“That’s a lot to take on yourself.”
She shrugged. “I don’t really have anything else going on.” That was an understatement.
“Really? What do you do for fun?”
“Hang out with penguins.”
He chuckled. “But that’s your job.”
“I picked it as my job because I couldn’t think of anything more fun to do all day long. I don’t really consider it work most days. I suppose that’s why it’s easy to lose track of time and let other obligations and relationships go.”
“So the penguins have your heart?”
“Completely.”
She knelt next to a bush and reached underneath to dig some of the dirt out. It would be a great place for a penguin pair to make a nest if they didn’t like the rock formations.
Zeke crouched beside her. “So why penguins? I mean, Griffin’s into all the wild animals. Tori loves all animals period. But you specifically like penguins. Do you really not like any other animals?”
Jill sat back on her heels and looked at him. There was something about Zeke that made her comfortable talking. Maybe it was just that he was asking questions. Which was kind of pathetic. Did she really not have people in her life that asked about her work?
But no, not really. Her mom and immediate family got tired of hearing about penguins so they definitely didn’t ask. She’d been talking to them about penguins since she’d been eight years old.
Evan listened and thought what she did was cool, but he didn’t have any particular interest that would cause him to probe further.
Griffin knew about her penguin love, of course, but again, he hadn’t really probed, because he already knew a lot about the birds. Just like her co-workers and the researchers and vets she communicated with online already knew almost everything she knew about penguins.
Dan, her friend-with-benefits, had asked a few times but his eyes had glazed over about ten minutes in.
But Zeke had already heard her rant about the penguins and he was still asking for more.
“I do like all animals, of course. But I became a veterinarian specifically so I could work with penguins.”
Zeke lifted a brow. “Wow, really?”
“I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember.”
“Where did that start?”
Well, he kept asking questions. So he had to expect her to answer right? Even if the answer was strange or went on too long, that was his own fault. Besides, if he started to find her boring or strange, it would mean fewer trips back and forth between their two houses. Which could only be for the best.
“Honestly, I think it started with the books my mom read to me when I was little. She always picked books about finding your passion, and changing the world, and being who you were meant to be. The stories that she read to me and I liked the best were all about making a difference in the world and finding something that made you special and then celebrating it.”
Zeke was watching her intently. He didn’t seem bored. Yet.
“Then, when I was eight, my grandfather got me the book Mr. Popper’s Penguins and we read it together. Have you ever read it?”
Zeke shook his head. “Nope.”
“It’s…whimsical,” she said with a smile. “But it’s…becoming my real life.”
“How so?”
“It’s about a man who longs to see the world and is fascinated with the exploration of the poles. He writes to an explorer he admires and the guy sends him a penguin.”
Zeke laughed. “So, like the millionaire who gives you penguins in his will.”
“Right. Well, that penguin gets lonely, so they get him a girlfriend from the local aquarium who is also lonely. They end up having a big family and the Poppers renovate their home to accommodate all the penguins. They are Antarctic penguins, so this involves ice and cold, of course.”
Zeke grinned. “So a little different there. But I can see why you relate to having to come up with a way to house all the penguins.”
“Then, it’s so expensive to keep the birds, they decide to train them and make them into a traveling show, to make money.” Jill looked down at her hands. “Eventually, though, Mr. Popper realizes that isn’t good for penguins and he sends them all back to live in the wild, even though it breaks his heart.”
Zeke was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, “And that’s a little bit of why you’re worried about your penguins being here for people to look at for money.”
Her head came up. “That sounds insulting to your family, I know. I don’t think they’re doing any of this just for the money, Zeke.”
“I know. And they’re not. But sure, that’s part of it. It’s a business.”
“I understand that.”
“And this book is how you fell in love with penguins and determined to do what’s right for them.”
“After that, I wanted to learn all about penguins. For the next several Christmases and birthdays, my grandpa got me books about penguins, as well as stuffed penguins. Every summer, we took a trip to Omaha to the zoo and we spent half our time there with just the penguins.” She could still get misty-eyed thinking about working in the same zoo she’d frequented as a child with her grandfather. “So they were special to me because of him, too. He died when I was fourteen and about that time, I read a book by Jane Goodall. Do you know who she is?”
“The lady who lived with the gorillas, right?”
“Chimpanzees,” she corrected. “But yeah, that book really hit me. After that, I read everything I could find by and about Jane. She was this force that didn’t just go in and provide for the things she cared about, but made other people care about them too. I guess that, combined with all of the books about finding a way to make the world a better place and finding what you are especially good at made me realize that I wanted to do for penguins what Jane did for the chimps. That stuck with me all through high school and college. I was looking into different ways to work with penguins and realized that one of the paths was veterinary medicine. Now, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
“So how did you meet A.J.?”
“He was just a nice little old man who came to the zoo every Thursday during the penguins’ feeding hour. We just clicked. One project he was particularly passionate about was constructing a man-made island off of the Galápagos that could be protected from invasive species and tourism. He was working on that the entire time I knew him. But I had no idea that he actually owned penguins. These private investors are trying to keep that on the down low because there are groups that would probably have issue with penguins being kept in private captivity. But I’m incredibly touched and flattered by him leaving them to me.”
“Why wouldn’t he leave them to you? Who else would he possibly leave them to?”
“In retrospect, now knowing the whole story about when he got the penguins and when he was diagnosed, I feel like maybe he agreed to be a part of the program knowing that I would eventually take it over.”
“And you’re feeling the pressure,” Zeke said.
“Huge pressure.”
“You’ll be great. You know everything you need to know, and have this great place to keep them. Everything will be fine.”