by Laurel Kerr
It took Bowie a second to respond. He stared at her for a long moment, then blinked hard. “Lulubelle?”
“Who can resist a lovelorn camel?” Katie asked. “I mean, look at her liquid-brown eyes and those ridiculous lashes. We could really sell her story of wanting a partner and a baby. There are so many sites on the internet where anyone can set up a fund-raiser. We could get people involved in the process of finding her a companion. Maybe you could pick a few candidates to be her mate, and the public could vote. We could even set jars outside the llama pen with pictures of potential boy camels, and visitors could cast their ballot by putting in cash!”
Bowie rubbed the back of his head, clearly considering her idea. “It could work, and it might bring in more foot traffic too.”
Katie nodded enthusiastically. She hadn’t been this excited in years about work. Her old boss had slowly killed her enthusiasm as he’d rejected idea after idea. It felt good to unleash her creativity on a receptive audience.
“Come on,” she said. “I want to see more of the zoo while I’m on a roll.”
Then, without thinking, she grabbed Bowie’s hand, tugging him forward. He chuckled—the sound once again low and this time even edged with surprising fondness. His fingers curled around the back of Katie’s hand, his body heat searing her. Instantly, she released her hold and kept her focus forward.
“Hurry up,” she said instead. “I don’t want to lose momentum. What’s next?”
“Well, there are the zoo’s river otters, Larry, Curly, and Moe,” he said.
Katie couldn’t stop her exclamation of delight when she rounded the bend to discover what looked like a miniature water park. Several gently sloping concrete slides twisted into a shallow pool. Two sleek, brown animals shot down the chutes, chasing each other, while a third sunned himself on a rock.
“These guys are local like Frida. Remember I told you that we get some animals from a park ranger at Rocky Ridge? Actually, you might know her. Lacey Montgomery was a few years behind us in school, but her mom owns the Prairie Dog Café.”
Katie nodded. “Yeah, she used to help out at the restaurant. Our families were close too. I think we’re distantly related…third or fourth cousins.”
“A tourist thought that the otter pups were abandoned, so he brought them back to the ranger station in his backpack. They needed so much medical care that it wouldn’t have been possible to reintroduce them into the wild. Lacey contacted us, since we’d recently lost our otter to old age. Lou and I were able to nurse the pups back to health.”
“They’re so adorable! I’m glad you were able to save them.”
“Otters are one of my favorite animals,” Bowie said. “Abby’s too. When she was little and wouldn’t stop crying, I’d bring her over to this exhibit, and she’d always start giggling instead.”
Katie tried to imagine Bowie cradling his infant daughter and carefully positioning her so that she could watch the animals play. At first, she had trouble bringing the image into focus. It jarred too much with her memories of him. Then, suddenly, the scene snapped into place, and she could clearly see Bowie holding baby Abby in the crook of his arm, his cheek pressed close to his daughter’s as he pointed out the antics of the otters.
Surprisingly, the image worked. Too well.
Katie’s heart squeezed, and she felt herself softening toward Bowie. More than she wanted. Much, much more.
Time to change the subject again. Not caring if the transition was abrupt, she blurted out, “Do you have any monkeys? I think there were some when we were kids.”
“Charlie the Chimp died about seven years ago,” Bowie said. “He’s probably who you remember. A lot of people still ask about him. We’ve got two capuchins and a sloth.”
“What’s a capuchin?”
“Organ-grinder monkey.”
Katie nodded. “Oh, one of those. They show up in movies a lot, don’t they?”
“They’re pretty trainable and inquisitive,” Bowie said. “Bonnie and Clyde—our capuchins—actually can pickpocket, and no, before you ask, I didn’t teach them. Their previous owner did before he was arrested and the animals confiscated. The bigger zoos didn’t want them, but one of their directors was friends with Lou and called to see if our animal park would take them.”
Katie stared at him. “People teach monkeys to pickpocket?”
