“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!”