A Daughter's Legacy

by Virginia Smith

  She stepped into the doorway and caught sight of Jason sitting behind the desk which, she noticed, no longer looked like wild animals had been turned loose to wreak havoc in a paper factory. It must have taken him hours to clean it off, but everything looked neat and orderly. Apparently, tidiness was one trait Jason shared with her and not her mother. The thought made her smile.

  He became aware of her presence and looked up from his study of the single sheet of typewritten paper in the center of his desk. Bloodshot eyes brightened when he caught sight of her, and his expression changed from polite inquiry to genuine welcome that sent a shaft of warmth through her core.

  “Kelli! What are you doing here?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I’ve always been an early bird. I’ve been up since five.” She peered more closely at him. Darkened skin seemed to sag beneath his eyes. “No offense, but you look like you haven’t slept at all.”

  He raked his fingers through hair that wasn’t as orderly as usual, and confessed, “I haven’t. Yesterday afternoon, the board of directors made my promotion official.” His smile turned sheepish. “I guess I was too excited to sleep. I’ve been here since about three.”

  So, it was official. Lillian’s plan was progressing. Kelli was surprised to discover the thought didn’t anger her, as it would have a few days before. In fact, she found something about his confession appealing. He was like a little boy, too excited to sleep at Christmas.

  “Congratulations,” she said with as much warmth as she could convey, then went on with a touch of teasing. “Looks like my mother chose her successor well. You’re as much a workaholic as she was.” She took the two steps into the room to drop into the chair in front of his desk.

  Amusement danced in his eyes, but otherwise his expression didn’t change. He rocked back in his chair and folded his hands across his flat stomach. “And you’re not? Your lights are staying on pretty late at night.”

  Heat threatened to flood Kelli’s face. Should she be flattered that he noticed or insulted that he was comparing her to her workaholic mother? “And why were you looking at my house at night?”

  Startled, his gaze dropped to the surface of the desk between them. “I, uh, was making my rounds. The light’s visible in the dark from the kangaroo yard.”

  She, too, looked away. At the thought of him standing in the dark, looking up at her windows, a tickle erupted in her stomach. The sensation wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Time to switch to a safer topic. “So, I was thinking I could go help Raul again this morning. He sort of asked if I would.”

  “Really?” She risked a glance up to find Jason regarding her with surprise. “I’m shocked. I figured he’d be in here first thing, demanding that I assign you somewhere else. How did you manage to get on Mr. Crusty’s good side?”

  She allowed a small smile. “He’s not so bad.” With a finger, she smoothed the crease in her tan slacks and avoided his amused gaze.

  “Well, I’m sorry, but he can’t have you today. I’ve got a special project I need your help with.”

  Interested, she looked up. A special project, working with Jason? One that didn’t involve making worm salads or hearing a lecture on the animals’ messier habits, maybe? “What is it?”

  “We need to transport a pair of tamarins to another zoo today, and our procedures state that two zoo employees must be on hand for the transfer.”

  “But surely Cameron—”

  His shaking head cut her off. “We’re short-handed. I can’t spare him today.” His lips twisted into a rueful grimace. “Since you and I are the only ones in the animal care department without any animals depending on us, I’m afraid it’s up to us.” He placed his hands on the edge of his desk and scooted the chair backward. “It’ll take a couple of hours to drive up there, and maybe a couple of hours on-site. We’ll be back by mid-afternoon.”

  Six hours with Jason and nothing but a pair of squirrel-sized monkeys to run interference between them. Funny, but given the choice, she almost preferred spending the day in Raul’s surly presence. At least he didn’t watch her with a too-personal stare that made her insides quiver and her palms go moist.

  “But Raul is expecting me.”

  A grin twitched at the corners of his lips, but it didn’t break through. Without looking away from her face, he picked up the radio on the edge of his desk, pressed the talk button and informed Raul that his trainee would be assigned elsewhere today.

  After a moment, Raul’s gruff voice barked from the speaker, “Fine.”

