Mina admired Michael’s intellect, enjoyed playing on-line games with him, and considered his unusual past endlessly fascinating. The tragic circumstances of his peculiar upbringing tugged at her heartstrings, and she could understand the way he felt about not measuring up to the professor’s expectations. She felt strangely protective towards him, but she’d also be lying if she said she didn’t also find him attractive.
Michael’s gangly body had filled out over the course of past year, and lean muscles had risen on his arms and chest. Thanks to the time he spent outdoors he had even more freckles than before, and they made his bright blue eyes stand out in contrast. Layla liked the respect and admiration she saw in those eyes when they looked at her.
“Wanna try a new game?” she asked, already knowing what his answer would be.
She flipped on the television, handing him a controller and introducing him to her latest acquisition. Despite being a beginner, he almost immediately started winning, surprising her with his quick grasp of the complicated rules. “No fair mister!” she cried, glowering at him with mock outrage. “You fight dirty.”
He laughed. “That’s Mister vice president in charge of security to you.”
She rolled her dark eyes at him. “Then you have to call me Special Agent Kim.”
“Fine.” he laughed. “But at least I don’t have two first names.”
She elbowed him playfully, and he responded by tickling her ribcage. Soon they were laughing and giggling, rolling on the couch with their hands roaming all over each other. The oven’s insistent beeping finally broke through their wrestling match.
“Saved by the bell.” Mina caught her breath and got up to take the food out of the oven.
They sat down to eat in Mina’s tiny kitchen, their knees touching under the table. They polished off the rest of the wine, and by the time they were finished both of them were feeling fine, warm and satisfied.
“My compliments to the chef.” Michael tipped an imaginary hat to her. Mina scoffed, but she couldn’t help smiling back at him. She got up to clear the table and Michael insisted on helping her wash the dishes, emboldened by the wine to stand much closer than he normally would.
She handed him a towel to dry his hands. “There’s a Star Wars marathon on TV tonight,” she said. “Do you want to stay and watch it?”
“Are you kidding? It’s my favorite.”
“I knew I liked you for a reason. Now go sit down and I’ll go make us some tea.”
She returned to his side with a pair of mugs, setting them down on the low table in front of them before plunking down on the futon next to him. They both kicked off their shoes, leaning back into the cushions comfortably.
There was a chill in the air, so Mina pulled a knitted throw from the back of the futon to drape it over her lap. “Do you want some blanket?” she asked, holding it open and offering to share.
He scooted closer, excruciatingly aware of their legs touching, struggling to keep his breathing steady while his heart started pounding double time.
Halfway into the first movie he worked up the courage to casually drape his arm around her shoulder, and when the second one started he took her hand in his, encouraged when she laced her fingers through his and held on.
He looked down at her, and when she turned her face up to his he was lost in her dark eyes, drawn to her lips like a magnet. He kissed her before he had a moment to think about it, and was more than a little surprised when he felt her respond. He opened his eyes to find her looking directly at him.
The honest emotion he felt was too much for him, and he was overwhelmed, frightened by the intimacy of the moment. “I’d better go now,” he said, his voice cracking.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because we shouldn’t. … Because I shouldn’t …”
She drew back a little to study him. “I want you to stay.”
It was exactly what he wanted to hear, but he was frightened nevertheless. “Okay,” was all he could manage to say.
In his time living with Max, Michael had been with many women, but that night, on the fold out bed of Mina’s little studio apartment, by the flickering light of the television, he made love for the very first time.
~
Chapter Twenty-Three
SANCTUARY
~
“Whoa! He’s getting strong!” Calvin exclaimed with pride. He got up to brush the dirt from his jeans after a sneak attack that knocked him to his knees. The cub snarled a baby snarl, wrapping its oversized paws around Calvin’s legs before playfully rolling over onto its back.
Caledonia laughed, crouching down to rub its soft cream-colored belly. “See what I mean? It’s time.”
Calvin kicked a soccer ball to the end of the enclosure, sending the young mountain lion skittering after it. Caledonia took a seat on a fallen log to watch the two of them chase each other around, the cat hurtling after both Calvin and the ball with great bounding leaps that only hinted at the powerful predator he would soon become.
Breathing hard, Calvin wiped his brow and came over to sit by her side.
“He sure has come a long way,” he said, catching his breath. “Remember how little he was?”
“Yeah,” Caledonia replied, slipping her arm around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder. She could already see that Calvin was going to take this one hard.
The cat had been brought to them several months before, starving, flea-bitten and sickly. His mother had been caught preying on livestock, and was shot and killed. By the time the rancher had located the tiny cub it was nearly dead. The kindest option might have been quick and painless euthanasia, or at best a life spent behind the bars of a zoo, but a sympathetic animal control officer delivered the cub to a new center that was building a remarkable reputation.
Open less than a year, The Mackenzie Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center already had a success rate second to none. The animals they released back into the wild had an unheard of 100% re-integration rate, and so far not one of them had returned to civilization to become a nuisance.
