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application with information about themselves, their vet, and personal references. If the applicant looked promising, Jackson or one of his volunteers conducted a phone interview and a home visit before any adoption.
    Unfortunately, animals had often been injured, abused, or abandoned, and when necessary, Jackson worked with the local vets to treat them and raised money from the community to care for them. Recently, he’d received a New York State grant that would fund his refuge through the end of next year and enable improvements to the paddock and the barn and the addition of more fencing out in the field for the larger animals.
    I’d also been able to contribute quite a bit, and regularly, thanks to my profits from Aunt Claire’s FreshFace herbal antiaging cream. The money took the pressure off Jackson, but fund-raising was a fact of life. Tomorrow night, we were hosting a dinner at Nature’s Way where dishes would be paired with Simon’s wines to benefit the sanctuary.
    Healthwise, Jackson was feeling good. The back injury he’d sustained on the job from a slip on black ice, which resulted in his retirement, was no longer an issue, and he credited me with his recovery. Really, it was a combination of my natural cures and therapies such as massage and acupuncture from my in-store practitioners and good friends, Allie and Hector.
    One problem for Jackson, though, was Simon’s new vineyard next door and the resulting noise from tour buses, limos, and visitors. Jackson also didn’t like Simon’s frequent pop-ins. While Jackson tolerated and even liked Simon, he could only take him in small doses. Simon could be charming and helpful but also selfish and self-centered. Often, he was oblivious of the effect his actions had on others, such as chatting up Jackson when he had work to do.
    I waved to Jackson and pointed to Zeke. He shrugged, knowing what had happened. “Bring him over to meet the boys.” Qigong, and two dachshunds we’d rescued together named Columbo and Rockford, spotted me and scurried over to the bottom edge of the paddock that Jackson had reinforced with chicken wire so that they’d stay inside and safe. I met them there and patted their heads, while their little tails went back and forth like metronomes.
    Jackson stepped out of the paddock and came over to us. He had on his usual working clothes—flannelshirt, jeans, and boots—and looked hunky and handsome with his short-cropped hair, scruffy beard, and piercing blue eyes.
    â€œHi, honey; hi, Zeke.” He gave me a kiss and scratched Zeke behind the ears, which he loved. “So, Simon couldn’t handle having a dog. Did you say, ‘I told you so’?”
    I shook my head. “No, I was nice. He felt kind of bad about it, I think. Both he and Cassie are super-busy right now.”
    â€œUnfortunately, I hear that all the time. Best to put Zeke inside the paddock and introduce him to the boys. Neutral ground and all that.”
    â€œGood idea.” I followed Jackson through the gate. Curious, of course, our dogs scampered over. I put Zeke down on the ground and he immediately rolled onto his back submissively so they could examine him from nose to tail. “Qigong, Rockford, Columbo. Say hi to Zeke, guys.”
    Dogs are pack animals, so I had no doubt that once they got used to each other Zeke would be happier here with all of us, rather than on his own, alone. His tail was already wagging back and forth.
    Zeke stood up and the dogs sniffed him all over again. Finally, they decided he was A-OK, and all four of them began to explore the paddock together. After overhearing the fight between Ivy and David, I couldn’t help but think that it would be nice if people could be as accepting as dogs are.

chapter two
    Two hours later, at eleven thirty, I headed back to Pure in my mint-green Prius, while Merrily, my chef at Nature’s Way, and Lily Bryan followed in the