Wolf Creek Alpha (Texas Pack 1) (3 page)

None of the
few dates she went on
had turned
out to be anything special. 
So, she began to think that maybe
she
needed
to make s
ome changes in her life.
   

After drinking way too much soda,
Lisa pulled into the parking lot
of a
rest area.
That was something else
that needed changing, but she did enjoy her pop. 
She still had about an
hour’s
drive to Stephanie’s
,
so
the thought of
stretching her legs sounded good too. 

As she got out of her car, she
heard meowing near her front bump
er.  Going around to the front of her car, she found a kitten
walking under her tires. 

“You
’
re just too cute.
  Poor thing, all alone here,” said Lisa.

This kitten had to be a stray.  It was looking somewhat hungry and seemed starved for attention.  Maybe it w
as dumped there
,
since it did not act
feral.  Lisa scooped
it up
,
intending to get the kitten
some water from the restroom. 

“
Now,
what am I supposed to do with you?” she asked.  She couldn’t just leave it there
,
because she knew it would be prey for coyotes
or other animals in the area.

“Guess you’re coming with me,” she said.

Leaving the rest
area, she figured she would
keep the kitten with her until she cou
ld find a town with a
shelter
.
Then
again, maybe
she would
keep it
herself
.
After all, she
had been thinking about getting
a pet.  The
kitten was a nice shade of gray
with black stripes on her legs
and it was very
affectionate
, which
made her decision
easy
. 

Now, how to tell
Steph
that
she had
brought company…Oh well, Stephanie was easy going and always came up with solutions to any problems.  It was nice to h
ave a friend you could count on.

The kitten
settled down into Lisa’s purse and seemed to like the comf
ort and darkness at the bottom.
Lisa was famous
,
or
some would say,
infamous
,
for carrying the biggest bag around that she could find and
calling
it a purse.  She had everything she could possibl
y
need in it.  Even
had a t-shirt rolled up in t
he bottom of her bag, just in
case
the occasion arose
requiring
one
. 

Her friends joked that she could go on
that game show where they asked contestants for things they had brought with them.  She would
win,
since
she carried everything
in her bag that they c
ould
possibly
ask for. 

She pulled up in front of Stephanie’s log c
abin type house.  It
was a large
home and the design fit perfectly into the forest coverage.  The front door opened and immediately
Sarah came running out, followed more slowly by little Amy. 

They were ex
cited to see
their favorite honorary
aunt.  Behind the
girls, Steph
anie
and Colin followed
,
smiling as usual. 

“Glad you made it safely.  As you can hear, the girls are thrilled to see you, and so are we
,
” said a grinning Stephanie.

Lisa climbed out of her car and
the
squealing girls and hugging
surrounded
her
.  Colin came over to give her a hug too.
She scooped Amy up into her arms
,
giving her a big kiss.

“Glad
you finally came to Wolf
Creek,
Lisa.  W
hy do you smell
like a cat?  We’re canine people
,
” Colin
said jokingly. 

“How do you do that
?
  I swear
,
you could sniff out anything
,
even if it was
in an air
tight baggie
.  And what
does a cat smell like?”
  They all laughed
,
knowing
his nose was
an old joke between them. 

Time to fess up
, so she
told them about finding the kitten and
her decision
to keep it, offering to stay at a hotel if the cat bothered them. 

“No problem, the girls will love it.  Just be sure to keep it inside so another animal doesn’t hurt it
,
” Colin said. 

“
No kidding
,”
Stephanie mumbled under her breath.
  He just
gave her a
quick
glance.
 

Colin grabbed her luggage while the ladies went on inside
, with Sarah holding Lisa’s hand to pull her along.  She had to juggle Amy on her hip to make sure she had a good grip on her. 

Once they were settled on the couch, Lisa opened her bag and took the kitten out.  The girls immediately reached for it. 

“She’s just a baby, so be very gentle,” their mom said. 

While the girls played with the kitten, Lisa and Stephanie went to sit at the kitchen bar. 
They could
observe the
girls,
as it was open from the living room to the kitchen area. 

Colin came back from putting her bags in her room and got everyone drinks. 
 