The Mackenzie Center had started out small, with a fenced pasture for orphaned fawns along with smaller enclosures for raccoons, skunks and rabbits. Soon after opening they added separate, more reinforced areas for bobcats, foxes, coyotes and mountain lions. No animal was too big or too wild for them to accept.
The two Cals grew closer than ever, working and playing together every day. Calvin embraced shelter work with enthusiasm, designing and supervising the construction of pens for a variety of animals. Caledonia spent the Redcastle gold wisely, and when the center grew too big for her and Calvin to handle on their own, they employed a regularly visiting veterinarian and a couple of part time employees to help with the feeding and cleaning.
Plans were in the works to grow even larger, and they were in the process of constructing a new barn and a huge aviary that would eventually be the biggest raptor rehab in the state. The region sorely needed a facility that could take in wounded owls, hawks and eagles, and Jesse was eagerly studying up on the care and handling of birds of prey.
Once they got approved for a non-profit status, local Fish and Game officers got involved, helping them locate optimum spots for the relocations and regularly bringing all kinds of injured or nuisance animals to the center. Word of their success spread throughout the state, and donations started pouring in. Good fortune was finally smiling down upon the land that Caledonia loved so much.
The couple moved into a portable office trailer near the road while Calvin supervised construction of small house for them to move in permanently. Animals came and went constantly, and they set up a quarantine area close to the road where Caledonia could evaluate each new arrival, using her formidable powers to gentle even the most frightened creature while it received medical treatment.
Even Poddy had gotten into the spirit, playing nursemaid to a litter of baby raccoons until they were big enough to be on their own. He’d let the tiny creatures crawl all over
him, watching protectively when they were bottle-fed by volunteers that came by regularly to foster the youngest animals.
Cali turned to Calvin. “I almost forgot! Someone else called about coming out for a tour.”
“Who?”
“Some lady running a summer camp wanted to bring some kids by. I was thinking, after we finish our house maybe we can convert the trailer into a visitor center. We could do tours a couple of times a month.”
“I don’t know … Who’s gonna give them?”
“Actually, it was Jesse’s idea. He said he’d love to educate people about nature, and you know how he loves to drive the golf cart.”
Calvin shrugged. “Why not?”
The cougar cub came over and rested its head on Calvin’s lap, purring loudly when he started scratching it behind its ears. Calvin smiled. “I’m going to miss this guy.”
“I know,” Caledonia empathized, trying to put a happy face on the painful split that was looming in the near future. “But we can still go and see him for a little while.”
“It won’t be the same,” Calvin said wistfully.
Caledonia had developed a two-step process, raising orphaned babies until they were old enough to be put into an enclosure with older animals of the same species. She had arranged for the growing cougar to spend some time at a nearby wild animal park before being tranquilized and relocated in a remote wilderness.
“Do you think he’ll be okay?” Calvin worried. “What if the big ones beat him up?”
“They won’t,” Caledonia reassured him, softening her voice, “He needs to learn how to be a mountain lion. He’ll never be free if we don’t start now.”
Calvin sighed. “I know.”
Once the animals in their care were healthy, Caledonia put a tremendous effort into wilding them, making them fear people far too much to ever venture near them again. It was a bittersweet task, but she knew that a wild animal’s best chance to re-adjust to the harsh realities of the natural world was to steer clear of people at all costs–And now it was time to say goodbye to their latest success story.
“Oh! Layla called this morning,” Cali changed the subject. “She said to say hello.”
“How’s she doing?” he asked.
“Great,” she replied. “Her and Ramon are going to graduate the academy in a few weeks. Apparently Layla is at the top of her class, and she’s all set to join a special Behavioral Analysis Unit.”
“What does it do?”
“Fugitive profiles, hostage negotiations–stuff like that. She sounds really excited about getting started.”
Calvin laughed. “They’re not gonna know what hit them.”
“I know. She sounds so happy.”
“That’s good.”
He took her hand, twining his fingers through hers. They sat until the sun dipped down below the horizon and a breeze started up, chilling the air. Caledonia could see the midnight blue melancholy setting in as Calvin watched the young cougar chase after a leaf blowing in the wind.
“Are you happy?” she asked him.
“Of course I am,” he replied.
“I mean stuck out here. Do you ever think you’d rather be going to art school in the city?”
“Stop it,” he said, casting her a reproachful look. “You know how much I love it here. Besides, he gestured to the cub busily sharpening his claws on a tree, I have plenty of subjects to draw.”
“I was thinking,” she said, “What If we took some of your animal sketches and had them printed into notecards for a fund raiser?”
“Do you think they’re good enough?” he asked.
“I know they are.”
“Okay, sure.” He stood up, rubbing his arms. “Brr! It’s getting cold.”
She stood too, wrapping her arms around him. “It’s time to say goodbye,” she said gently. “He has to be afraid of people, and I need to start the process now.”
“Before he gets too tame … I know.”
Calvin continually surprised her, first by how enthusiastically he worked to make the shelter run smoothly, and then by how attached he grew to some of the animals in their care. He knew that the ultimate goal was to return them to nature, but he had a difficult time dealing with each loss. She watched him bend down to kiss the top of the growing cat’s head.