  Jason set the radio back down. “There. Now, I’ve got one or two things to take care of here. I’ll meet you at the primate area at eight.”

  Kelli swallowed her discomfort. Remember, this is just for six months. Then life can return to normal.

  She stood and started to leave when the radio squawked and a female voice asked something about thawed meat for the wolves. Another voice answered.

  Kelli nodded toward the radio. “So, when do I get one of those, like everyone else?”

  “Not for a while. Trainees don’t get radios, or keys either. You won’t need them, because you won’t be taking care of any animals on your own for a while.” As he spoke, he swiveled his chair around to the file cabinet, the paper from the desk in hand.

  In other words, he doesn’t trust me.

  Disgruntled at the brusque dismissal, or maybe at the reminder that she was nothing more than a lowly trainee, Kelli left the room repeating to herself, Six months. It’s just for six months.

  “Kelli, you want to grab that end?”

  The pair of tamarins had been shifted into a smaller cage for transport with a lot of coaxing from Cameron. They hadn’t wanted any part of the strange metal contraption, even if there were bananas and apples inside. In the end, Cameron had been forced to enter their enclosure and herd the chosen pair, while the others screeched at him from above and threw pieces of vegetables from their breakfast into his hair. Kelli, watching from a safe distance, couldn’t hold back her laughter at their antics.

  But finally the two had been separated, coaxed into the cage and were ready to go to their new home. Jason stood at one end of the cage and nodded for her to pick up the other end.

  Cameron leaped forward. “I can get it.”

  “No, that’s okay. I got it.” Kelli elbowed him out of the way and bent at the knees to grab the edge. Manual labor might not be her forte, but she wasn’t about to let someone else do her job for her.

  “On three, then.”

  Jason counted and they lifted the cage in unison. It was heavier than Kelli expected and she let out an “Umph!” as she straightened.

  Jason walked backward toward a white van with the zoo’s logo on the side. The rear doors stood open, and when they arrived, he set his end on the edge and then came around to stand beside her and help slide it inside.

  As he did, his arm pressed against hers. A jolt shot through Kelli at the contact of his warm skin. Startled, she almost let go, but managed to keep her grip on her corner of the cage. As soon as the container was safely inside the vehicle, she stepped away, out of reach, and stood watching, absently rubbing her arm.

  Cameron, who had trailed them to the van, hopped inside and secured the cage with straps to keep it from sliding around during the drive.

  “It’s okay, you two.” His low voice held a note of tenderness as he crooned to the pair huddled tightly together in the far corner, shivering. “Your new home’s going to be great and you’ll have the whole place to yourself. No more sharing.”

  He almost sounded as though he was trying to convince himself. Kelli risked a glance at his face and intercepted a struggle going on there. The poor kid looked like he was trying not to cry.

  When he jumped down out of the van, Jason awarded him a sympathetic clap on the arm. “It’s true, you know. They’ll be fine.”

  Cameron’s throat moved. He nodded but didn’t reply. With a final long look inside the van, he shut the doors.

  “You ready
to go?” Jason asked her.

  Kelli nodded. She climbed into the passenger seat and busied herself with adjusting her seat belt and arranging the air-conditioner vents as Jason navigated over the zoo paths and onto the road.

  As the miles stacked up behind them, Kelli’s awkwardness slipped away. Jason apparently didn’t feel the need to fill the silence between them with small talk, which was fine with her. She considered asking him to turn on the radio, but then figured it might bother the tamarins, so her request went unspoken. A glance into the back showed her that they were starting to investigate their surroundings.

  “They’re moving around,” she told Jason.

  He kept his eyes on the road as he answered. “Good. They’re young and inquisitive. They’ll adjust to their new home in no time.”

  “Cameron looked really upset. I thought he might cry.”

  He tilted his head like a shrug but didn’t reply.

  “You don’t seem very upset, though.” She watched his profile as she made the comment. “I figured you’d be attached to all the animals at Cougar Bay.”

