Page 95 of Tiger Queen

He kissed me hard, and for a moment I considered skipping the shower and getting right down to business.

“Maybe after dinner,” I said. “What’s my surprise?”

He stopped in front of the office laptop and gestured. “I’ve been emailing with the head of KWS. I told him that I am not happy with the terms of the animal handover. We’re donating all of the animals, and paying for one hundred percent of the transportation costs. It’s totally uneven. So I insisted that we need something in return from them.”

“What!” I exclaimed. “Why would you jeopardize the entire agreement like that? We have more than enough money to cover the transportation costs, and if they get cold feet about it…”

“I told them they have to find a job for you.”

I blinked with surprise. “You what?”

David’s blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “Normally there’s a long line of people trying to get jobs in the Kenyan parks. Tsavo East is something like a ten year waiting list.”

“David…”

“But since we’re donating so many animals, and paying for everything, I insisted that they put your name at the front of the list.”

“We shouldn’t be negotiating,” I said simply. “What if they come back and—”

“Sorry, was I not clear?” David said with a funny smile. “He agreed immediately. You will be supervising the transfer of the animals to Kenya, and once there you will be employed by KWS as a wildlife veterinarian.”

My jaw hit the floor. “Are you serious? I have a job with them?”

He nodded. “He mentioned how you need to take classes on search and rescue, and heritage interpretation, and a few others I can’t remember. Apparently they make everyone take those. I hope that’s okay, but if not I can email him back and—”

I leaped into his arms and squeezed him like a boa constrictor. “YES! OF COURSE IT’S OKAY! I’m going to work in Kenya!”

“It’s a three year contract to start,” he explained. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to convince them to keep you on longer than that.”

I had tears in my eyes as he lowered me to the ground. “But…”

“What?” he asked. “Isn’t this, like, your dream job?”

“This means leaving you guys.”

He smiled sadly. “Rachel. I’ve got my gyms up in Richmond to return to. Anthony will probably head back to Raleigh after this. And Jake… Okay, I have no idea what Jake’s going to do. But the point is that as soon as the animals are gone and we sell off all the zoo equipment, the three of us are returning to our lives. You going to Kenya doesn’t change that.”

I hugged him again, this time for a different reason. “I’ve been trying not to think about that.”

He kissed my hair. “We’ve accomplished everything we wanted. The zoo is closed. The animals will soon be moved to real homes. Just like you demanded weeks ago in that hotel room.”

“I know. I know. You’re right. I just…”

He leaned back and smiled at me, then wiped my tears with his thumb. “Hey. Let’s not say goodbye yet. We’ve got four more weeks until the animals have to go. And we can have a lot of fun in four weeks.” He chuckled. “I brought you in here to give you a surprise. Not to make you cry.”

I sniffled and tried to smile. “Half of them are tears of happiness, I promise. This is the best parting gift anyone has ever given me.”

We celebrated that night by opening a bottle of champagne that had been sitting in the back of the fridge for God knows how long. Anthony and Jake complained about David taking all the credit, and how the two of them had given him the idea in the first place. While the three of them argued over whose idea it was originally, I smiled and sipped my champagne and tried not to think about how there was a time limit to our happiness.

When I slept, I had nightmares about leaving. In all of the dreams I left the zoo too early, abandoning the animals in their greatest time of need. In the warped dream world, the animals were all right on the edge of starvation or sickness and my departure was the final straw that pushed them over the edge.

I woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in a cold sweat. I went to the bathroom, dried myself off, and drank a glass of water.

When I came out of the bathroom, I noticed that the door at the end of the hall was cracked open. The door to Crazy Carl’s bedroom, the one none of the boys had wanted to touch since we all arrived here. I knew they had been putting off going through his personal effects until the animals were taken care of, so maybe one of them had decided they were finally ready.

I didn’t want to go back to sleep, and they might need emotional support while going through their dead father’s belongings, so I wandered over to the door and slipped inside.

Carl Haines’ bedroom was just how I remembered it from a month ago. Large, musty, and filled with boxes. Within the maze of boxes was a path to the four-post bed, and another path leading over to the bathroom and dresser. There was noise over there and the glow of a light, so I made my way in that direction. Anthony’s laptop was on the bed, glowing faintly at the login screen.

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