If only Lillian had told her about the cancer last January, Kelli could have done something.
Like what? Would I have taken a leave of absence from my job to take care of her?
She leaned forward over the wall and peered at Cocoa’s sleeping form as she weighed her thoughts. Yes, she would have. Because that way, she could have cleared the air between them. She would have given Lillian a chance to explain, to apologize. And she would have forgiven her before it was too late.
But is it too late now? Isn’t this whole six-month condition Lillian’s way of making peace between us? Isn’t the lesson of Cocoa her way of trying to explain, to ask forgiveness?
Like her mother, Cocoa was a disaster at motherhood. But she was a great orangutan. And Jason had said one day they would try again to introduce her to another orang. She would be given another chance.
Everyone deserved another chance, didn’t they?
Lillian did mention forgiveness at the end, in her final letter. What was it she said? “I hope God forgives me. I don’t expect you to.”
And why would she? In the past several years, Kelli complained angrily to Nana about Lillian’s infrequent phone calls, but had she ever once initiated a call herself? Tears blurred her vision. She dropped her head onto her arms and closed her eyes. Jason was right. She’d grown so bitter that her own mother died alone because she didn’t think Kelli cared.
Hot tears escaped her clenched lids and traced a trail down her nose. “I’m sorry, Mom. I forgive you. I hope you’ll forgive me, too.”
Her tears fell unchecked, accompanied by quiet sobs from the dark recesses of her soul. When the last tear splashed into Cocoa’s moat far below, the bitterness that had weighed her down disappeared with it.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Look, Daddy! A whole bunch of monkeys!”
Excitement pitched Tiffany’s little-girl voice even higher than normal. At the sound of his daughter calling him Daddy, Jason couldn’t keep a goofy, proud smile off his face.
“They’re called howler monkeys.” He allowed her to pull him by the hand toward the exhibit. “Want to know why?”
She ran up to the iron railing, stepped up on the bottom rail, and dropped his hand to dangle her arms over the top. “Yeah. Why?”
“Well, when they—” He didn’t have to continue, because at that moment one of the howlers provided a live demonstration.
Tiffany clapped delicate hands over her ears and turned a wide-eyed face up toward him. “Ouch! They’re loud! Daddy, let’s run away.”
She grabbed for his hand, and the two of them ran from the howler exhibit, Tiffany’s happy giggles filling his ears. Jason couldn’t keep his eyes off of his beautiful daughter. Her brown curls, a shade more golden than his, bounced whenever she moved, and her dark eyes sparkled with interest in everything she encountered. She was one of the most outgoing children he’d ever seen, eager to meet new people despite Aimee’s dire prediction of extreme shyness and fear. And, of course, if his heart wasn’t already captivated when she squealed with excitement at the prospect of spending the whole day with him, he was putty in her hands when she actually asked to go see the zoo where he worked.
Tiffany slowed to a skip, her hand still clutching his. Jason didn’t quite skip across the paved trail, but he stepped with a bounce that might possibly pass for one.
“Ooh, look at that, Daddy!” Tiffany pointed ahead. “It’s a bear.”
Jason tore his eyes away from his daughter to look where she pointed. Two zoo employees approached from the direction of the bear exhibit. Sherry and—his pulse stuttered when he identified the second.
Jason stopped in front of them.
“Well, hello there.” Sherry wore a wide smile. “And who do we have here?”
“This is my daughter, Tiffany.” He spoke to Tiffany, but his gaze was fixed on Kelli’s stunned face. “Tiff, this is Miss Sherry and Miss Kelli. They work at the zoo, too.”
Kelli mastered her surprise and a smile transformed her expression. She stooped down to put herself on eye-level with the child. “Hello, Tiffany. It’s nice to meet you. Are you having a fun day with your dad?”
Curls bounced as Tiff nodded. “My daddy is the boss of this whole zoo.” Her expression became serious. “Is he your boss?”
Kelli grinned. “Yes, he is.”
The little girl turned a knowing smile up at him. “I thought so.”
Sound erupted from the radio on Sherry’s belt. “We have a code blue with Samson. Repeat, code blue with Samson. Pete’s on the way.”