  “Oh, I am. But this is a good move for those two. They’ll be this zoo’s first tamarins, with a brand-new exhibit. They’re going to be popular and get a lot of attention and excellent care. AZA has approved them as a breeding pair.” He paused, then confessed, “There are some animals in our collection that I’d have a real problem transferring. I probably wouldn’t be able to hold it together as well as Cameron did.”

  Kelli ran through the list of animals she’d encountered so far. “Is Cocoa one of them?”

  Creases in his forehead cleared as though he hadn’t considered that happening. “Well, yeah. I guess she is.”

  From his tone, Kelli had the impression Cocoa wasn’t who he had in mind, but because the subject had come up, maybe she could get more out of him than she’d managed to gain from her conversation with Cameron.

  She twisted in her seat as far as the seat belt would allow, her back resting against the door so she could look at him face-on. “Tell me about Cocoa. What’s her story?”

  He settled back in the driver’s seat, his hands loose on the steering wheel. “Her habitat was the first major addition Cougar Bay made after Lil became the director. They had to tear down several exhibits and relocate some animals to do it, and for a while the public wasn’t happy about it. But Lil proved right in the end.” He flashed a smile in her direction. “Cocoa quickly became a favorite. She’s got personality plus.”

  Kelli remembered her antics the day before. “I saw that. But I can understand why the public would be hesitant. That’s a lot of space to take up for one animal.”

  “Well, she wasn’t supposed to be just one animal. She was supposed to have a mate.”

  “Really?” Kelli tried to remember exactly what Cameron had told her. “I thought wild orangutans were solitary, that they didn’t share their space.”

  “Males are, but a mother and her offspring will live together for up to seven years in the wild. And in captivity, they don’t have to forage for food, so they adapt to living in close proximity to others. Most of them, anyway.” He pressed the turn signal lever, glanced into the side mirror and changed lanes as he went on. “Cocoa was pregnant when we first got her.”

  Kelli’s ears perked up. Maybe this was the story Lillian wanted her to hear. “What happened? Did she lose the baby?”

  “No, the baby was born healthy. But Cocoa rejected him. In fact, she shoved him around her enclosure like she didn’t know what he was and didn’t much care. When he tried to cling on to her, like baby orangs do, she knocked him off. She was so rough the staff was afraid she’d kill him, and she probably would have. Plus, she wouldn’t feed him. They had to take him away from her.” His lips softened. “That was before I came to work at Cougar Bay, but I wish I’d been there. The entire staff underwent training to hand-raise that baby. They learned how mother orangs handle their babies, and wore a fur vest when they were on baby duty so he could hang on just like in the wild. And they bottle-fed him. Apparently, it was quite an experience.”

  So, Cocoa, her mother’s first big project, had rejected her own baby. Kelli’s lips tightened into a hard line. Was that the message Lillian was sending to Kelli, that it happened in the wild, so that somehow justified her actions?

  Sorry, Mother, but I am not an ape!

  If Lillian expected Kelli to insert herself into this story, she had been sadly mistaken. Humans were rational beings, not animals. They had responsibilities, and those who didn’t live up to them deserved contempt, as far as Kelli was concerned.

  Still, she couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What happened to him? The baby.”

  Jason expelled a deep sigh. “While they were caring for him, they tried to work with Cocoa. They gave her a doll and taught her how to treat it. They hoped to get her to accept him as a younger cage mate that needed care, if not as her own baby.” He shook his head. “It didn’t work. And about that time a baby orang at a zoo in New Mexico died, so they shipped the baby out there to see if the mother, who’d given birth successfully twice before, would accept him.” He nodded in satisfaction. “She did.”

  Just like Lillian had shipped Kelli off to live with Nana.

  “That’s a terrible story.”

  Her voice came out fiercer than she intended. Jason looked at her in surprise, and to hide her embarrassment, she twisted around in her seat and faced the front.

  “It happens every now and then.” He lifted a shoulder. “Some animals just aren’t cut out to be mothers. Cocoa was born in captivity herself, so who knows? Maybe she missed something in her upbringing, something she would have received in the wild. She’s still a great orangutan. One day soon, we hope to try introducing another orang into the exhibit, an older one. In the meantime, she’s happy and healthy and loves performing for the crowds. The people are crazy about her.”

