I moved along into the kitchen and read the note that Thane had left. I had to walk them? Shellene didn’t mention that part.How am I going to walk three dogs?I gave them fresh water and put the required amount of food in each of their bowls. I was impressed by how they all sat quietly, waiting for me to put the bowls on the floor. Any dog I’d ever seen usually barked and pushed to get their food. I stood there and looked at them for a moment. It was adorable that they all just waited so patiently. Thane was a great dog trainer.
I decided I would walk Little Rascal alone, just around the block. She really pulled on her leash, wanting to explore everything. I couldn’t believe how social she was, so we visited every other dog that was being walked. She wasn’t even afraid of the Doberman or Rottweiler. She just barked incessantly at them.
Buster and Chance were well-behaved. I practically had to run to keep up with their big strides. Buster drew in a lot of attention from fellow walkers, so we had to keep stopping.
When I got back in, I scooped up Little Rascal and took her to have a bath. She looked like a drowned rat when she was all wet. Then I brushed her teeth. I thought about using Thane’s toothbrush, but I found an extra one under the sink.
I bathed both Buster and Chance and brushed their teeth as well. Feeling like I’d done my duty, I looked around the first floor. What a gorgeous house this was. Very modern and tastefully decorated. And unbelievably clean. He must have someone who comes in and cleans for him because I couldn’t see him being a neat and tidy person. I decided he likely had someone come in to decorate because he couldn’t possibly have this great sense of taste. When I went up to the second floor, I found his office and decided to look at the papers sprawled out across the desk.
I pretended I was a spy trying to find damning evidence. I couldn’t believe what I found: damning evidence that he was a great guy.Dammit!I picked up several tax receipts from many veterinary hospitals and dog shelters of money he had donated to them. I tallied up all the amounts, and it came out to a whopping $3,050,000. I was stunned. I knew Thane had lots of money, but three million dollars? All in donations. I sat down in his desk chair and reread all the documents. I was shocked. An overwhelming feeling of warmth flooded through my body as I thought about how amazing he was to have helped all those creatures.
Perhaps I had misjudged him somewhat. He wasn’t the horrible man I had convinced myself that he was. I wanted him to be a bad person, so that I wouldn’t fall for him. I stood up, wishing I’d never seen those papers. I gave each dog some attention, playing with them before I left. They all looked and smelled amazing. I commended myself on a job well done and ignored the conflicting feelings going on inside.
* * *
“Sindy’s fine.Just some scratches and bruises,” Shellene told me on the drive to the park where the circus was. She needed an assistant to help her destroy Julian’s next date.
“I’m so glad. I was worried about you,” I told her.
“How were the dogs?” she asked.
I told her about the papers I’d found.
“Wow, that’s crazy. Three million dollars donated? Thane’s such a great guy.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. He does some nice things,” I said.And he’s an amazing lover.I smiled at the thought.
When we got to the circus, I distracted the woman who was the psychic fortune teller so that Shellene could put on her psychic outfit. The plan was that I would convince the psychic that I needed her help on the opposite side of the park so that Shellene could convince Julian’s date that she needed a reading. Luckily, the psychic believed me and decided she would go and get some food before returning, so I went back to the trailer.
I could hear Shellene inside, talking to Julian’s date.
“Oh, my goodness,” Shellene said. “It looks like you will find nothing but heartache from a man. Now, I can’t quite get his name. Give me a minute. Sometimes these things take a bit of time to connect. Ah, yes, that’s it. His name starts with a J. I’m seeing JF. Do you know a man with those initials?”
I heard the woman reply and froze.That’s my sister’s voice!“Those are this man’s initials.”
Shellene went on. “Oh, yes, I see that now. Oh, you wretched man. You are only using this woman to make someone else angry. How dare you. You ought to be ashamed of yourself! Go! Go now before I bring down the wrath of Satan to punish you for your sins.” The door to the trailer opened, and Julian came flying out, followed by a bewildered Addison. “Go, you sinner. I will make a voodoo doll with your face on it, and may the devil strike you down, you evil, evil, man. Don’t you ever see this woman again!” Shellene yelled after him as he darted through the crowd in his escape, leaving Addison behind.
Addison looked at me. Shellene took her disguise off and came up beside us. She put her hand on Addison’s arm and said, “I’m so sorry, Addison. Julian is a terrible person.”
“What is going on?” Addison asked, flabbergasted.
Shellene and I told Addison the whole story.
“I feel like such a fool,” she said. “I can’t believe I fell for it all. Wait. He really dated you, Lila, and Remi at the same time knowingly and on purpose to see how long it would take you to realize it?”
Shellene nodded. “Yes, like I said. He is a wretched man.”
Tears welled up in Addison’s eyes. “I was really falling for him. I don’t get it. He was amazing to me. I really thought he wasthe one.”
“We all did,” Shellene told her, putting her arm around her. “We were all duped by that prick.”
“How is it that you two are here? And why were you dressed up as a psychic?” Addison wanted to know, in between sobs.
We told her about the Broken Hearts Club. “That’s awesome,” Addison said after she’d heard about all the pranks we’d pulled on Julian’s dates. “How do you think up all these different ways to get his dates to drop him?”
“We each take turns. We follow him and find out a location and time of date by eavesdropping and then show up with some sort of disguise and talk to the women, much like we did here today,” Shellene explained.
“You guys are awesome. I love this. Can I be part of that club?” Addison asked, no longer tearing up.