Page 28 of Darling Beasts

Sent: Friday, September 8 10:31 AM

To: Gabby Gunn

Subject: Re: PBS study

I’m not being mysterious. It is irresponsible to publish data before it is ready.

Best,

Dr. Eli dos Santos, D.V.M., Dipl. ACZM, Dipl. ECZM (ZHM)

Chief Conservation and Wildlife Expert

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

619-555-0251

Chapter Sixteen

Gabby

I buried my face in my hands. The cost of the theater roof would be twice the initial estimate. Whatever fantasies I’d entertained of staying only a month vanished like smoke.

“We have options,” Sydney insisted, but these “options” weren’t exactly firing me up. A home equity loan—hard pass. Charging “normal prices” for shows—who could afford those? Sydney then lectured me about how most people had to balance the life they wanted with what was practical and, honestly, she could get bent.

“Everything okay?” Talia asked, picking up on my mood.

“Yeah. Sure,” I lied, reaching down to pet the dog. His name was Frosty now, after the Frosted Faces on his name tag. “It’s been a long week.” I checked the time on my laptop. I wouldn’t make it to the zoo by four o’clock, not in Friday traffic.

It was probably for the best, I reasoned. For one, dos Santos seemed quite difficult. He’d made the weird drought comment, and I didn’t enjoy getting bullied by a large animal veterinarian. What was so bad about being “secretive” anyway? Trust, no one wanted to deal with swamp rabbits or weasels or cancer-ridden Tasmanian devils. I involved Diane with my flamingos and look where it got me. Directing comms for a shitty candidate. No offense.

Diane’s voice rang in my head:You’ll use any excuse to avoid dealing with your PBS.

I tried!I mentally spit back.Why do you care?She’d successfully extricated herself from the sad, strange world of Gabrielle Gunn and awesome! I loved that for her! I hoped she and Bill were living it up Down the ShoreTM.

“Hey, ladies.” Ivan popped his head through the door, nearly scaring me out of my skin. “Making sure you saw the calendar invite. Your dad and Ustenya are on their way home from the airport. They want to meet in the tasting room at five fifteen for a glass of wine, followed by dinner.”

“About time they made an appearance,” Talia grumbled.

“I have a calendar?” I said.

“Oh, Gabby, you crack me up,” Ivan said, chuckling. “In advance of the meeting, I figured I’d check in to see how everyone did with their week one goals.”

I groaned internally, as Talia gleefully reported that not only had she installed supporter management software, but she’d also signed up one hundred new volunteers and several exciting meet-the-candidate events were in the works. Then it was my turn. I’d never had a real job, but was pretty sure you weren’t paid if you failed, which meant I was thoroughly screwed.

“Just working through the list you sent!” I chirped, weighing whether I should take the blame or tactfully explain that it was quite difficult to direct the comms of a person absolutely nobody wished to hear from. EvenThe Union-Tribuneblew me off, unmoved by the fact my quadruple-great grandfather owned the paper in 1875.

“What does Marston Gunn even stand for?” asked the only reporter who picked up the phone and, girl,same, because when I went through the briefing book, the “key issues” section was empty. Dad didn’t have any of those, apparently, not a single hot or cold take. The reporter told me to call back if he ever managed to do anything interesting, and good luck with that.

“Okay, but what specifically have you ticked off the list?” Ivan asked. “We entered this race super late, and it’s important his name starts getting hits.”

“Um, a lot of people seem to be out of office? Or OOO. I just learned that fun acronym!”

Ivan’s eyes turned to glass.

“I’m genuinely doing my best,” I added. Or at least my eighty-five percent—the roof was a real distraction.

“Yep, yep,” Ivan clucked, bobbing his head. “It’s a toughie. Listen. You’re new to this and it’s okay to admit you’re struggling. Do you want me to put you in contact with a friend of mine who’s done this before? She might be a great resource.”

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