  Kelli tilted her nose in the air. “Well, I’m not.”

  He laughed out loud. “Apparently not. You look like you want to take her apart piece by piece.” She was aware of him studying her profile. “Oh, I see. You’ve been through something like that yourself.” When he spoke again, his voice was soft. “Kelli, you can’t compare your mother to an animal.”

  Her head snapped sideways. “I certainly can. She told me in that letter to ask someone about Cocoa and then maybe I’d understand why she dumped her kid off for someone else to raise. Her kid who’d been traumatized and needed her desperately.” The last word choked off in a sob. Horrified, Kelli felt tears prickle in her eyes and blinked them back with fury. She would not cry in front of Jason!

  Silence fell between them. The sound of the tires on the road filled the van, punctuated by a metallic rattle in the cargo area, and the occasional shuffle of the tamarins as they moved around the cage. Kelli wrestled her emotions and finally got herself under an iron control she’d mastered long ago. There was no place in her life for tears over the past. They’d all been shed years before.

  When Jason broke the silence, his voice was soft as a caress.

  “I really wish I’d been around back then. I would have loved to take care of that baby.”

  The steel bands around her heart relaxed their hold. The warmth that flooded her face this time had nothing to do with embarrassment.

  Chapter Twelve

  The Wildlife Park Zoo was small even by Cougar Bay’s standards. But Jason noted the neatly trimmed flowering shrubs lining the walkway that led to the ticket booth, the fresh-looking paint on the attractive iron fencing, the small but clean covered welcome area on the other side of the entrance turnstile. Curbside appeal was everything, and the zoo-going public in this area apparently approved. The parking lot was over half-full, and several adults with children in tow stood in line to buy tickets.

  Jason drove around to an unobtrusive side entrance as he’d been instructed, backed up the van to the gate and reached for his cell phone to let his contact know they’d arrived. He needn
’t have bothered. The gate swung open before he could even punch in the phone number. A man in a beige T-shirt with the zoo’s insignia greeted him and Kelli by the van’s rear door.

  “Jason Andover, right?” He thrust out a hand. “Tony Simpson. We’re sure glad to see you.”

  He jerked his head toward a cluster of identically dressed people watching from a short distance away, their expressions eager.

  Jason grinned. Obviously, the tamarins’ arrival was anticipated. Cameron would be pleased to know his babies were receiving an enthusiastic welcome.

  “This is Kelli Jackson,” he told the man and opened the back door as the two shook hands.

  “Oh, look at them!” Tony didn’t bother to hide his glee as he gazed at the tamarins, who had retreated to the far corner of their cage, their arms wrapped around each other for support. “They’re such beauties. Hey, a couple of you guys come give us a hand.”

  The last was directed toward the onlookers, and all four eagerly rushed forward. Jason caught Kelli’s eye to exchange a grin as they all oohed over the new arrivals.

  Tony hopped up in the van and unstrapped the ties holding the cage in place while one of the staff dashed back inside the gate and returned with a rolling cart, like a small flatbed on wheels. Jason and Kelli stood aside as they loaded the cage onto it, then Jason grabbed the folder containing the paperwork from the van. They both fell in step with Tony as the small group proceeded through the zoo over a neatly maintained path. People turned to watch the parade, and a couple of children exclaimed over the monkeys, but Jason noted with approval that two of the staff members stationed themselves on either side of the cage and firmly but politely kept anyone from disturbing the tamarins.

  Tony spoke to Kelli. “So, have these two been in your care over at Cougar Bay? My folks have some questions they’d like to ask you.”

  Kelli shook her head. “No, sorry. I’m just along for the ride.”

  Tony’s eyebrows rose, and Jason explained. “We’re short-handed just now, so our primate keeper couldn’t get away. But I’ll answer whatever questions you have, and he’ll be happy to talk to your people on the phone to fill in any details I can’t.”