She was certain at this point that’s what had happened. Toothpicks didn’t randomly show up. People didn’t routinely carry toothpicks with them. Did they?
“If they dropped them around the sloth or lemurs, Snickers wouldn’t have gotten a hold of it,” Griffin said as if processing what she was saying as he spoke.
“Maybe a couple of the kids saved their kebabs and thought they would feed them to the otters later. Then they couldn’t get in to hand the food to the otters like they did with the lemurs, so they tossed it over the enclosure wall,” she said.
Griffin nodded slowly. Of course, he did. It made sense. That had to have been what had happened. Which meant that not only was it her fault that there was more human interaction with the animals, but the toothpick was directly her fault. The fruit kebabs had been her idea. With each animal interaction, they had food that the animals could also eat. Not just so the kids could have the fun of feeding the animals, but to also show that humans and animals had some things in common. For instance, the love of fruit kebabs.
“Charlie—”
“Do you need me to stay?” she interrupted.
He studied her face. “No,” he finally said. “You can go.”
Yeah, she needed to go. She needed to give him some space. She also needed to deal with what she’d done.
If the otter died, it was her fault. She would’ve killed one of the animals that was most special to Griffin. She would’ve come into his life, turned it upside down, thought that she knew more than he did about how to make the animal park successful, and in the process, endangered the animals and put him through more pain and frustration that came from a human being interacting with an innocent animal.
On her way past the front desk, Charlie glanced at the laptop computer where she’d been talking to Fiona. She grabbed it quickly, tucking it under her arm, then practically ran to her car.
She headed to her grandmother’s house. She needed to be alone. She hadn’t spent more than a couple of nights there in the last couple of weeks because she’d been at Griffin’s every night.
The whole family had known, or at least assumed, and it seemed they thought it was natural that’s where she would be.
But she needed to be alone right now. And being alone in Autre was extremely hard to do.
Which was why, when she pulled up in front of Ellie’s, she only paused for three seconds before she put her car back into drive and pointed toward the bayou.
There were a few nooks and crannies along the bank where the ground was solid enough to park a car and walk on without sinking into the marshy ground. It wasn’t that no one would be able to find her, but it would take them a while to look for her there.
She needed to think about what happened and what she was going to do to fix it.
* * *
“Where is she?” Griffin strode into Ellie’s bar five hours later.
He hadn’t seen Charlie since she’d left the clinic. He’d been unable to go after her until he was certain Snickers was stable. He tried calling her cell, but she wasn’t answering. He’d called Mitch and Fletcher and Maddie, but none of them had seen her in the last two hours.
He’d been hoping she’d come back to the clinic after she had a few minutes to breathe and think. But she hadn’t. She wasn’t at his house, she wasn’t at the petting zoo, and she wasn’t at Ellie’s.
“We were hoping you could tell us,” Sawyer said. “What the hell’s going on?”
Griffin stopped by the family table at the back of the bar and planted his hands on his hips. “We had a problem with one of the otters. She was pretty shaken up and left to get some air. Five hours ago. I haven’t seen her since.”
“Oh my God, do you think she’s all right?” Tori asked.
“Well, she’s been around,” Sawyer said, seeming exasperated. “There are signs all over the petting zoo and the otter enclosure that say we’re closed until further notice.”
“What?” Tori asked. She looked up at Griffin. “What kind of issue was it with the otter?”
“Snickers got a hold of a toothpick, had an intestinal perforation. He’s still in serious condition, but I think he’ll be okay.”
Tori looked a little pale. “A toothpick? Oh crap.”
Griffin nodded. “Obviously, he got a hold of it because a human tossed it in there. And I’m sure Charlie is blaming herself.”
He knew that was exactly what was going on in his girlfriend’s mind. He’d seen the distraught look on her face and recognized the guilt immediately. She’d pushed to have more human interaction with the animals, and the interactive feeding activities, in particular, had been a pet project.
He was angry too. And worried. And he wanted to lash out at the humans who had been reckless. But the last couple of weeks had shown him something very important. Humans didn’t know how to act around animals unless they were taught.
Working with the little kids in the handling techniques clinic he’d started doing twice a week in the afternoons had shown him that they needed to be taught but also that they were eager to learn.
It wasn’t just the kids who had been attentive students. The adults who brought them to the clinic had all hung around and listened as well. Hunter’s father had brought him to the second session, and the man had been clearly excited to get to handle the hedgehogs as well when Griffin offered.
There were horrible human beings in the world. That was just a fact. They hurt people and animals and the environment around them without any thought and without any remorse. Sometimes on purpose.
But that was not the majority of people. The majority could be taught and wanted to learn. And Griffin had found incredible reward in being the person to instruct them and to answer their questions, and be a resource they felt they could come back to.
No one had hurt Snickers on purpose. He knew that. Did they need to do a better job of instructing people during the feeding times? Yes. Did they need to be more careful with using things like toothpicks? Yes, absolutely. But that could be done.