“Goodbye kitty.” He straightened up resolutely and took Caledonia’s hand. “Let’s go home.”
They walked the mile back to their trailer arm in arm, talking about Jarod and Crystal’s new baby girl. They’d named her Rebecca after Calvin and Jarod’s mother, and had become doting overprotective parents overnight. Calvin had recently spent an entire day helping his brother to baby-proof the house and assemble a playground in the yard.
“I think Jarod is going a little overboard with all of the baby stuff.”
“What do you mean?” Cali asked.
“She can’t even walk yet! They won’t be needing that swing set for a while.”
“I don’t know. Babies grow up fast,” Cali pointed out.
Calvin gave her the side-eye. “What about the nanny cams?”
“He wants to be able to see her when he’s at the shop. I think it’s sweet.”
“Yeah, but Jarod? Who would have believed it? I mean, before I met you it was–”
“I know how it was,” she rolled her lovely eyes at him. “But people change.”
He chuckled, forced to admit that she was right.
They rounded the corner to come across Jesse driving a golf cart along one of the newly paved paths that wound throughout the property. He reveled in his new position as a de facto zookeeper, keeping detailed logs on each animal’s condition and making sure that they were all being fed properly and in good condition.
“There you are!” he called out, happy to see them. “Calvin, I was just looking for you.”
“Yeah?”
“I got a call about a hay delivery. They want to know if tomorrow will be all right. I told them I’d call back later today.”
“Sure, tomorrow’s good,” Calvin said. “I’ll be here.”
“Oh, and Cal,” he looked to Caledonia, “I think there might be something wrong with the striped skunk. It hasn’t come out of its den for a few days now, and I don’t think its been eating. Nobody else is willing to get in there and see what’s going on–Do you think you could come and take a look?”
“Sure thing,” she agreed.
“Hop on,” he patted the seat next to him.
Cali sat on Calvin’s lap and held on tight as Jesse drove them to the small animal section, whipping the cart down the winding pathways. Caledonia hopped off lightly when they reached the enclosure, opening the gate to slip inside. “I’ll just be a minute,” she told the men. She walked to the back of the pen to a small wooden structure about the size of a doghouse, crouching down to disappear from view.
Calvin and Jesse discussed which barn to put the hay in, along with plans to construct a new building to serve as a veterinary hospital. They looked up to see Caledonia returning to them with a serious look on her face and one hand behind her back.
“Is it okay?” Jesse asked, his weathered brow furrowed with concern.
“I think she’s doing just fine,” Cali said, trying to keep from smiling.
“Just being shy then?” Jesse asked.
“Um, she’s been busy,” Cali said, bringing her hand out in front of her to reveal a wriggling baby skunk. “Surprise!” she exclaimed. “There’s five of them!”
She brought the tiny baby closer for them to inspect it, holding it out to Calvin, “Feel how soft.”
He stroked it gingerly, asking, “It can’t spray me, can it?”
“Not for a few weeks,” Cali replied.
“Well, we’d better up her rations then,” Jesse laughed with relief, pulling out a clipboard to jot down some notes.
Caledonia beamed, going back to return the baby to its littermates. The mother skunk waddled out of the enclosure and started to feed, stoppi
ng to nonchalantly groom herself in between bites. Caledonia bent down to pat her on the head, refilling the water trough before she got up to leave.
“Will you look at that,” Jesse said, watching her thoughtfully. “She has a real God-given talent with these animals.”
Calvin nodded, his voice softening. “Yep, she definitely does.”
“That girl is as good as gold.”
Calvin smiled at the irony.
“No. She’s much better.”
~
EPILOGUE
~
Almost a year had come and gone, and on this late spring day Caledonia’s favorite little meadow was lush with poppies, their colorful heads nodding in the light breeze. A small group gathered in the sunshine, reveling in the fine weather of a perfect late spring day.
The little flower girl balked, frightened by all of the expectant faces turned towards her. Crystal tried to peel Rebecca from her legs and coax a performance out of her. “It’s okay,” Cali laughed. “Let her be a baby.”
A small group of friends and family were gathered to witness the two Cals promise to love and cherish one another for the rest of their lives, turning to see the bride arrive on her cousin Michael’s arm. Caledonia smiled at everyone, walking over to take her place alongside Calvin with the calm tranquility of someone who knew that she was doing exactly the right thing.
Layla had picked out a floaty, gauzy dress for her, knowing that she’d probably get married in jeans if she was left to her own devices. It suited her perfectly, and combined with the wildflowers tucked into her tousled curls she could have easily passed for a woodland goddess, or even Mother Nature herself.
Calvin squirmed in the jacket that his grandmother had insisted on, forgetting all about his discomfort when he laid eyes on Caledonia. She glowed brilliantly with warm colors of happiness that rivaled the radiance of the sun, but only Layla could see them. Calvin simply thought that she looked more beautiful than ever, ready to get on with the ceremony and begin the celebration.
The Redcastle Redemption (The Athena Effect) Page 20
