It was already seven thirty in the evening by the time she got home from work, but she wasn't alone. Karl offered to stay with her and help her clean. Closing was always the most difficult time to work because it was when she usually went to bed, in the dirt, or should she say mud.

Althea sighed as she sat in the stall where she and Oliver had earlier talked. She's been thinking about Allan all day, not about their conversation, which was a load of nonsense but about giving her mate a chance.

Karl notices her and smiles as he sits next to her. "What's on your mind,...