The blood in Jason’s veins turned to ice. Samson! Something had happened to the lion. Sherry whirled and ran in the direction of Samson’s cage. In the same moment, Jason swooped Tiffany into his arms.
“What is it?” Kelli asked. “What’s a code blue?”
“Medical emergency,” Jason called over his shoulder as he raced after Sherry.
He was vaguely aware that Kelli followed. He rounded a curve in the path and saw that a crowd had gathered around the lion exhibit. Tightening his grip on Tiff, he pushed his way through the people until he stood at the rail beside Sherry.
Samson prowled back and forth, a snarl rumbling through curled lips as he showed yellow fangs. The smooth-sided artificial tree had broken apart, and the top half lay on the concrete floor. Sharp-looking bolts protruded from the lower half. The cage furniture was old, but Jason didn’t realize it was in danger of collapsing. Hadn’t Michael been performing regular inspections?
When Samson reached the end of the enclosure, he turned, and the crowd gasped. Jason saw the reason for the code blue. The tawny golden fur was sticky with blood, which seeped from a deep wound in the lion’s side. Those artificial trees easily weighed over a hundred pounds. Apparently a bolt had gashed into the flesh during the collapse.
“All right, we’ve got to clear this area,” he told Sherry, then raised his voice and addressed the people around him. “The veterinarian is on the way. I’m afraid you’ll all need to get back, out of the lion’s sight. We need to keep him as calm as possible, and crowds will only make him more anxious.”
Sherry began the process of herding the people backward. Jason realized Kelli stood behind him, her round eyes fixed on Samson. In a detached part of his mind, he recognized that her presence was an act of bravery on her part, but he’d praise her for that later. Right now, he needed her to work.
“Kelli, take Sherry’s keys and run to the storage room behind the cougar exhibit. Set up orange cones on each end of this path to keep the people out.” He used one hand to point at the areas where he wanted the barriers placed, the other still clutching Tiffany.
She jerked a nod and ran off to do as he asked.
“Where’s Michael?” Jason asked Sherry.
“He called in sick today,” she told him over her shoulder as she followed the crowd away, arms outstretched as though shooing chickens.
Terrific. We’re short-handed again.
“Daddy, does the lion have a boo-boo?” Tiff’s voice in his ear was sad.
“Yes, sweetie, he does. But the doctor’s coming soon.”
It seemed like hours before Pete zoomed up on a converted golf cart. By that time Kelli had erected the cone barriers, and every available keeper had arrived. Raul, Sherry, Erica, Cameron and Kelli clustered around him, awaiting instructions. Behind him, Samson’s frantic pacing had increased. The angry snarl never stopped.
Pete extended his neck to see Samson’s wound, climbed off the bench seat and went around to the rear of the cart where he unstrapped a long black case. He clicked it open and lifted out the tranquilizer gun. “All right, who’s going in with me?” His voice was completely calm.
Almost as though he sensed what was coming, Samson chose that moment to lift his head and utter a ferocious roar. Kelli’s eyes went even rounder with barely controlled panic and her gaze snapped to Jason’s face.
Tiffany gave a squeak of fear and clutched his neck with both hands. “I’m
afraid, Daddy.”
Jason hugged her tight. “Shhh, sweetie. There’s nothing to be afraid of. The lion is hurt, and the doctor’s going to make him feel better.”
She buried her face in the curve of his neck. “I want to go see the screaming monkeys again.” A sob choked her voice.
For a single instant, Jason was torn. With Michael gone, he was the keeper with the most experience working with Samson. He should be the one to accompany Pete into the enclosure and take care of the lion’s injury.
But there was absolutely no choice involved. The little girl clutching his neck trembled with fear, and there was nothing in this world—not even Samson—that could pry her away from him.
He caught Kelli’s eye as he spoke. “You’ll have to handle it yourselves.” Then he nuzzled his lips against Tiffany’s ear. “Come on, sweetie. I have a great big monkey to show you.”
“Okay, Daddy.” Relief saturated the muffled voice.
