who’s keeping watch over my parents?”
“Uhm, I’m pretty sure they don’t need someone watching them twenty-four-seven,” Lisa was saying as they walked into the small building that served as town hall and sometimes a banquet hall. Or a concert hall. Really all the halls a town could need were right in there.
“We will have to agree to disagree on that point,” Roxie replied, opening the door. “I would like to know where they are at all times while they’re here. My parents slipped away for breakfast and that ended up costing me a whole afternoon of listening to my dad tell me everything I’m doing wrong with my life. I’m sure my mom would love a shot at that, too. Hey, I heard Remy used to be a bodyguard. Maybe he could be like a reverse bodyguard.”
Lisa walked through. “I think he’s got a lot to do at the restaurant, but we know some folks.”
“I’m not calling anyone down to track Roxie’s parents,” Remy called out.
“Way to help a friend, Guidry.” Roxie let the door go but not before Zep got a look inside the building. There were people milling about in the lobby, and Dixie had a line formed for popcorn. Then the scent wafted out. It was supposed to be a snack, but he’d always known it was a symbol that entertainment was coming.
There were a lot of people in there.
“You’ve turned a nice shade of green.” Remy was staring at him, an amused expression on his face.
“I’m not big on public speaking,” he admitted. “I don’t know how I got roped into this. One minute I was making some extra cash helping the sheriff with animal calls, and the next I’m some sort of expert at mythical creatures in our midst. You know what this town can do to experts.”
“Drive them utterly crazy,” Remy said with a laugh, but he sobered quickly. “You know you really are kind of an expert when it comes to this.”
Had his brother lost his mind? “To rougarous? I assure you I am not. I am distinctly a disbeliever in werewolves.”
“I wasn’t talking about the rougarou. I meant you’re an expert at handling the people of Papillon. You’ve been doing it all of your life.”
He snorted because that was a lie. “I don’t handle anyone. I just try to get by.”
Remy nodded as though Zep had just made his point. “See, there you go. You’re making less of yourself again. You are an insanely likable person. You put people at ease, and if you would act like you cared at all, they would listen to you.”