“Yep. They’d been at the zoo for a couple of years before I started, and they had the meanest temperaments. Working with them was my first job after cleaning up the spray paint. I think Lou wanted to test my character and prepare me for fatherhood. It took a lot of patience—and even more treats—but I was able to retrain them. Eventually, I developed a show that we hold on Saturdays if we have a large enough crowd. It’s one of our biggest hits, if you can call anything around here a hit.”
“We should tape it for the website.”
Bowie looked unconvinced. “It would be cute, but I don’t know if I want to encourage them being seen as pets. They can be dangerous, especially when they get older. When we do the skit, Lou and I have hold of each monkey at all times.”
Katie regarded him steadily. “You really do love the animals and this place, don’t you?”
He shrugged and said simply, “It’s home.”
Did he have to sound like the perfect guy? His answer threatened to make Katie feel all gooey and melty again, a reaction that she definitely didn’t want around Bowie Wilson. Lust…well, maybe that she could handle, but the softer feelings were most definitely unwelcome.
* * *
When Bowie walked into the cubs’ nursery, he stopped in his tracks at the sight that greeted him. Lou stood holding Fleur, and the little kit stared right back at Bowie with cobalt eyes. A wide smile slowly spread across Bowie’s face. He turned back toward Katie. “I think there’s something you’re going to want to see.” Then he stepped aside so his body no longer blocked her view.
Katie gasped as she spotted the kits. “Oh my goodness! Their eyes are open! They’re so blue. They almost glow!”
The cougars’ eyes weren’t the only thing in the room practically shining. Katie’s joy seemed to reach out and wrap straight around Bowie’s heart. She swiveled in his direction. “I thought they couldn’t get more precious, but they are just so darn cute!”
“Wait until they start exploring more,” Bowie said.
Dobby mewled, his little whiskers framing his pink mouth. Katie immediately rushed forward. “Don’t worry, buddy. Food is coming.”
Lou chuckled. “Don’t let the little tyke fool you. I fed them a bit ago. He’s just trying out his voice. That’s all.”
Dobby’s sisters moved awkwardly around the floor of the nursery. Lou must have taken them out of their den to allow them a chance to explore. Bowie smiled as he crouched to get a better view of the kits. They lumbered around clumsily. Occasionally, their back legs wouldn’t cooperate with their forelimbs, and their rears would plunk to the floor, their feet splayed out. It didn’t take them long to scramble back into position. Undaunted, they stuck out their paws and pulled their slight bodies forward.
“They remind me of my niece and nephews when they were beginning to crawl,” Katie said as she joined Bowie on the floor.
“Wait until they start getting into trouble,” he warned as Fleur crawled in their direction.
Katie glanced down at the little cub, who was pushing against her leg. “You could never be trouble, now could you?”
At the sound of Katie’s voice, Fleur squeaked happily. Katie’s brown eyes looked exactly like melted chocolate as she ran her hand down the puma’s spine. Fleur snuggled closer to Katie’s knee, and Bowie felt another tug in the vicinity of his heart. There was something about Katie that drew him—even if the woman herself didn’t appear to want his attention. He hadn’t missed how quickly she’d dropped his hand earlier today after she’d grabbed it
in her excitement. It was best if he didn’t try pursuing anything with a woman who didn’t want him. He didn’t have time to chase Katie—not with the zoo and Abby.
At the thought of his daughter, Bowie checked his watch and then straightened. “I better head to the house now. Abby will be getting off the school bus soon. She’ll want to know that the kits’ eyes are open.”
“We’ve got to announce it on the website too,” Katie said. “It’s a shame that we didn’t have enough time to generate a ton of interest about when their eyes would open, but at least we still have the countdown clock to when the cubs go on exhibit.”
Bowie nodded, but for the first time in a long while, he didn’t feel as worried about attracting visitors. He and Katie were coming up with a solid marketing plan, which was another reason he shouldn’t push for a relationship. He didn’t want to mess that up. But as he walked across the zoo to meet his daughter, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if he and Katie hadn’t had their past history.
