Chapter 20

Hazel was waiting for Shane and Rita Monday morning to tell them about how well her date went. She said he was funny and smart. They ended up having a second date and went hiking on Sunday. Hazel was so excited she almost forgot to hand them a package that had the label ripped off. She left it with them and left to start her route.

Rita put the package on a table and went to finish sorting incoming mail from the weekend.

Shane and Norman were still working on a lost letter box from Kansas. Oliver was finishing monthly reports to send to Washington.

"Shane."

"Yes, Norman." She was looking through several letters that needed searches.

"Uh, I think that box you guys brought in is moving."

"Norman, what are you talking about," Shane said looking up. "Norman, that box just moved."

"I just said that."

Shane and Norman started moving slowly towards the box. "Oliver," Norman called over.

"Yes."

"Didn't international shipping have a crate from when a cat got loose in their office last week," Norman asked?

"Yes, it took a good two to three hours to catch the poor thing. Why?"

"You might want to go get the crate."

Oliver finally looked up from the report and saw the box move. "I'll head right over there," Oliver moving out the office.

"Should we put it on the floor until Oliver returns," Shane asked. "I'd hate to have it fall off."

Norman gingerly checked the outside of the packing to make sure it was secure then moved it to the floor. By that time, Rita had returned from sorting the mail from the weekend.

"Why are you both staring at the box on the floor?"

"It's moving on its own and if you get close you can hear something thump inside," Norman replied. "Oliver went down to international shipping to get the crate they used to catch the cat last week. We can take it down to x-ray once it's secure to see what we're dealing with."

Oliver returned and Norman gently placed the box in the crate. After they left, Shane and Rita started trying to guess what it was.

"Remember last Easter someone tried to mail baby chicks. You could hear the poor things chirping in the box," Rita said.

"Better baby chicks than the pack of snakes someone mailed a couple months later."

"I always dread Halloween," Rita said. "You never know what someone is going to decide to send that time of year. Remember the box of tarantulas." They both shuddered.

Norman and Oliver returned a little later with their hands full. "X-ray says it's a lizard. We picked up a terrarium in the unclaimed auction items."

They gently opened the box and let him out into the terrarium. Norman put in some water and took a couple pictures with his phone. "I have a cousin that is a herpetologist. Hopefully, he can let us know what it is."

"The postmark was from yesterday so hopefully he wasn't in the box for too long." Oliver said as he handed it over to Shane. "There's an invoice from the store in there. Ms. McInerney, maybe you can find out who bought it?"

Norman's phone dinged. "It's a baby bearded dragon. He said from the length probably about 4-5 months."

Shane was looking the invoice up on the computer when she heard Norman talking to the lizard. "Hiya little Harry."

She walked by Oliver and leaned over. "Norman naming the lizard is not a good sign. He may get attached. Unless you want Harry permanently joining the DLO, you might want to find something for you both to do elsewhere."

Oliver looked alarmed. "Norman why don't we see if you're latest solution works on these letters from the Kansas box Shane and you were working through." Oliver managed to keep Norman busy in the lab the rest of the afternoon. Shane was able to contact the store and obtain the intended recipient. They lived an hour outside of Denver and when contacted they said they could come pick up "Harry" the next day.

That evening Shane ate dinner at Oliver's. After dinner they were unpacking more of Shane's books, "Oliver did you ever have a pet?"

"A pet?"

"Yes, most kids do at some point have a dog, cat, lizard, or fish."

"I won a fish once at the fair when it was in town. My dad took me and there was this dart game that if you popped the balloons you won different prizes."

"How long did the fish last?"

"A couple months. I don't know that my dad or I really knew much about fish other than to eat them."

Shane laughed. "Please tell me you didn't eat it."

"No. We buried Fred in the back yard. There was a very respectful memorial." Oliver smiled at her. "Did you have any pets?"

"We had a cat when I was a teenager. It died of cancer after I left for college. Some couples get a pet as a trial run to practice parenting." Shane smiled slightly at Oliver waiting for a reaction.

"Are you suggesting that we need practice before embarking on parenting ourselves," Oliver asked?

"There's nothing like being up half the night taking a puppy outside to see how you handle a midnight feeding," Shane suggested.

"Shane, puppies chew things, have accidents and eat disgusting things," Oliver objected huffily thinking about his carpet.

"Babies chew things, spit up, have tantrums, accidents and generally make everything sticky. That's why puppies are such great practice, they're not much different."

Oliver looked at Shane suspiciously feeling like he landed in a debate that he was surely going to lose. He took the book out of her hand and placed it on a shelf. Oliver leaned over to kiss her, pulling her closer, and ran his hand through her hair.

"Are you trying to distract me?" Shane asked as Oliver laid kisses down her neck.

"Is it working?" Oliver asked as he brushed his lips against her ear.

"I can't…think."

"Don't think." Oliver kissed her on the mouth and pulled her onto his lap. He could feel her arms move up around his neck and her hands into his hair. He ran a hand down her waist and around to her lower back. He forgot he was trying to distract her and focused totally on her. He ran a hand down her leg and back up regretting the need to pull back. He placed his hands on her arms that were around his neck and slowed his kiss finally pulling back slightly and leaning against the bookcase. He brushed his lips against the arm that was still playing in his hair.

Oliver looked at Shane. "When I pick you up for work and you're all put together you're beautiful. After I've kissed you, you're checks flushed and your hair disheveled from my hands, you're so stunning sometimes it hurts to let go."

Shane ran a finger over his mouth essentially shushing him. "Oliver your killing me." She laid her head down on his shoulder and sighed. They sat there with his arms around her and her hand playing in his hair.