Hannah waited all afternoon for Logan to tell her about the volunteer work. She waited and waited. And it didn’t come. The only reason she could think of was that maybe she had been mistaken. Maybe he was talking about something else and she got it muddled because she was only hearing one side of the conversation.
It was possible.
When Logan took her home, she waited for the kiss goodbye and wasn’t disappointed. She completely forgot about the phone call in that single kiss. It was enough to make her want more of them, but she would have to wait and be patient.
Alicia was home and waiting inside. She was bursting to speak with Hannah. “So you and Logan are official now?”
“I don’t know, I suppose so,” Hannah replied.
“That kiss was hot.”
There was little Hannah could say to dispute that. “It definitely was.”
“So Harry is off the radar now?”
“I’m happy to be with Logan. And I’m sure Harry is happy to be with Jasmine. We’ve both moved on from our puppy love.”
Alicia nodded in understanding. “How about ice cream to celebrate?”
With an offer like that, it was impossible to refuse. As soon as the ice cream came out, so did Coco and Billy. Nobody in the house could resist the lure of ice cream.
The next day, Hannah and Alicia went to the zoo together for their shifts. The documentary crew was still wandering around the place, filming where they needed to. Hannah stayed out of their way, not wanting to appear on camera if she didn’t have to.
She was assigned to the lions that day and stood in the staff area while she prepared their food. Her hands were in thick gloves as she tried not to gag on the meat products. It was enough to turn her into a vegan.
It was too dangerous going into the lion’s enclosure alone so Hannah placed their food through a gate in the fence, locking it again. She loved the lions but she was also well aware of their size and strength. If they saw her as food, she wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
She watched the lions notice the food and then swagger on over to take a bite. Once they tasted it, they dived in with no thought of manners. The crunch of the animal bones between their teeth was gross, but it was all part of the animals’ normal eating practices.
The lions were at the very back of the zoo, right next to the administration buildings. Hannah had to walk down the shared path to get back to the main area so she could start her next task.
However, as she was walking, she heard movement in the admin building. Logan and Mr. Ralph, the head of the zoo, came out of the building. Mr. Ralph shook Logan’s hand and then patted him on the back in a congratulatory motion.
Hannah ducked into the bushes on the side of the path so she couldn’t be seen watching them. Normally the head of the zoo didn’t get involved in the day to day running, he didn’t have a reason to speak with individual staff members. Mr. Ralph was in charge of funding and making sure the zoo had what it needed; that didn’t include staffing issues.
Logan walked down the pathway, heading toward her. She pushed herself further into the bushes and crouched down to make sure her hiding place would protect her.
He walked straight past, on a mission to get somewhere. Only a moment later, a voice sounded right beside her. “What are you doing in the bushes?”
Hannah jumped, her heart skipping several beats in her chest. She stepped out of the bushes and stood in front of Alicia, her face burning with embarrassment at being caught. “I lost my balance and fell.”
“So you weren’t hiding from Logan then?”
Damn it, why did she have to see everything? Hannah wondered. “No, in fact, I need to speak with him. I should go.”
Alicia stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Han, is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“No, I’m fine.”
“You know you can talk to me, right?”
Hannah nodded. “But there’s no need to. I’m fine. And I have to go. See you later.”
She hurried to stride down the path and catch up with Logan. She had to run to make it. “Hi,” she said when she’d caught up.
“Oh, hey, Hannah Bear. Having a good day?” Logan said happily. He acted as if he didn’t have a care in the world, which only made Hannah worry more.
“Yeah, just fed the lions. What have you been doing?” She normally wouldn’t ask such direct questions, but she needed to fish for information. Logan was with the big boss for some reason and she needed to find out what it was. A twist in her stomach said it was something big.
“Just working my way around the zoo, checking on the new babies. Nothing too exciting today. Yet, anyway. There’s still plenty of mothers yet to have their babies. We could have more new arrivals before the day is out.”
Hannah’s heart fell when she realized he wasn’t going to tell her what he was just up to in the administration building. She thought their relationship was better than that. “Okay. I should let you keep going then.”
Logan’s radio suddenly crackled. They stopped to listen to the excited voice on the other end. “Pinkie has gone into labor, Logan. You need to get over here now!”
A grin spread across his face. “Want to see a baby monkey being born?”
Hannah was instantly overcome with excitement. “You bet I do!”
CHAPTER 7
Pinkie the monkey was separated from her other enclosure friends. She needed privacy and a safe place to give birth. A small room had been prepared for her, waiting for the moment she was ready to use it.
She was now in that room, with Logan and Hannah watching on through the glass. It pained them both to see Pinkie in pain but they knew they couldn’t intervene with the birth unless it became necessary. It was always best to leave the animals to do their thing, they instinctively knew what they were doing.
“A baby monkey is going to be so cute,” Hannah whispered. She didn’t need to keep her voice down, but it seemed appropriate anyway. Animals had much better hearing than humans did.