Yes, this was Charlie’s fault. But he wasn’t angry with her. He hadn’t supervised the feedings as well as he should have, and he knew that her intentions had been nothing but good.
“What the hell is going on?” Maddie came marching across the bar just then. She was holding onto a piece of paper that she waved at them all as she stopped by the table. “Where’s Charlie?”
“Question of the hour,” Sawyer said. “She shut down the petting zoo and the rest of the animal encounters.”
“Where’s Charlie?” Paige came through the kitchen door, stopping at the table. “I’ve been getting phone calls for the past two hours telling me that otter yoga and the kids’ otter exercise classes have all been canceled indefinitely. What’s going on?”
Griffin sighed. “She canceled otter yoga?”
“And she sent out an email to everyone who went to Sloth Storytime and Lunch with the Lemurs telling them that someone had been careless and dropped a toothpick and might’ve killed an otter and there were to be no more activities because the people of this town can’t handle the responsibility.”
Maddie waved the paper she held again.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Sawyer said. “She said that?”
“Practically,” Maddie said. “She basically said that because people can’t be more responsible around the animals that we are no longer going to be offering encounters.”
Griffin shoved a hand through his hair. Yeah, clearly, she was feeling responsible. And clearly, she was taking this very seriously.
But, in typical Charlie fashion, she was doing this big and passionately as well.
“That’s it,” Sawyer said, shoving back from the table and standing. “We need to find her. This is ridiculous.”
“Well, one of the otters being harmed by a feeding encounter is kind of a big deal,” Tori said, frowning at Sawyer.
“Fine. Then we’ll have people look at the otters and hear presentat
ions about them without feeding them,” Maddie said. “But we can’t shut it all down. It’s going so well.”
“You weren’t even that excited about expanding the petting zoo in the beginning,” Tori said.
Maddie frowned at her. “I was fine with the idea. Charlie talked me into it easily.”
“Okay, okay,” Griffin said. Now Tori and Maddie were going to argue? This wasn’t good.
Tori pushed back from the table and stood as well. “The animals and their safety have to be our first priority. I’m glad it’s going well and that the business is making more money, but that can’t be our only focus.”
Maddie gasped and squared off, facing Tori directly. “I can’t believe you said that to me. I’m not only worried about the money.”
“The increased revenue is really great though,” Sawyer inserted firmly. “Charlie came and talked us into this idea. We went along with it, trusting her to lead the way, and everything’s been great. She can’t just pull the plug like this all of a sudden.”
“If people can’t be trusted around animals, then pulling the plug all at once is maybe the best way to go,” Tori said. “I realize this is an extension of Boys of the Bayou, but these are my animals.”
“The otters aren’t yours,” Maddie said. “The otters adopted us. And we all love them and want them to be safe.”
“Well, to keep them safe, we need to keep them away from people, obviously,” Tori said.
Maddie drew herself straighter. “I don’t think—”
“That’s enough!” Griffin roared.
Everyone stopped and turned to face him. Most eyes were wide with surprise. Yeah, he didn’t say much when he was around the Landrys in the first place, and he certainly never yelled when he was with them.
But dammit, sometimes with this group, yelling was the only way to be heard. Ellie Landry herself had told him that and it was certainly proving true. These people were all passionate and had no trouble standing up for what they believed in.
But he believed in Charlie. And he was definitely going to stand up for her.
“The animal and human interaction encounters are fine,” he said.
He saw Tori’s shocked expression. Yes, initially, he had been the one pushing back on the idea. But he’d seen it in action over the past few weeks. Not only had the animals thrived with the additional stimulation, but the people in Autre were more engaged and invested in the business than ever before, and the kids and their families had been learning more and coming to care more about animals every day. And, of course, the increased tourist traffic had been great for the business as well as the town.
“All of this is a great idea,” Griffin said. “We need to keep Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild going.”
That he was now the advocate for the business that Charlie had brought into his life uninvited and initially unwelcome, was ironic he knew.
“We need to protect the animals,” he said to Tori. “But we can do that. We can keep them safe and still have people interact with them. This was a fluke. Do we need to get rid of toothpicks? Yes. And we need to review the materials that are being used at the events more carefully. But this was an unintentional consequence. And one that we can fix. Snickers is going to be okay. But even if he wasn’t, we all need to understand that this is never going to be perfect, and all we can do is our best.”
Griffin almost couldn’t believe that those words were coming out of his mouth as he said them. That was not how he had felt when he worked for either zoo. But now he realized it was all true.
This small town with everyday regular people, and adorable, unique animals had taught him that. Watching their interactions, teaching them how to interact had shown him that while it was messy sometimes, it was important.
“Fine,” Tori finally said. “I trust you.”
“Well, you don’t have to convince us,” Maddie said, gesturing at herself and Sawyer. She wiggled the paper in her hand again. “You need to convince Charlie. She’s clearly freaking out.”