* * *
From his vantage point near Frida’s enclosure, Fluffy chittered to himself as he watched the Black-Haired One leave the zoo office and head to the big house where the human made his den. Alone. Without the red-haired female.
Fluffy grunted again for good measure. The biped should be staying in the female’s burrow in order to produce more wee ones.
The biped had no instinct for proper mating rituals. None at all. He was worse than Lulubelle with her lonely whines.
Good thing Fluffy had decided to leave his enclosure early. He’d successfully surprised Frida, who’d grown too lax during the daylight hours. Now Fluffy had a chance to witness the Black-Haired One’s failed courtship.
Perhaps the Black-Haired One was having trouble picking up the red female’s unique odor. How the biped could miss it, Fluffy did not know, but humans—the pathetic creatures—seemed to have weak senses. Honey badgers communicated by scent even if they preferred to live alone. A male could detect a female’s smell in the dirt and follow her back to her burrow.
When Abby called him, Fluffy came immediately. He needed to plot. As soon as Abby released him back into his enclosure, Fluffy scurried to his den and laid his head down on his paws. How could he entice the Black-Haired One with the redheaded female’s scent? Fluffy thought about the strange material that the humans wore. One time, the Black-Haired One had left a pair of work gloves in Fluffy’s enclosure while he took a break from digging the trench. Fluffy’s entire home had reeked of the biped.
Fluffy smiled, showing his teeth.
Since the Black-Haired One clearly lacked the vision necessary to produce more wee ones, Fluffy would need to lend him some honey-badger cleverness. And he had the perfect plan. He just needed the scraps of fabric the redheaded female wore.
Chapter 5
A day later, Katie questioned her intelligence…and her sanity. Why had she volunteered to videotape her former crush? Didn’t his mere smile already send her traitorous hormones cartwheeling? Surely, she should have realized that staring at the man through a camera lens would trigger an unwanted reaction.
Like accelerated heartbeat. Sweaty palms. A slightly euphoric feeling. Hot zings of attraction. Excited nerve endings.
Yep.
Katie had all the ingredients of an unhealthy cocktail of lust whirling inside her.
Luckily, Bowie appeared too busy staring into the camera to notice. He had, she had to admit, a good presence. He avoided any stiffness as he delivered his prepared script from memory. It didn’t hurt that his smile would appeal to any woman between the ages of fifteen and one hundred and fifteen.
“Now, I would not suggest kissing a red river hog under normal circumstances,” Bowie said. He was crouched next to Daisy, who was busily rooting around in the dirt. Bowie reached over and scratched the pig on her bristly back. “They are wild animals and very capable of defending themselves. Even females like Daisy have tusks. Although Daisy was hand-raised and kept as a pet, it’s not a good idea to try to force wild species into being companions for humans…even those who are cousins to our domesticated friends. Daisy ended up becoming too aggressive for her owner and was constantly rooting around, tearing up the lawn and the house. She’s much happier here, where we’re equipped to offer her more space and plenty of places to explore with her snout.”
Bowie glanced away from the camera and back up to Katie. “How’d I sound?”
“Great,” she said truthfully.
He scrambled to his feet. Daisy made a couple of snuffling sounds but otherwise appeared undisturbed. Bowie regarded the pig with an undisguised look of affection. The man truly did love the animals at the zoo—something that still surprised Katie.
“She’s a sweet girl,” he said.
The pig brushed its stout body against Bowie’s leg, her beautiful, ruddy orange-red hide contrasting with his plain khaki slacks. With her long, bumpy snout, the pig didn’t exactly qualify as cute, but there was something endearing about her. Happily snuffling in the dirt, Daisy wandered a few inches away from Bowie.
“She looks a little bit like a rusty warthog.”
Bowie laughed as he bent down to give Daisy one last scratch before turning to leave the enclosure. “I think the coolest thing about them is their ears. They look just like tails, especially when the river hogs use them to chase away flies.”