“It’s going to be adorable. The zoo hasn’t had a capuchin monkey baby for twelve years. It’s going to be awesome.”
“How come it’s been so long?”
“Pinkie hasn’t been able to get pregnant. This little one is like a miracle baby.”
Hannah crossed her fingers that much tighter, hoping everything with the delivery went well. Babies helped the population grow within the zoo, helped them to expand the enclosures and bring new people in to see the animals. With the endangered animals, they were vital to boosting the species’ numbers.
They watched Pinkie for over an hour before Logan’s radio crackled again. “Help! Logan, it’s Howard!” They didn’t really need the radio to hear the message, the cry came from just outside their door.
Instantly, they moved. Howard was another monkey so they didn’t have far to go before reaching him and the distressed intern. “He fell from the tree. I think his leg’s broken.”
They crouched down for a closer look. Hannah could see the hurt in Howard’s eyes. The poor little thing was in pain but he trusted Logan to help him. He’d been at the zoo since he was born, the monkey knew humans were only there to help him.
“I think it’s broken too. We’re going to have to operate,” Logan concluded. He turned his attention to the intern. “Go into the observation room and keep an eye on Pinkie. Call Callie and tell her what has happened, she needs to stay with Pinkie too.”
He scooped Howard into his arms and hurried toward his surgery with Hannah in tow. He gave her orders as she prepared the stainless steel table for the operation. A broken leg on a human was easier to deal with than on a monkey. Trying to keep him still while he took X-rays and cast the arm was very difficult without anesthesia.
More zoo staff arrived to help and Hannah was pushed back to the edges. She observed everything, helping out when specifically asked to undertake a task.
Howard was subdued and his leg was X-rayed. The break was clean and
easy to set. Logan moved about efficiently and quickly; he didn’t like to keep the animal under sedation for longer than necessary. The faster the better.
Hannah watched the whole process, admiring the way Logan could do his job so effortlessly. He made being a vet look easy when she knew it wasn’t. She really hoped he wasn’t planning on leaving the zoo, both for her sake and for the animals. None of them could do without him.
They cleaned up the surgery together once the operation was finished. The other staff members were assigned to watch the monkey and not let their eyes off him. The animals at the zoo were always the number one priority and they would do anything for them.
“That was something, hey, Hans?” Logan said. Hannah noticed that he hadn’t called her by one of her other nicknames, ones only he called her. She started to get really worried.
“It was impressive. Thank you for letting me watch,” she replied, cleaning the one spot on the table with excessive force.
“You’re welcome in any of my surgeries, you know that.”
“Just as long as this doesn’t count as our third date,” Hannah joked, trying to push down the lump in her throat.
Logan just laughed.
She felt her face flush with embarrassment. Suddenly it seemed like a much better option not being around Logan. She quickly finished the cleaning and left the surgery. She figured the zoo was a big place, she could get lost for the rest of her shift.
As she walked toward the otter enclosure – one of her favorite parts of the zoo – she ran into Harry. There was no time to hide in the bushes this time. “Hey, Harry.”
“Hey. I haven’t seen you for a while,” Harry replied. He was dressed in the same zoo uniform as her yet somehow she thought he looked so much better in it. His bluest of blue eyes held their usual sparkle.
“Yeah, I’ve been busy.” Already, she was looking for a way out of the conversation. It was too awkward talking to Harry now, all she could think about was Jasmine.
“Me too.”
“I’m going to the otters.”
“I’m on my way to the elephants.”
“Okay then. I’ll see you around,” Hannah said, waving and stepping around him. Afterwards, she wondered what Harry thought about their conversation. Did he know she was avoiding him, too? Did he think of her with Logan like she thought of him with Jasmine? All the unanswered questions fluttered in her stomach like an ache.
At least the otters were uncomplicated.
Hannah spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning out their enclosure and watching the animals as they swam and played together. It seemed like a much easier life being one of the zoo animals; they never had to worry about anything, having dozens of humans for their every need.
By the time she went home after her shift, Hannah was exhausted. It wasn’t the physical work making her tired, but the emotional super-storm that had been raging inside her head all day.
No matter how many times she checked her phone, there were no new messages. Normally Logan would have been texting her things all day long. Now… nothing. The silence was worse than fighting, at least then she would know what was going on with him.
Silence could have been anything. It could mean he was busy and couldn’t make it to the phone. It could mean he was done with her and couldn’t be bothered anymore. It could mean he was making other plans that didn’t involve her.
The last thing Hannah needed was a lecture or advice from Coco so she tried to keep her misery to herself. Any level of pain could be hidden behind a smile so that was exactly what she did.
That, and she went to bed early.
The next day was a rare day off. For once, Hannah was glad of it. She couldn’t handle being at the zoo today, not when her phone was still painfully silent. Seeing Logan, knowing he hadn’t messaged her, would be awkward and horrible.