As he walked away, he heard the keepers discussing who would assist Pete and who would work to clear out the broken cage furniture. Just before he turned the corner, he glanced backward. Kelli stood watching him leave, a battle of emotions raging on her face.
She thrust her chin forward and announced in a voice that carried across the distance, “I’ll help Pete with the lion.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kelli’s heart pounded so loud she couldn’t hear anything else. Did she just volunteer to go into the cage and actually help the veterinarian treat a lion? She must have, because the others were already planning which of them would stay out to keep the crowds away and who would remove the broken logs. Jason’s hundred-watt smile reached her across the distance in the instant before he disappeared around the corner with his daughter.
Thank You, Lord, that he took her away. If that lion wakes up while we’re in there, I don’t want her to see me get eaten.
Her mouth filled with cotton as she followed Pete to the corner of the cage. He thrust the end of the dart gun through the fencing, the other end secured against his shoulder. His bushy gray beard brushed his arm as he leaned his head down to take aim. Kelli held her breath as the lion turned.
Pete pulled the trigger. The dart zipped out of the barrel with a loud Pppfffttt.
In the next instant, Samson’s hindquarters jerked. He turned and rushed toward them, his ferocious roar going before him like a battering ram. Both Kelli and Pete jerked backward as he threw his body against the welded mesh. Fear made Kelli’s head light, her breath fast and shallow. She couldn’t get over the idea that the lion was glaring at her, memorizing her face so if he ever got the opportunity to repay her for this indignity, he knew who to come for.
“Perfect shot.” Pete gave a satisfied nod. “Now we’ll just wait.”
The others circled around, every eye turned toward the lion. Kelli’s pulse slowed almost imperceptibly as they watched, silently, for the tranquilizer to take effect. At a noise behind them, Sherry hopped over the barrier and ran to shoo away a pair of children who had ignored the orange cone barrier.
“We have to keep everything around him quiet.” Pete’s voice was low, his tone even. “No excitement. A rush of adrenaline will render the drug ineffective.”
Kelli tried to swallow against a completely dry throat. She couldn’t utter a sound if she’d tried.
Finally, Samson’s pace slowed, and a few moments later, the big cat collapsed. Still, Pete insisted that they wait and even poked the lion with a long pole through the barrier to be sure he was completely out.
Satisfied, he stooped to pick up his medical bag. “We’re ready.”
No, we’re not, Kelli wanted to scream, but she didn’t dare. With every inch of her being she wanted to call Sherry, to insist on trading places. It made more sense for her to keep the public away and let someone who’d actually been trained to take care of animals assist Pete.
But a tiny flicker of determination held her back. If she ran away now, she would be stalked by terror for the rest of her life. She had to face her fear if she ever hoped to master it.
She would have prayed, but couldn’t form a single coherent thought. Instead, she directed a wordless plea toward heaven, gathered what shreds of courage she could and followed Pete through the access panel.
The veterinarian rushed right over to Samson’s side and knelt beside him. Erica and Cameron hurried toward the broken logs and began working to loosen the remaining bolts. Kelli had to force her feet to take each step across the concrete splattered with the lion’s blood. Finally, she arrived at Pete’s side and stood staring down at his patient.
Samson was impossibly, terrifyingly huge. His paws were easily the size of Kelli’s head, his body at least six feet long, not counting the tail. A strip of dark fur decorated the back of the shaggy mane that covered his neck, head, and even formed a beard that made Pete’s look scraggly. The fur beneath his nose and on his chin was white, just like Leo’s.
Pete probed the wound with gentle fingers. “It’s a deep wound. Probably extremely painful for the poor creature.”
With a dawning sense of surprise, Kelli felt the stirrings of compassion. The regal face, eyes closed in drug-induced sleep, belonged to a helpless animal whose species was endangered. He depended on zoo employees to take care of him. Zoo employees just like her.
“We’re in luck.” Pete straightened from his examination of the wound. “It’s deep, but there doesn’t appear to be any internal damage. Kelli, would you open my bag and hand me the blue pouch you’ll find in the inside pocket?”
