Charlie blinked at her. “In? For what? Which part? It’s just one crazy, mixed-up, probably-too-big idea.”
Tori nodded. “Yeah, that part.” She grinned. “We’ll make it work. We’ve got everything we need. We have people to help us build and maintain the animal enclosures.” She looked at Mitch and Zeke. “We’ve got our favorite accountant.” She grinned at Zeke again. “We’ve got enough hands to get started, and we can hire as we go. It would be great to become a bigger employer in Autre. And we’ve got animal experts. Griffin and I can handle a lot of it. We’ve got Fiona to call on if we need her. But Griffin and I have contacts that we can tap as needed.” Tori looked around at the group, seemingly choked up suddenly. “We’ll do it together. As long as this group takes it on together, we can make it happen.”
Charlie took all of that in. Her throat tightened. Yes, she liked being the savior. But it was really nice to have people who could, and would, step in and save her sometimes too. Like when she got way in over her head with building an animal park out of a petting zoo.
She looked around the group. Tori was right. These people could do this. This could actually happen.
“Okay,” she took another deep breath. “I guess we’re getting an ostrich,” she said to Fiona. They already had an emu. It couldn’t be that different. Probably. Could it? See, she really didn’t know what she was doing.
“What the hell is that big ugly purple thing in the parking lot?”
Charlie turned on her seat toward the deep, low voice coming from behind her.
The man was huge. He was tall, at least six foot four inches, broad, and muscular. He also had an air of confidence, and annoyance, that made him seem even bigger. His brown hair touched his shoulders, and he ran a big hand through it now, sweeping it back from his face.
“Hey, Knox,” Zander greeted with a grin. He pointed at Fiona. “It’s hers.”
“You drive that thing?” Knox took stock of Fiona.
Fiona was also clearly sizing up Knox. “Yeah, and if you’re nice, I’ll take you for a ride later,” Fiona told him.
Charlie covered her laugh with a cough. Zeke, Zander, and Fletcher did not. They laughed out loud.
“I’m gonna warn you right now,” Zeke told Knox. “You take her up on that invitation, and you’ll come back a changed man.”
Knox looked from Zeke to Fiona and back again. “You’ve been for a ride with her?” he asked Zeke.
Zeke shook his head. “No way, man. I tend to piss women off, and this one could literally feed me to the lions if I made her mad.”
Knox looked at Fiona again. “Literally?”
“I only have two lions, and they’re well-fed, so there’s not much risk. But for the right guy, I’d let them get hungry,” she said with a nod.
Knox clearly had no idea what to think of Fiona. “Your truck is taking up several parking spots.”
“Yeah. I like big things,” she agreed.
“It’s kind of in the way,” Knox told her. “You gonna move it?”
“It’s gonna be big no matter where I put it.”
Charlie didn’t know about anyone else, but she thought that sounded very dirty. She glanced at Knox. He was watching Fiona with a look that was part confusion and part interest.
But Fiona had a boyfriend, so she probably hadn’t meant it like that.
Though, looking at Fiona looking at Knox, Charlie wasn’t entirely sure about that.
Finally, Knox looked at Zander. “Can’t you do something?”
Zander shrugged and rolled his head to look at Fiona. “Hey, can you move your truck, so it doesn’t take up so many parking spots?”
She gave him a sweet smile. “No.”
Zander looked up at Knox. “I tried.”
“You’re a terrible town cop.”
“Or am I just a gentleman and good friend? What do you expect a chick with a trailer full of lemurs and sloths to drive, and where is she supposed to put it when she needs gumbo and bread pudding?”
Knox’s frown deepened. “A trailer full of what?”
“Fiona brought a sloth and some lemurs to add to the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild,” Zeke informed him. Seemingly with glee.
“And hedgehogs,” Fiona added.
“A sloth?” Knox said. He looked at Tori, then Sawyer. “A sloth?” he repeated.
“His name is Slothcrates. He’s really cute,” Juliet chimed in.
Sawyer shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said to Knox. “Sloths are really cute.”
Knox muttered something under his breath that sounded a little like pussy whipped.
Charlie grinned but ducked her head so he wouldn’t see it.
He focused on Zander. “If ya’ll keep adding animals, the traffic and parking are going to get even worse.”
“You really think so?” Charlie asked, perking up. “You think it will bring more people in?”
Knox looked at her with one brow up. “Is that not your goal?”
“Well, of course, but… you really think it will happen?”
He sighed. “Yeah. I do. And I think it’s going to be a pain in the ass.”
“Who are you?” Fiona asked. “You with the USDA or something?”
Charlie did know from her reading that the USDA oversaw the animal care in petting zoos and animal parks and zoos. At some point, she supposed they’d get a visit. But she was going to depend on Tori and Griffin, and now Fiona, to know what they needed to do.
“He’s our city planner,” Zander said with a grin. “And he gets his panties in a wad whenever something might muck up the traffic patterns in our great metropolis.”
