Jordan nodded. “Of course. How’s that going?”
Charlie’s cheeks got a little pink, but her smile was bright and instantaneous. “It’s going great. He’s amazing. And I’ve never loved Autre more.”
Jordan was grateful that she and her girlfriends had stayed in touch in spite of her moving away. They emailed regularly and texted. She also talked to both Naomi and Charlie on the phone on a fairly regular basis. She knew Charlie was head over heels in love and it was awesome to see.
“How’s your grandma and everybody?” Jordan asked Naomi.
“Ornery and doesn’t listen to anybody. So completely normal,” Naomi said with a little laugh.
“Your grandma or everybody?” Jordan teased.
Naomi nodded. “Yes.”
The LeClaires were like the Landrys in a lot of ways. They were loud, loving, opinionated, and had deep roots in Autre. Which, of course, also meant that they were as involved in the community—and the gossip in that community—as the older Landrys were. In fact, Naomi’s grandfather Armand was a regular at the end of Ellie’s bar. He and Leo had been telling each other stories and one upping one another for at least fifty years.
Just then male laughter boomed from that side of the room and Jordan, Naomi, and Charlie exchanged grins. Speaking of the devils. Leo and Armand were in here right now. Jordan was surprised her grandpa wasn’t there with them. He would be by lunchtime, she knew. The whole thing made her chest feel warm. She was going to be able to see them all every day. This was definitely where she wanted to be.
“I could tell you about the new Director of Education position that’s opened up at the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild,” Charlie told Jordan with a grin.
And it was not just a happy or excited grin. This was an I-have-a-huge-plan-and-I’m-so-going-to-talk-you-into-it grin. Jordan had seen that grin several times growing up. She’d ended up with a drastic haircut after seeing that grin once. She’d ended up on an airplane to Orlando—without permission at age sixteen—after seeing that grin another time.
Charlie Landry could talk anyone into anything.
Thank God, she could also talk almost all of the adults in her family out of being mad at her and that charm had extended to Jordan’s mom and dad. She’d never seen anything like it. She’d grown up thinking Charlotte Arabella Clementine Landry was magic. She wasn’t so sure she didn’t believe that now.
Jordan held up a hand. “Do I have a sloth on my lap right now?”
Charlie sighed. “No, you do not.”
“That is one of my conditions. I need to be holding a sloth when you tell me about the job. You promised.”
“I’m shocked you can remember anything from last night after the dart game with Zander,” Naomi said.
Jordan groaned. “Don’t remind me. Zander and I are going to have to come to an understanding.”
“Okay, I can wait. For a little bit,” Charlie said. “But I feel like the subject is going to come up anyway.”
Charlie was smiling at something over Jordan’s shoulder. Or someone. Jordan turned to look.
Sure enough, Ellie’s front door had just opened and a petite, pretty brunette Jordan didn’t recognize was making a beeline for their table. She was the epitome of bouncing energy. She seemed to actually be vibrating as she came across the floor.
“Who is that?” Jordan asked, watching the woman, who had an exuberant smile and couldn’t have been more than five-foot-one, come toward them.
“That’s Fiona,” Charlie said. “She’s the one who helps us obtain our new animals. She runs an animal park in Florida and is a longtime friend of Griffin’s. She’s the one who brought us the lemurs and the sloth. Along with some other things.”
“Oh my God, hi!” Fiona greeted them, pulling out a chair, dropped into it, and reached for Charlie’s glass of tea. She took a long drink, then sat back in her chair with a big sigh. “I’m here!”
“Well, hi,” Charlie said with a laugh. “Zander let you go with a slap on the wrist?”
Fiona fanned her face. “I begged him to handcuff me and he said no.” She grinned. “But he did call me darlin’ with that drawl, so there’s that.”
“Zander picked you up for something?” Naomi asked.
Jordan had to agree that sounded out of character. Zander was willing to do what it took to keep Autre safe, but he didn’t get riled up about much. She couldn’t imagine what Fiona could have done to get him to actually pull her over.
“Well, I rolled through the stop sign right in front of him, on purpose,” Fiona said.
“And he knew she wanted him to stop her,” Charlie said with an eye roll.
“Oh, got you. Zander is fun to flirt with,” Naomi said.
Jordan could confirm that. Zander was like a little brother to her, but he was a lot of fun and definitely good looking.
“Fiona has a boyfriend back in Florida,” Charlie said. “They run the animal park together.”
Fiona waved her hand as if that was unimportant. “Oh, Colin and I aren’t that serious. I’m mostly with him for the giraffes.”
“You have giraffes?” Jordan asked, leaning in.
“Of course. What is the point of having an animal park if you can’t have giraffes?” Fiona asked.
Jordan looked at Charlie. “Are giraffes on our list?”
Charlie laughed. “I just got Griffin to say yes to the porcupines. We’ll have to work up to giraffes.”
“Porcupines?” Jordan turned wide eyes to Fiona. “When are we getting those?”
“Today. It’s why I’m here. Well, and because I’ve started loving these regular trips to Louisiana.”
“What else did you bring?” Naomi asked.
Fiona slid Charlie a little grin. “Remember what you asked me about?”
Charlie gasped. “You got me a zebra?”
Jordan sat up a little straighter.
Fiona shook her head. “I told you, zebras can be real assholes. Especially if they get spooked or defensive. So you really have to be ready for those. You’ll need to have the pen ready and everything.
“But you can get one?”
“Of course I can get one,” Fiona said. “In fact, I can get you two. But I think we should talk more about the red pandas. They are way more fun for people to watch. Zebras are basically striped horses. They’ll roam around and graze. Red pandas are playful and cute. And take up less space.”
Charlie shrugged. “Why can’t we have both?”
Fiona laughed. “That’s my girl.”
Charlie looked at Jordan. “Fiona, this is Jordan. She’s going to be our new Director of Education. What do you think, Jordan? Would red pandas be a good addition?”
Jordan couldn’t believe she was actually having this conversation. They were actually talking about getting a zebra and red pandas? And she got to have some input?
“Wait, you’re Jordan?” Fiona asked.
She nodded. “Hi.”
“Oh my God, you’re the one who just broke up with Jason Young and married Fletcher,” Fiona said.
Jordan shook her head. It was weird that all of that had happened only yesterday. She felt like it had been months ago. She supposed that meant she had definitely moved on. “Yup, that’s me.”