Jill swallowed and wiped her mouth. "I'm still at Ken’s place. He and his wife offered me a room for the night when he heard about the storm. I mean, his house does have twelve bedrooms and nine baths, so it’s not like I’m putting anyone out.” She grinned. “I am now eating some of the most delicious five cheese and spinach ravioli I've ever tasted in my life with homemade French baguettes and a spinach, beet, and goat cheese salad that's to die for."
Zeke laughed out loud. Jill's appetite had increased dramatically and her palate had absolutely expanded beyond yogurt and peanut butter.
“Beets though? Yuck,” he said.
“They’re really not so bad. Plus they’re making me feel less guilty about the chocolate silk pie I’m going to have for dessert.”
They didn't know if they were having girls or boys or one of each yet, but he was putting his money on at least one boy. Jill was eating like a Landry boy at least, that was for sure.
"So you're fine," he said.
"I'm totally fine. But I am worried about all of you."
Zeke felt relief wash over him. They had weathered hurricanes and tropical storms numerous times. It was always a bit of a cause for concern, of course. They had to be prepared and none of them took the storms lightly. But they were out of the path of the most serious part of the storm and they had plenty of supplies and people to take care of whatever happened.
Now, though, they had a number of animals that they also had to protect and care for in the midst of the storm. But having Jill safe and sound miles and miles from the storm was making it easier for him to concentrate on the work that needed to be done.
"Been through this before, cher," he assured her.
"Before you had penguins, though."
"I know. I just came from there. They're all inside and that penguin house is made of concrete and steel. They’ve got fresh water and we have generators hooked up to the freezers so the fish will stay frozen even if the power goes out. I’ll be over to check on them again as soon as the worst blows over. As for people, we’re all gonna huddle together right here. Again, plenty of water and food and generators.”
"What about the other animals?" Jill asked.
"They’re all in shelters with food and water. Even if we can’t get shipments in for a few days, we’re fine on supplies. We went around and took down all the signage and posts and chairs and tables and anything else that might get blown around and cause damage, so the park is pretty bare. We secured all the windows and doors. And now we just have to wait it out."
Jill nodded, seemingly reassured. "What about the eggs?”
“Well.” That was the one thing that they’d really had to improvise on. He held the little pouch that he'd been carrying up to the screen. "I’ve got the eggs."
Jill stared. "You're carrying the penguin eggs around with you?"
"The penguins are kind of riled up. They were walking around the penguin house making a bunch of noise. They can probably sense the storm and they were very offended that we made them go inside and they don’t really want to be cooped up in there. I tried to reassemble one of the nests inside, but they didn’t even go look at it. I tried putting the eggs in a blanket, but they completely ignored that too. I asked Donovan what to do and he said we should put them in a pouch and keep them with one of us, so that they were safe and tended and stay warm." He shrugged. “He said I might have to be the surrogate now. Like when the kids have to carry around a bag of flour and pretend it’s a baby in health class? I might just have to keep them with me all the time.”
“And you’d be willing to do that?” she asked.
“Of course.”
“You don’t have to. We can take turns.”
“We’ll figure it out.” He didn’t mind, actually. But it would definitely make it difficult to put up drywall and to climb up on roofs for a while.
“Is that a…lunch bag?” Jill asked.
He nodded. “It’s one of those insulated lunch bags. I use it to take food with me to job sites. I lined it with an old t-shirt. It’s really soft and keeps them nestled in there so they don’t get jostled around.”
Jill slowly shook her head back and forth. "I really love you, Zeke."
He grinned. "I really love you too." He paused. “This might not work, right?”
She lifted a shoulder. “It might not. But,” she added, “it’s the best we can do. We’ll deal with whatever turns out.”
Zeke felt his heart swell again. She’d come a long way from the all-about-the-penguins perfectionist he’d first flipped over. She was getting a lot better at understanding that what they were doing was perfect simply because they were doing it out of love.
"Can I talk to Donovan?" Jill asked.
The last few months, Donovan had become her right-hand man taking care of the penguins. Zeke appreciated the hell out of the guy. He had a way of balancing Jill. Zeke was able to calm her down when she got worked up and worried, but Donovan had a way of helping her be more creative and think outside the box.
"He isn't here right this minute."
Jill frowned. "Shouldn't he be? It sounds like the storm is getting bad."
"He probably should be," Zeke admitted. "But he is out doing a rescue."
"He's what?"
But the question didn't come from Jill. Zeke pivoted. Then swore under his breath. Naomi had been walking behind him and overheard what he’d said about Donovan.
She came over. "Where's Donovan?"
"He's out doing a rescue. But he should be back soon. He's been gone for a while." Zeke grimaced. He probably shouldn't have said that last part.
"Where? What kind of rescue?" Naomi asked.
"Route twenty-four. Three bear cubs, I think."
"So he's out in the middle of a hurricane, trying to rescue baby bears?" Naomi asked.
"I think he got two of the three already. He’s trying to find the third now.”
Naomi lifted a brow.
Zeke relented and nodded. “Yeah. Basically. Except that this is not a hurricane, Naomi." He said that for her sake, and for Jill’s.
"Semantics. This is a really bad storm. With tons of wind and rain. And the guy’s from Kansas, Zeke. What does he know about hurricanes or tropical storms?"
"Hasn't he traveled the world? He's never been in a hurricane before?"
"Do you really think his TV producers would've put him out there in a hurricane? As far as I know he was always in these gorgeous places in perfect weather where everything always works out." Naomi scowled. "And who’s with him?" She looked around the room, as if doing an inventory of the people present.
"No…” Zeke realized too late that he should not say that Donovan had gone out alone.
Naomi planted her hands on her hips. "He's out there alone? In this storm? Trying to rescue baby bears?"
Zeke sighed. "Come on, Naomi, you know him. Of course he is."
She shook her head. "I can't believe you people let him do some of this stuff. Where's Griffin? How could he let his brother go out in this?"