Knox—and was that his first name or last?—didn’t look like a city planner. Or the type to get his panties in a wad about things like traffic patterns. That seemed a little… nerdy… for a big guy who looked like he could be on the line for the Saints or right at home knocking out drywall with Zeke or pouring cement with Mitch or even slinging hay bales for the goats and alpacas. He was brawny. He looked like a big, hot, blue-collar Cajun. Not a guy who sat behind a desk with perfectly sharpened pencils and schematics hanging on the wall behind him.
“I’m going to enjoy watching you have to actually get up and write a ticket or two when people start having fender benders all over our ‘great metropolis’ because our traffic lights and parking areas and roads aren’t up to an increase in traffic,” Knox returned. “Mayor Landry’s gonna love her first city council meeting after all of this.”
Okay, but he sounded like a nerdy city planner.
And right, Mayor Landry. Kennedy. Was this really going to be a mess for her now?
Charlie sighed. She tended to get ahead of herself in her mind and her overall plans, but she always had set parameters to work with. Here, it seemed that “sure, whatever” was going to be the motto. That sounded great, of course, but maybe it was dangerous.
She glanced at Fiona. Griffin had said they were going to probably cause him headaches together. It looked like others in Autre were going to need more ibuprofen too.
But Fiona just gave her a wink and then leaned in, resting her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand. “Are you going to be here making a fuss every time I show up with new animals?” she asked Knox. Her voice was sweet, but her expression was mischievous.
Knox didn’t seem overly impressed with her batting eyes or her sweet tone. “You’re going to be showing up with new animals again?” he asked.
“Well, they can’t just go pick up an ostrich at Target, you know,” Fiona told him.
He looked at Zander. “An ostrich?”
Zander held up both hands. “Animal procurement is above my pay grade.”
“Is exerting some control over the crazy around here above your pay grade too?” Knox asked.
Zander nodded. “Waaaaay above.”
Knox sighed and looked at Fiona again. “Do I need to call the USDA?”
“Are you not-so-politely asking if these animals are legally o
btained and well cared for and will be properly licensed?” Fiona asked, sitting back, apparently realizing that her flirting wasn’t getting her anywhere.
“I am,” Knox said simply.
“The answer to all of those are ‘of course,’” Fiona replied.
“You have a license for them all?”
“I do.”
“In Louisiana?”
That made her pause. And that pause was just a little too long.
“Get it taken care of.” Knox looked around at the group, including them all in the directive.
“Why does the city planner care about all of that so much?” Fiona asked. City planner could have been stinky pile of garbage with the way she said it.
“He really likes paperwork,” Zander said.
“He really likes not having to do extra paperwork,” Knox corrected. “Like the paperwork required to put in new stop signs and to fix potholes and to increase garbage pickup. And he really doesn’t like having city council meetings where he has to explain to the people of this town that we can’t do those things because the budget doesn’t allow for it.”
“Does he like having the area businesses thrilled with the uptick in customers stopping for gas and food and souvenirs?” Fiona asked.
“He does,” Knox said, still speaking of himself in the third person.
Charlie watched Fiona and Knox square off, hiding her smile by pressing her lips together.
Knox was a big guy, and when he planted his hands on his hips and glowered, he seemed even bigger.
Petite Fiona wasn’t the least bit daunted, however. She continued to sit. In fact, she was now leaning back, her legs crossed, looking at Knox as if he was boring her. But her cheeks were pink, which spoke to either anger… or excitement.
“Well, then, he should be thanking this group for providing an increase in traffic and business to the town,” she informed him.
“Except that, a lot of the businesses in town won’t see an increase in revenue from this,” Knox said, clearly exasperated. “The clothing shop, the hardware store, the mechanic. But they’ll have to deal with the increased motor and pedestrian traffic, littering, not to mention animal noises and smells.”
Fiona shook her head. “Don’t be ridiculous. Families will decide to stick around for the crawfish boil and will head downtown and look around the shops and buy stuff. And inevitably, someone will have car trouble while they’re here and will need the mechanic. And you can’t tell me that Mitch doesn’t buy a lot of his supplies from the hardware store when he’s building new pens for the animals, especially when the woman bringing the animals doesn’t give them a whole lot of time to order things in.”
Knox just stood looking at her. Then he sighed. “Is your last name Landry?”
“Why do you ask?”
“Because you sure act like a Landry.”
Fiona gave him a smile. “Well, thank you very much. But no. It’s Grady. Do you want my number too?”
“I have a feeling I’m going to be seeing a lot of you without needing to call.”
Her smile widened. “Lucky you.”
“Yeah,” he said dryly. “Exactly what I was thinking.” He looked at Zander again and pointed a finger at the town cop. “You realize this means less fishing and more actual police work?”
“Oh, I’ll be in the front row at the next city council meeting,” Zander said. “We really are going to need more traffic lights to cut down on fender benders.”
“You mean cut down on the paperwork you have to do,” Knox said.
“Potato potahto,” Zander said with a shrug.
Knox sighed, seemingly at them collectively. “Make sure you get the licensing taken care of. The last thing we want is the USDA making a big deal about all this.”
He headed for the door, and they all watched him go.
Fiona was the first one to speak. “Wow.” She looked at Fletcher. Then to Zeke. “You all even grow the nerds big and hot down here.”
