Oh, tonight she was getting him back. And it would be just as fun being the winner as it was when she was the loser.
“So the Lunch with Lemurs is going well?” Fiona asked.
Charlie focused on her new friend again. “Yes, and so is Sloth Storytime.” She grinned. “I’m not sure the kids heard every word of the story because they were pretty fascinated by the sloth, who was also listening, but we had a really good turnout, and all the moms seemed thrilled.” Charlie laughed. “Of course, that might’ve been in part because Fletcher was the one reading the story. He has an interesting fan club. Everyone from four-year-olds to about forty-four-year-olds.” She shook her head. “Scratch that. I’m pretty sure the one grandma who brought her grandkids is at least seventy-four, and she was pretty enamored with him too.”
Fiona laughed. “I cannot imagine a person not being enamored with Fletcher.”
Charlie nodded. “Yeah, he’s pretty cute with those kids. Growing up, I never would have believed that he would become a teacher, but he is really awesome.”
“And very hot,” Fiona said.
Charlie rolled her eyes. She had been hearing how “hot” her cousins were since she’d been about thirteen. She, of course, didn’t see them that way, and it was often strange to hear her friends talking about them.
“I thought it was Zeke you thought was hot,” Charlie said.
“Oh, Zeke is very hot. He clearly likes to push buttons. And Zander,” Fiona added. “He’s very sexy. Of course, part of that is the uniform, but I really love his don’t-get-all-worked-up attitude too.”
Charlie shook her head. “That would get old, trust me. For someone like you who is such a go-getter, I can’t imagine that you and Zander would have much in common.”
“He’s a cop. He was a detective for a few years. I think he’s got more underneath than shows,” Fiona said. “I think he enjoys Autre just being sweeter and more slow-paced than what he used to do.”
Charlie leaned in and rested her forearms on the desk. “Are you defending my cousin to me?”
“I am. The guys are great.”
“I don’t disagree. I love them very much.”
“And next time, you should completely record Fletcher reading the story with the sloth and put it up on YouTube.”
“Won’t it defeat the purpose of having people come if it’s up online?” Charlie asked.
“Oh, just put a couple of them up there. Mostly for me so I can watch Fletcher be sweet with little kids.”
Charlie laughed. “I can just send you the video straight to your phone.”
“Oh, trust me, if moms see that online, you’ll definitely get more business out of it.”
“You go for the bad boy turned good guy?” Charlie asked Fiona.
“Actually, I think I go for the big, grumpy nerd type.”
“Aha, you did feel a little spark with Knox, didn’t you?”
“I cannot get the picture of that guy in a necktie out of my head,” she admitted. “And if he wears glasses, even better.”
Charlie knew for a fact that Knox did wear glasses sometimes. And she could definitely see that attraction. She wasn’t related to Knox. The guy was big and muscular, and she wouldn’t at all be surprised if there were some tattoos underneath his linen shirt sleeves. She loved that he wore his hair long in spite of being a serious city employee. Knox hadn’t grown up in Autre. He’d moved here in high school, just in time to run around, party, and get into trouble with Fletcher, Zeke, and Zander.
“I thought you had a boyfriend,” Charlie said to Fiona. Of course, she also had a boyfriend and still noticed how sexy Knox was.
At least she assumed that’s what she should call Griffin. They saw each other every day and every night, and spent a lot of time talking, laughing, planning, and being naked. They’d even played with some silk ties and a blindfold. Griffin definitely got into bossing her around and in the bedroom she was completely fine with it.
The animal park was growing, and her family was excited about the increased revenue. She was equally excited about the lemurs and the sloth and the idea of adding additional animals. She loved hanging out with her family and being at Ellie’s every night for dinner, and becoming friends with her cousins’ new wives and girlfriends.
But, if she was completely honest, she was still in Autre because of Griffin. Without Dr. Foster here, she wouldn’t have stopped sending out resumes to marketing firms and companies three weeks ago.
“Yeah, I do have a boyfriend,” Fiona said. “But I’ve also got two eyes. And I’m not going to not appreciate hot bayou boys when given the chance.”
“Tell me about your boyfriend,” Charlie said.
“Oh, he’s —”
She was cut off by the front door of the clinic banging open. Startled, Charlie shot up out of her chair. Griffin was stomping across the tiles of the waiting area. He had something brown and furry cradled in his arms.
“Oh my God, Griffin! What happened?” Charlie asked.
“It’s Snickers.”
Charlie felt her stomach knot. It was one of Gus and Gertie’s pups. Now was definitely not the time to reflect on how cute it was that they were all named after candy bars. “What happened?”
“I’m not sure yet. He’s really sick.” Griffin continued down the hall toward one of the examination rooms without even pausing.
“Charlie, go with him.”
Charlie looked at the computer screen, having forgotten Fiona was there. “Yeah, okay.”
She really didn’t want to go with him. This was just like the day with the dog who had been hit. Only worse. This was one of the otters. An animal she knew. An animal Griffin knew well and loved.
She was fine when they were doing procedures that she knew were going to turn out well. Giving shots, even spaying and neutering. Even the first day with Brownie, she’d trusted Griffin’s confidence that everything was going to be all right.
Griffin’s face when he came in the front door just now did not look like he thought things were going to be all right.
“Charlie!” Fiona repeated. “Go. Call me later.”
Charlie nodded. “Okay.” She reached out and disconnected the call.
Then she headed for the examination room. She had to be stronger than she’d been with the dog. This was going to happen sometimes, even with the animals they personally loved. Snickers needed her. Griffin needed her. She could do this. Whether she liked it or not.
But she really didn’t like it.
She took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Griffin had already covered his clothes with one of the paper gowns he used when the work might get messy.
Charlie swallowed hard and looked at the animal on the exam table.
It looked dead. Her heart squeezed hard, and she had to force another deep breath.
“What can I do?” she asked.
“We need to figure out what’s going on,” Griffin said shortly. “He hasn’t been eating for about a day and has been lethargic. We need to run some tests. Figure out if it’s a virus or what actually is going on.”
Charlie nodded. “Okay, just tell me what to do.”
They worked for the next couple of hours. Charlie could hear the phone ringing but ignored it. At one point, she’d run to lock the clinic door and turn the closed sign out.