"What is it, Peggy? You look as if you've seen a ghost?"
The nervously excited blonde waved a piece of air mail paper in her neighbor's face. "This is what's the matter! Bob's coming home early! He'll be here in a couple of days according to this letter! I was so worried about Hero when I came home earlier that I forgot to look in the mailbox!"
"Wonderful!" said Eddie with an impressive show of somewhat unfelt enthusiasm. But he could see from the corner of his vision that Dottie seemed a bit more eager… there would be two men now instead of one!
"But don't you see, I have to tell Bob that much sooner! I've got only two days and he'll be here! What'll I do!?"
Peggy glanced slyly at her husband and moistened her lips anticipatorily, a distinct cat-like gleaming mirrored deep in her dark eyes. "Don't worry about a thing, honey. You just welcome him home like you always do and after a few days of getting adjusted, I'll take care of the rest."
"You? How?"
Dottie made a full, lewdly insinuating circle of her pink lips with the tapered tip of her tongue before she spoke again. "Think about it, Peg. He'll be in no mood to argue or feel sorry for himself after he and I have… ah… well, after we get better acquainted. You see, Eddie's not the only one who's been lusting around the Mangum homestead."
Peggy blushed bright scarlet. "You mean… you and Bob…"
"Like I said, don't worry about a thing. When I've finished with him, you can let him in on our little secret. I promise you he won't make a peep in protest!"
"Oh, Dottie, that's a wonderful idea! Then we can all, well, sort of…"
Dottie winked wickedly. "That's exactly what I have in mind. But there is one thing, though."
"What? I'll do anything!"
"I think I should keep Hero here for a few days. At least until Bob knows the whole story."
Peggy recoiled involuntarily at the prospect of anyone else keeping her wonderful animal-lover but she tried to mask her emotions behind her thinly-spread smile. "Why, Dottie?"
"Yeah, why Dottie?" repeated Eddie. Once or twice was all right, but she should have gotten her fill of that hung beast today! Why did she want him around for days at a time?
They both watched as Dottie's eyes twinkled and her scheming smile spread across her cheeks and degenerated into a good-natured laughing grin.
"There's one good reason, Peg!" she laughed. "I don't think Bob would take too kindly to sharing you so soon after his homecoming… the old bugger might throw a bit of a surprise into your welcome-home love-making!"