She would have just moped around at home if she didn’t already have plans for the day. Veronica picked her up early and they set off to their college campus. They were going to scout the place, make sure they had every piece of information they could before they started there in the fall.
“I hope we get invited to lots of parties,” Veronica said along the way. “I don’t want to spend the nights doing homework or assignments. I want to enjoy the full college experience.”
Hannah laughed, so glad to be with her best friend for the day. She reminded her there was more to life than the zoo. “You’ll have to study sometime. Otherwise, you’ll get kicked out.”
“As long as I pass my exams, I’ll be fine.” Veronica waved away her concerns, as she always did. She had passed through high school without taking it too seriously and her grades had been more than enough to get her into the excellent college.
“It’s going to be weird living on campus,” Hannah said, slightly changing the topic. She’d been thinking about college a lot recently and it both excited and terrified her. It was a whole new world for them both.
Veronica grew serious. “We’ll have each other.”
“Thank goodness.”
“We’ll look out for one another. We’ll be alright.”
Hannah flashed her best friend a smile. “Yeah. It’s a new adventure, right? We’ll have so much fun the four years will fly past.”
“That’s right.” Veronica held her hand up and Hannah slapped it in a high five.
Their conversation lasted all the way to the college campus. It was a massive building that greeted them, just as imposing as the first time they’d visited.
When Hannah stood in front of the place where she would be spending the next four years, she felt tiny. Hundreds of students would soon be buzzing around the campus and she would be just another one of them. It’d take a while for her to be comfortable there.
As they walked around the building and found the student accommodation, the fear started to subside. It was replaced with excitement at their new lives that would start in the fall. Within these walls, they would learn the information they needed for their dream careers. Veronica would be studying fashion while for Hannah it was veterinary sciences.
After they were done there, and all the exams passed, they’d venture out into the world as adults. Only there could they make their dreams come true and live the lives they really wanted. It would all start within those walls.
“I can’t wait for the fall,” Veronica said as they stopped in the cafeteria for a coffee.
“Me neither. We’re going to be eating here all the time, then.”
“All the boys look really hot.”
Hannah’s gaze travelled around the room, seeing the people for the first time. “Yeah, they do. Why do college guys look so much better than high school guys?”
Veronica shrugged and sipped her coffee. “Maybe it’s the college, maybe it makes them look smarter or something.”
“Maybe.”
Sitting in the cafeteria amongst all the students, the zoo seemed to be a world away. It reminded Hannah of the fact she was only interning for the summer. Soon, fall would come and then she would be leaving the animals. They would be another memorable summer, but just something in her past.
The thought made her both happy and sad. The animals had made a big impression on her. She would miss all their individual personalities when she left. She would miss all the friends she’d made and she would even miss having to clean out the enclosures.
But moving onto college was exciting; she’d learn everything she could in order to be the best vet she could possibly be. Then when she was ready to work at the zoo again, she would know what she was doing. She’d get a really great job looking after the animals of the world and make it her life’s pursuit.
Getting to be a college student for the next four years was a bonus. She could learn in peace while still not having to be a fully-fledged adult just yet. She could goof around with Veronica and go to parties, and she could discover the person she was supposed to be.
Her world sometimes seemed small, but college was going to tea
ch her how big it really was.
She was looking forward to it, no matter how intimidating the campus may have seemed. It was going to be an amazing time—and it would start soon. All she had to do was remember to enjoy the time she had remaining at the zoo.
The girls finished their tour of the campus and returned home. Hannah told her mother about every little detail of her day, remembering to inform her about all the security measures she’d noted at the college so she wouldn’t worry.
It was dark when there was a knock on the door. Coco and Hannah both looked at each other. It was her mother that shrugged. “It’s not going to be for me. You can get it.”
She was probably right so Hannah pulled herself to her feet and trudged toward the door. She had no idea who could be visiting unannounced but was eager to see who it was. The night was balmy and beautiful, one too good to be spent indoors, really.
Logan was standing on her porch which brought a smile to Hannah’s face. She stepped out to join him, closing the door behind her so Coco couldn’t listen to their conversation. “Hey, I was hoping it was you out here.”
“Can we talk?” Logan asked. They were the three words that instantly made Hannah on edge. She didn’t want to talk about anything when he sounded so ominous. She wanted things to go back to how they were, to before Logan turned up at her door with none of the sparkle he usually had.
“Yeah, I guess. What’s wrong?”
Logan perched on the railing of the stoop, wiping his forehead before he started. “Remember how I said I always wanted to do some volunteer work in Africa?”
“Yeah.” Hannah knew where the conversation was going. She’d put together all the pieces herself and had been denying the picture they showed her. She guessed she wasn’t going to be able to run away from it any longer.
“I applied a few months ago. Long before I even knew you. This week they accepted me into the program. I fly out in ten days for the African plains where I can work to protect endangered animals.” Logan smiled but it was weary. It was clear he didn’t want to be the one to break Hannah’s heart.
Another Hairy Tail 3 Page 4