Zeke, the contractor-slash-accountant, stretched his arms straight out in front of him, fingers interlaced, and cracked his knuckles. Then he sat back in his chair, arms spread wide, and said, “Thank you very much.”
They went back to talking, laughing, and eating.
Charlie thought about everything Knox had mentioned. He had actually made some good points. Again, she hadn’t fully thought out her plan and how it would impact people beyond the Landrys. But yes, an increase in traffic would affect Zander, the local businesses, and simple things like the roads and parking lots.
She sighed. She was used to making plans that involved a lot of other people who handled details like this, but here, it was all a lot more up close and personal. And frankly, she didn’t really know what she was doing when it came to things like stoplights and paperwork for the USDA.
She needed some air.
She pushed her chair back and stood. The whole group looked at her.
“I’m going to head out.”
Several nodded, and a couple wished her a good night.
But Mitch said, “He’s probably with the otters.”
Charlie paused and looked back at her cousin. “What do you mean?” She knew who “he” was, and she wasn’t going to deny she wanted to go looking for him.
“Griffin hangs out with the otters when he’s had a bad day,” Mitch said. “And if you are real quiet going over there, you might overhear their conversation.”
“Whose conversation?” Charlie asked.
Mitch chuckled. “Griffin’s conversation with Gus and Gert.”
“Gus and Gert, the otters?”
“Yep.”
“He talks to the otters?” Charlie felt the familiar warmth in her chest that always occurred when it came to Griffin interacting with animals.
“Yeah, and it’s pretty funny,” Mitch said with a grin.
She smiled. Of course he talked to the otters.
Charlie knew Mitch and Griffin were good friends and that Mitch wasn’t making fun of Griffin. But he was wrong.
Griffin talking to the otters wasn’t funny.
It was downright delightful.
Chapter 15
Griffin heard the footsteps approaching the otter enclosure. He handed out the rest of the treats to Gus and Gertie and stretched to his feet.
His heart thunked hard when Charlie came around the bend in the path.
She spotted him immediately and lifted her hand.
The high glass walls around the enclosure weren’t soundproof, but he didn’t want to have to raise his voice to talk to her. He gestured toward the door to the side of the enclosure. She nodded.
They met at the door, and he pulled it open.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m sorry,” she said at the same time.
They stopped and smiled at each other.
“What are you sorry for?”
“For not handling losing the dog well. For leaving without making sure you were all right.”
That made his chest tight. “It’s part of the job, Charlie,” he said. “It’s not that it’s easy or no big deal, but it happens. It’s not your job to make sure that I’m all right.”
She stepped closer and tipped her head to look up at him. “But… it kind of feels like my job.”
That made it hard to take his next breath. He had friends. His brother Donovan and he were a lot closer now, and since coming to Autre and meeting the Landrys, he’d felt more cared for than he had in a very long time. But it had been years, even before his parents had died, that anyone had felt like they needed to take care of him.
He didn’t think that Charlie actually believed that he couldn’t handle this without her. But she wanted to make it better. And dammit, her being here, with concern in her eyes, did make it better.
And he wanted to make it better for her too.
He realized that should have sent a wave of panic through him. Instead, it felt right. Like this was part of what he was supposed to be doing.
>
He took her hand and lifted it to his chest. He pressed it over his heart, the spot where she often touched him. “I’m okay. Are you all right?”
She wet her lips and then shook her head slowly. “That was really hard. Not just the dog dying but watching you work so hard and having it not turn out. I wanted to help you, and I couldn’t, and that also felt bad.”
“Honestly,” he told her, realizing he was about to confess something that was going to change things between them and realizing that he wanted to say it anyway. “You just being here now helps me a lot.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “Really? I don’t know what to say or do.”
“You came looking for me.”
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded.
“I guess that’s all I needed. I feel a lot better already.”
She looked at him for a few seconds, then said simply, “Me too.”
That made the tightness in his chest loosen slightly. Not only had it been a long time since someone had wanted to take care of him, it had also been a very long time since he’d wanted to take care of another person. Not since he’d failed with and then finally gotten Donovan on the right track. Caring about animals, and dealing with feeling inadequate when things went wrong for them, was hard enough. Caring about and being unable to help human beings was just not something he wanted to take on again.
Or so he’d thought.
Then Autre, Louisiana, had happened to him.
And then he’d met the Landrys.
And then Charlotte Landry had walked out of Ellie’s bar and into his life.
And now, like it or not, he had even more things to care about, worry about, and potentially be disappointed by.
Which didn’t explain at all why his next action was to gather Charlotte close, wrap his arms around her, and hug her.
She was wearing tennis shoes rather than her heels, and her head fit perfectly against his shoulder. She seemed to melt into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling in. He felt her back rise and fall as she took a big breath and let it out.
She felt amazing. This was the perfect fit. Physically, for sure, but seemingly in every other way as well.
They just held each other for a few minutes. They didn’t talk, they didn’t move, they just breathed together. And Griffin felt the tension and the disappointment of the day fading.
Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set Page 247
