Page 4 of Alistair

“Oh?” Jenny asked with a curious look.

“I can just feel it. Something good is going to happen today.”

“So long as nothingbadhappens, I’ll call it a win.”

Maggie smiled. She was a positive person by nature, even when life had been super crappy, like when she’d found out a year ago that her boyfriend had been cheating on her for nearly the entire time they’d been together. She might not be the most trusting person in the world, thanks to her philandering ex, but she’d been determined not to let that affect the rest of her life.

Somewhere out there was a guy she could trust.

Heck, maybe she’d find him at the park!

She chuckled to herself. That was a little too positive, even for her.

But she was sure it was going to be a great day. The kids were excited, and she was going to fully enjoy the last day she got to spend with them before their regular teacher came back.

The bus let them off at the gate, where two women met them and handed out badges on lanyards for the kids that labeled them as Very Important Visitors. Maggie and Jenny, along with two other parent volunteers, were given lanyards as well.

The first woman, who identified herself as Rhomi, said, “Okay, kids! We’re going to start off our tour at the petting zoo, and then you’ll get to see a private show at the bird pavilion by our bird handlers, Auden and Jess. Are you ready?”

The kids cheered.

The other woman, Lucy, smiled and said, “Let’s go!”

Maggie followed, keeping an eye on her class and their yellow shirts to ensure no one wandered off.

They spent forty-five minutes at the petting zoo, where the kids asked questions of the workers, Tarquin and Lucy, as well as the park’s resident vet, Cael. Maggie got to feed a baby pygmy goat, which was the very cutest thing she’d ever seen in her life, and then she noticed one of the lambs was trying to eat her jacket.

“You stinker,” she said as she gently pushed the lamb’s head away from her jacket before it bit a hole in it.

They moved on to Angel’s Sanctuary for Birds, where there was an aviary hospital as well as the pavilion. The kids enjoyed a private show with the birds, which called the park home because they weren’t able to be released into the wild.

After a tour of the aviary hospital, they headed to lunch at a sectioned-off group of picnic tables. Several park workers gave each kid a tray with a burger and fries. The adults all got the burger of the day—a bacon cheeseburger with the most amazing bacon jam smothered over the top.

“I can’t wait for the ice cream later,” Maggie said as she marveled at how amazing the food was.

“Oh my gosh, me too,” Jenny said. “I’d have come here ages ago if I knew the food was so amazing!”

Something panged in her heart and Maggie wondered if she was getting heartburn.

She took her bag from next to her on the bench and looked inside to see if she could find some antacid pills.

“You okay?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, my heart is burning. I swear, now that I’ve turned thirty-seven, everything gives me heartburn.”

“If you don’t have any, I do.”

As quickly as the burning feeling started, it went away. She lifted her head and found herself staring at the most handsome man she’d ever seen in her life.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, and so muscular it looked like the shirt he was wearing was going to fall apart at the seams. Dark blond hair was shaved on the sides and cut short on top.

She realized she was staring at him, but he was staring at her too.

One of the men who’d brought their food to them walked over to the handsome man and talked to him.

But handsome-guy didn’t take his eyes off Maggie for one second.

“You okay?” Jenny asked.

---