“Where is Charlie?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know for sure. But yes, she’s freaking out a little,” Griffin agreed.
“A little?” Sawyer repeated.
“Okay, fair enough,” Griffin said. “Landrys don’t do things ‘a little’ and certainly not when protecting things that matter to them.” He looked at the whole group gathered. “This means everything to her, and she feels like she’s losing it. Shutting it down is easier than the idea of losing it because the animals are in danger or because people stop coming. She’s willing to sacrifice what makes her happy to do the right thing.”
“Shutting it down isn’t the right thing,” Paige said. “People all over town are talking about the animal park. They’re excited to see new events. They can’t wait to see what other animals we have coming, they’re hoping for baby animals.” She sighed. “We really need Charlie to stay and help us grow.”
They really did. He really did. Griffin knew that he would not be the person he was at this moment if it wasn’t for Charlie. She had pushed him, it was true, but for all the right reasons. And it had turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to him.
“You have to promise to figure out a way to keep these animals completely safe,” Tori said. “No more emergency surgeries.”
Griffin regarded his friend and partner. Tori Landry was possibly the second-most passionate animal lover he knew. Fiona Grady was the first. But Tori’s first priority would always be the animals.
And until Charlotte Landry walked into his life, they would’ve been his as well.
“Tori, you know there’s no way to promise that nothing will ever happen to any of the animals.”
She pressed her lips together. Of course, she knew that. She worked with large farm animals as much as she worked with pets. She knew the animals didn’t live forever and, just like in humans, sometimes illness and injury happened, as unfair as it sometimes seemed.
“But you know I’ll do my best.” Griffin took a breath and blew it out. “Six weeks ago, if this had happened to one of the otters, I would’ve been the one putting those closed signs up all over the petting zoo and emailing everyone. But yeah, now I want to keep the animal encounters going. I want to keep the petting zoo open. I’m going to do whatever I can to talk Charlie into that.” He looked around the group. “But, at the end of the day, she’s doing a hell of a lot more here than just making us more money. If I have to choose between keeping this animal park going and keeping Charlie here and happy, I will pick Charlie every time.”
“Really?”
Griffin spun at the sound of her voice behind him.
And his heart turned over in his chest, looking at her. It was relief, combined with concern, with a healthy measure of what could only be love.
Her hair had been pulled up and piled on top of her head under a Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild cap. She wore a pale yellow t-shirt that was streaked with dirt, cut off denim shorts, and the rubber boots she wore in the clinic when mucking out the dog kennels. Her mascara was smudged under her eyes as if she’d been crying, and she had no lipstick on.
In other words, she looked as different from the first night he’d met her as she possibly could.
And he had never seen anyone more beautiful in his life.
He quickly crossed the floor to where she stood just inside the swinging door from Ellie’s kitchen.
“Really,” he said simply.
“You want to keep the animal park? And all the animal encounters?”
“Yes.”
“You fought me on those. You didn’t want them.”
“You changed my mind.” He reached out and took her hand, tugging her close. “You changed my mind about a lot of things.” He noticed she had a couple of broken nails, and there was dirt around her cuticles. “What have you been doing besides hanging up crazy signs?”
“Trying to be sure there aren’t any more toothpicks in the otter enclosure.”
His eyes
flew to hers. “You’ve been digging around in the enclosure with your bare hands?”
“It seemed like the only way to be sure.”
God, he loved her so much. “Thank you,” he said simply. “But we would have all helped you.”
Her lower lip trembled, and her eyes filled with tears. “I had to do it right away. I took away the thing that matters most to you. I killed one of your otters, Griffin!”
There were gasps from the few tables occupied around them. Griffin quickly turned to the room and held up his hands. “No, no, it’s all okay. The otter’s going to be fine.”
“He is? Are you sure?” Charlie asked, her voice scratchy.
Griffin turned back. “He is. It was serious, but we got to him in time.”
“You got to him in time,” Charlie corrected. “You’re the one who saved him. I’m the one who almost killed him.”
“It’s going to be okay. You didn’t mean for this to happen.”
“No, but I was careless. I didn’t think it all through. I got in way over my head. Like I always do,” she said. Her eyes slid shut, and she shook her head. “I was one of those people who hurt you in the past. I thought I knew better, thought I knew what I was doing, didn’t give it enough thought, and just went ahead. And it ended up threatening another living thing. A living thing that you love.”
She opened her eyes and looked at him with an expression that nearly tore his heart in half. She was hurting. For him.
“You told me you didn’t want to get attached. You had so many good reasons. And I ruined it all! I made you get attached. I pushed you. You didn’t want any of this, and it all happened because of me.”
He ran a hand down her arm and linked their fingers. She tipped her head to look up at him. “Yes, you did all of that. You pushed me. You made me do things I didn’t want to do. And you made me get attached.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Griffin.”
He shook his head. “Don’t you dare be sorry for making me fall in love.”
Fall in Love Book Bundle: Small Town Romance Box Set Page 251