Katie studied Boris, who lay inside the wooden shed that served as the hogs’ shelter from the hot sun. Bowie had drawn the gate closed when he’d lured Daisy out in the yard with an apple, but Boris didn’t appear to have any interest in leaving the shade. He lolled on his side, his surprisingly slender legs jutting out from his large body. The boar remained perfectly still except for the occasional flick of his ears.
Bowie was right. Boris’s ears did taper off into a taillike shape, complete with a long, white tuft at each tip. They were kind of adorable. Katie would have loved to scratch the big boar’s belly, but she didn’t think the animal would appreciate it. At all. Instead, she glanced at her watch to check the time.
“We still have forty minutes before the big smooch,” she told Bowie.
“Would you like to see more of the animals while we wait?” he asked. “I doubt anyone is going to show until at least five minutes before.”
“Of course,” Katie said, lifting her camera. “It’ll be a good opportunity to take more photos for the website.”
“Do you have any shots you need to get?”
She shook her head. “I think I’ve gotten pictures of the most popular exhibits.”
“Then how would you like to hold a chinchilla?”
Katie couldn’t stop her squeal of delight. “I’d love to! They’ve always reminded me of adorably oversized cartoon mice with their huge ears and fluffy tails.”
Bowie laughed. The sound had an unnerving warming effect on Katie. She really didn’t appreciate this man’s control over her hormones.
“Well, you’re in luck, because we have a little fellow who loves to snuggle, although he can be shy at first,” he said as he led her away from the red river hogs.
They’d just turned the bend when Katie heard a scurrying sound behind her. She jerked her head and caught sight of a little white-and-black head peeking out from underneath a native shrub planted along the path. She raised her camera and managed to take a shot before the creature fled, its thick tail low to the ground.
“Who was that?” she asked.
“The infamous Fluffy,” Bowie said, his voice a mixture of exasperation and fondness as he reached for his cell phone. “I need to text Lou to have Abby coax Fluffy back to his den. He doesn’t try to bite humans—which is unusual for the species—but it’s not good having him running around, especially when we have an event today.”
“Do you want to go after him?” Katie asked.
Bowie shook his head. “He won’t
listen to me. Abby’s good at capturing him. She’s had plenty of practice. The little rascal won’t stay in his enclosure, no matter what I do to secure it. He’s so good at climbing and digging that we never know where he’ll show up next.”
“Ooo, that gives me a great idea! We should post weekly pictures of where we spot Fluffy. It could be like Where’s Waldo? or Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? I can even design it so visitors can upload their own shots.”
“That’s a great idea,” Bowie said. “It might even bring in more visitors who are hoping to catch a glimpse of him.”
“I’ll get it set up once I finish the pig-kissing video.”
They paused outside a narrow building. Bowie pulled open the door and held it for her. “Before we meet Ferdinand, what’s your opinion of snakes?”
Katie wrinkled her nose as she stepped inside and spotted the rows of glass cages. Behind the closest one, a rattlesnake shifted its triangular head to stare at them. Its tail popped up, and a sound like maracas echoed through the room.
“Reserved,” she admitted, remembering this hallway from childhood. “My brothers loved this exhibit, though.”
“I didn’t know that you have brothers.”
“Four of them,” Katie told him. “Two are older than me. The second oldest graduated right before our freshman year at Sagebrush High. The twins started the year after we left. My oldest brother, Alex, is in the air force, and the second, Luke, is a lawyer. Mike’s a cop, and Matt is a mechanic.”
“I guess I owe you another thank-you.”
Katie shot him a confused look. “For what?”
He gave her a wry grin. “For not telling them about the pranks that I pulled on you in high school.”
“How do you know that I didn’t?”
“I’m still breathing, aren’t I?”
She laughed. “True. Very true.”
Bowie paused at a larger cage containing two grayish fur balls. He opened the door and murmured softly to the two chinchillas. Both fluffs swiveled in Bowie’s direction, but only one moved toward his voice.