“Here’s your
soda,
Lisa.  Stephanie made sure she got your favorite
,
since we didn’t want you to have withdrawal symptoms
,
” he said grinning. 

“Oh, very funny, s
ad
,
but true,
”
Lisa said smiling.

“Colin has to go
in
and
work for a couple of h
ours
.
He’s covering for one of his men who had something to do.
 
Since his
parents asked t
o keep the girls this weekend
,
I thought we could go to Charlie’s and enjoy a girl
’
s night out.  Or are you too tired from your drive
?
” asked Stephanie. 

Lisa assured them that she was just fine and looked
forward to going out
.
  She and Stephanie hadn’t
been able
to
go
out together in quite a long time.  

“I need to run to a grocery or pet store
,
though
, since I don’t have any
food or
a
litter box for my kitten
.”
 

They decided to go right then while Colin was still there to watch the girls.  They ended up at the local grocery store
,
since it was the nearest one
,
and
they
got everything they needed. 
Since they were
a small town store, they tended to carry more than just grocery items for the farming and ranching community.
 

“I’m so happy you’ve come.  I can’t wait for you to meet some of our friends here.”

“Please tell me you’re not setting me up with someone.  Wait a minute
.
Is
that why we’re going to Charlie’s?  Aw, come on
Steph
, you know set-ups never work,”
she complained
.

Stephanie laughed.  “No, we’re going just for us.  Although
the
re
probably will be a few cowboys hitting on you.  Just be kind, I know most everyone in this town.”

“Hey, I’m not a mean person.  Just no tobacco smoking or chewing cowboys, ok
ay
?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be surprised how, hmm
,
what’s the word I want?  Health
y
?  Yeah, that’s it.  How healthy the men here are,” said a giggling Stephanie. 

“
You’re
being sneaky.  What are you not telling me?  Now I’m getting
worried.
”

“You know I would never do anything too evil,” Stephanie said laughing.  “Really, it’s just us.  I was only teasing you.  I know you’ll like the people
that
you’ll meet here.  We’
re like one big family in this town.”

“No
w you really are scaring me. 
Ya’ll
sound
like a cult,” Lisa mumbled.

When they got back to
the house, Lisa went looking for her kitten so she could feed her and show
her the water bowl
.  She didn’t have to search for long as the kitten came from the
girl’s
room meowing.  After feeding her and showing her where the litter box was
,
she went to
take a
shower and get ready for her night out.

Colin
had left to take Amy and Sarah
to his
mom’s house
.  His parents always loved having their grandchildren
for a sleep
over. 

“Charlie’s is pretty casual.
Just us locals hang out there
, you know
,” Stephanie said
,
as she went to shower.

Lisa put on
her
cute little blue jean shorts.  Then
she
decided on a lime green tank top since
the weather was
so hot. 
Her favorite sandals would complete her outfit.  She just hoped some cowboy didn’t step on her toes.

She
brushed her hair back into a ponytail and put
on big hoop earrings when Stephanie walked back in.
Lisa
thought the outfi
t looked good.  Casual without looking like a tramp
.
She didn’t want to
overdo
it for a small country bar.  She just hoped she hadn’t moved into the ‘slut zone’ with her short shorts.
‘
At least my ass cheeks aren’t showing,
”
she thought.

“
You look great,
the guys will love you,”
said Stephanie,
 

“Only if they
like gingers with wide hips,” Lisa said.

She felt like she needed to lose about ten
to fifteen
pounds.

“
Don’t even say
that
you look fat.  Trust me, these guys just love curvy women,” Stephanie said.

“Curvy
,
huh? 
I guess that’s better than chubby,” she said laughing.

“So what happened with that teacher you were dating?  Do any late night studying?”
Steph
said,
wiggling her eyebrows up and down.

“You are pitiful.  No, we didn’t
‘
study
’
.  I was afraid if I saw him naked, I couldn’t look him in the eye when we
met in the hallway.  It would have been just too weird,”
she
said
,
cringing
.

“And here I was hoping to live vicariously through you,” Stephanie said with a big sigh.

“Trust
me;
your life is much more exciting than mine.  I’
ll trade you students
for Colin anytime.”

She pretended to think about it.  “Nope, I think I’
ll kee
p him
.
I like drooling over his body
,” she said smirking.