Kelli did as she was told, working mechanically to assist Pete in administering an injection to numb the area of the injury and then suture it closed. Erica and Cameron finished uninstalling the broken tree and carried the heavy pieces from the cage. They pulled the door closed behind them. Kelli swallowed back a fresh surge of fear and focused on Pete’s hands. When the last stitch had been tied off, he calmly set about examining the animal, feeling the bones in all four limbs, listening to his heart and lungs.
“I like to take advantage of every opportunity to conduct a thorough examination of my patients,” he explained as he worked, “because they don’t come along often. Hand me that syringe, please. He’s lost a fair amount of blood, but he won’t miss a bit more.”
As Kelli reached for the syringe, a movement drew her eye. The tip of the lion’s tail flicked upward.
“Uh, P—” Her voice choked off in her throat. She swallowed and tried again. “Pete. His tail’s moving.”
Pete’s expression did not change as he uncapped the syringe. “Yes, it’s about time for him to wake up.”
An icy finger slid down Kelli’s spine. “Then let’s get out of here.”
“In a minute.”
Pete pressed his fingers along Samson’s front leg for a moment, then plunged the needle in. The tail flopped, and this time the lion’s lips moved upward into the first hint of a snarl. Blood roared in Kelli’s ears.
“Pete!” Her whisper hissed.
He didn’t answer, but slowly pulled the plunger outward. Red fluid filled the clear barrel as the lion’s whiskers twitched. Kelli’s head felt light. She couldn’t take her eyes off that flickering tail. Every molecule of her body shouted Hurry! Hurry!, but the veterinarian, unfazed, refused to be rushed. He finished drawing blood, capped the needle and calmly slipped it into a protective case before storing it in his medical bag.
Kelli was on her feet, across the cage, and waiting by the door when he gave his ferocious patient an affectionate pat on the back. Finally, he joined Kelli and together they left the exhibit.
When the final door was closed and locked behind her, Kelli sank against it, drawing deep draughts of air into her lungs.
“Nice work, Kelli,” Pete told her with a satisfied nod. “You can act as my assistant anytime.”
Together with Sherry, Cameron and Erica, they moved around to the front of the lion exhibit and watched as Samson’s movements increased. Within a few minute
s, he was struggling to get to his feet. When he finally heaved himself upright with a groggy effort, a fierce wave of triumph flooded Kelli. She’d done it! She’d actually gone into the same enclosure with a lion, touched the creature, helped to heal its wounds. Her voice joined the others in a cheer.
Cameron unclipped the radio at his belt. “Code blue is over. Samson is fine.”
Kelli’s ears pricked up when Jason’s voice answered. “Thank the Lord. Excellent work, everyone.”
She grabbed the radio out of Cameron’s hands. “Where are you?”
“We’re at the snack bar. Come on over and I’ll buy you an ice cream cone to celebrate.”
Kelli handed the radio back to Cameron, unable to stop from beaming at the little group around her. “Anyone else going?”
Sly grins broke out on every face.
“Uh, I don’t think his invitation was for everyone,” Cameron told her.
Sherry wore a smirk as she shoved Kelli with an elbow. “Definitely not.”
Even Pete seemed to be having a hard time hiding his smile as he patted her arm. “You go ahead, my girl. We’ll wait and hear about it over the lunch table tomorrow.”
The flush that warmed Kelli’s face as she left them by the lion’s exhibit might have been from the humid heat. Or maybe not.
The lunch crowd filled the umbrella-covered picnic tables that surrounded the snack bar. Kelli shielded her eyes and looked for Jason. A waving hand at the other side of the area snagged her gaze and drew it to Jason’s wide grin. She returned his wave with one of her own, her pulse pounding a funny tempo as she threaded her way to him.
Jason stood waiting beside a table that bordered the playground equipment. What would she say to him? She’d behaved so badly in his office, shouting at him and accusing him of deserting his daughter. She needed to apologize, but as she drew near and looked up into his eyes, any words she might have uttered flew out of her mind.
Jason didn’t speak either. Instead, he opened his arms and held them wide in a silent invitation. Wordlessly, Kelli stepped into his embrace. Her awkwardness faded away as his arms encircled her.
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