“So people shouldn’t be looking at the penguins?” Zeke asked.
“Not until we have some hatchlings,” Jill said. “At least until then. If we can have some baby penguins then we’ll know that keeping them here in this habitat in this climate with us as caretakers is going to work. But until then I feel like we need to control as many factors as we can. A lot of noise and traffic and human interaction could have a detrimental effect. And we just won’t know until the penguins are here for a while.”
Jill realized she sounded like a killjoy. People loved penguins. Penguins were incredibly cute and very interesting and not something most people ran into on a regular basis. They were a huge attraction at the Omaha zoo. She knew people would want to look at them. She was going to get to be the bad guy that brought cute, interesting penguins to town and then told everyone that they had to stay away. Great.
“If it’s not good for the penguins, then we keep people away,” Zeke said. “Right, Griffin?”
Jill watched the men. Griffin was a wildlife veterinarian. For as long as she’d known him, he had been a fierce protector of animals, and a huge advocate for their care.
Zeke, on the other hand, was a small town construction contractor. He said himself that he knew very little about penguins. So why did this feel like Zeke was the one being protective of the penguins and was warning Griffin about how he should respond to the situation?
“Of course. We will do whatever needs done to make the project successful, Jill,” Griffin finally said.
“I appreciate that. I know this might put you in a weird position between me and the Landry family.”
She was, of course, funding everything that was going into bringing the penguins to Louisiana. The Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild hadn’t needed to come up with any money to construct the penguin habitat or plan for the care and feeding of the birds. Nor would they going forward. It really was just that they had the land and she’d wanted to be around other animal enthusiasts like Griffin, Fiona, and Tori. What they had done so far with Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild was impressive and being around like-minded people as she undertook this huge project had been comforting. But she didn’t want to disappoint or upset anyone.
“The family will be fine.” It was Zeke who spoke. “I’ll make sure of it.”
“You will?” Jill was surprised.
“Of course. I’ll just explain that we’re working to knock up a few penguins and we need some peace and quiet for that. My family’s not great about peace and quiet, but they understand the general concept. Don’t worry; I’ll talk to them.”
She definitely noted his use of the word “we”. Again, there was that sense of protectiveness from him. She was finding that very endearing. And attractive. “I would…appreciate that.”
“Sure. Everyone loves Griffin, especially Charlie, but sometimes the Landrys need to be talked to a certain way. I’ve got it covered.”
Dammit, she was going to have to let him hang around.
Not only could he potentially be helpful, and with more than his hammer and nails, but she liked him. He’d gotten her shoes, fixed her grits, and hugged her. And if he could translate between her and his family, that would really be helpful.
“Thank you,” she told him.
“But of course, we’ll have to hang out,” he said. “You’re gonna have to teach me all about penguins so I can explain it to them.”
“Hang out, huh?”
“Yeah, you have to help make me into a penguin ambassador.”
Her lips twitched. “Penguin ambassador?”
“I mean, I can just tell them all to shut up and butt out, but the more I know about the penguins and why they need to be left alone, the better I can explain it.”
“Aren’t you the guy who just earlier said you don’t need to know all the whys to things? You just need to know what I need done?”
Jill stood watching him think about that for a few seconds. Then she shook her head. This guy was unexpected. After she met him last night, she’d pegged him for a bad boy and had loved how talented he was between the sheets. And against the wall. And that desk chair…
She cleared her throat as her body heated.
Now today, he was so much more. He was funny, charming, and seemed captivated by the penguins. And maybe even by her. Which, dammit, was definitely appealing. Her professional passion had led to more than one person thinking she was a little strange. Her immediate family at the top of that list.
“So I definitely don’t need to be here for this,” Griffin said, looking back and forth between them. He started for his truck. “I’ll let Zeke handle the Landrys at large, but I’ll talk to Charlie.”
“Thank you!” Jill called after him. “For everything!” she added.
She felt like a bitch for coming here and immediately shutting down all of the happy excitement over the penguins.
Griffin drove off, leaving just Jill and Zeke.
“Okay, let’s get these rocks set up just right.” He started for the gate to the enclosure. He pulled out the key, unlocked the gate, and then handed the key over. “It’s all yours.”
She felt a rush of adrenaline and she knew it was half excitement and half oh-shit-this-is-real-and-all-mine-and-I’m-in-charge-oh-shit.
She followed him inside. They went in through the penguin house to get to the island, no need to deal with wet shoes and clothes this time.
She directed him where she wanted the lava rocks that had been the one thing she had succeeded in bringing in from the Galápagos Islands, and he put them together exactly according to her specifications. Then she knelt and started digging. He joined her a moment later.
“What are we doing?”
But she noted that he started digging even before she answered the question.
“They need to be deeper.”
He nodded and kept digging.
They worked together on the first one until Jillian was content. She wanted to have five nesting sites for the three breeding pairs, hoping that with some options, the penguins would each pick a site they liked.
“Do they always nest in the rocks like this?” Zeke asked.
“Usually. Sometimes they nest under bushes. Wherever they feel safe and protected and can keep the eggs cool. But the little rock caves seem to be the most popular. There’s a group that travels to the islands twice a year and constructs multiple sites to supplement the natural ones so there are plenty.”
“Won’t they figure out they don’t have any predators here?”
“Yes, maybe. Actually, food supply seems to be a better indicator of successful breeding and nesting. But they also use the rocks to keep their eggs in the shade and cool. Plus, a strange human coming in and out of the habitat and wanting to get close to observe the nests, could bother them. They’ll need time to get used to…” She sighed. “Everything.” There was so much going on for the penguins. And for her.
“You’re willing to take this on all by yourself?”
Her eyes widened. “Definitely.” In spite of the pressure and anxiety around it, Jill felt butterflies when she thought about having eggs in these nests in a few months. “This is what I’ve wanted to do my whole life and even if I didn’t, like I said earlier, the fewer factors we have being introduced into their environment and situation, the better.”