Page 66 of The Twelve Knots of Christmas
I was literally pushed back in my seat by how startled I was by his statement. My heart thundered louder than the clomping of the horses’ hooves. The hiss of the sleigh along the snowy ground was distant static for the major freak-out happening inside my head. I clutched the edge of the blanket under my chin, mentally telling myself to calm down.
Even as my reason was trying to soothe me, the shards of my heart cried out for the pack to put them back together. I wanted to be part of their pack, to be with them forever. Before, I called them silly daydreams, but fuck, I really wanted it.
It couldn’t happen though. “Not after everything that happened.”
They all started talking at once, apologizing and pleading.
Jasper held up a hand to quiet his friends. “We made a mistake. We didn’t listen to you in our attempt at trying to make you happy in every aspect of your life. We take full responsibility for it, and if you let us, we’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to make up for it.”
Yes! Knot me now!
No. I couldn’t forgive everything with just a few pretty words. I swallowed hard. “I can’t. You know all the reasons why it can’t be.”
A gust of wind swooped down on us and it allowed me to wipe a few tears away by hiding my face with the blanket. I didn’t doubt they were all sorry about what happened with my family, but their sincerity wasn’t what made this unworkable.
“The first reason is your move to California for a new job.” Jasper started, and the fact it sounded like they had a list of things snapped me out of turning into a sobbing mess. I nodded slowly.
“There’s nothing we can offer that would equal the dream job down there. It is a fantastic opportunity.” Lucian had told me this several times before. With his career being in the same field as mine, he would know better than any of them. He smiled, hesitant and hopeful. “But we have two possible solutions for that. The first being a new job in the county.”
There were no new jobs in the county unless one worked for… “Nope. I’m not going back to Blue Skies.”
“We know, and screw them for not listening to your brilliant ideas.” Balthazar huffed. “The new job would be for the farm.”
“Well, not exactly for the farm.” Jasper corrected him, but it didn’t make any more sense. There was nothing at Silver Tree Farm for me.
Lucian turned in his seat to face me more, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “It would be a position with the DNR, the Department of Natural Resources. Part of the responsibility would be monitoring and taking care of the bat colony on our land. We have a small brown bat colony that has grown immensely over the past few years, and with its large size, it needs to be monitored year round.”
“You have a bat colony on the farm and you never took me to see them?” Okay. That was weird of me to be so enthused about the idea, but most of my work with turbines centered around bats, and I found them fascinating. Also the bats would be hibernating for the winter. Not a terribly romantic date marching into a cold cave with a floor thick with guano.
“I’ll take you whenever you want.” Lucian grinned. He sure knew how to romance this girl. “The colony at the farmwill be one of many you’d be monitoring. Also,” he leaned in. “Since you’ll be working for the DNR, you get to pass on orders to local businesses to ensure the safety of the bat populations. That means whatever you order Blue Skies to do, they’ll have to follow, or else they’ll be in violation of state and federal regulations.”
Holy shit. This was huge. I’d been trying to get Blue Skies to up several safety measures for bats and birds over the past few years. They ignored all my proposals claiming it was too expensive, and that the loss of ‘a few’ bats and birds would happen no matter what they did.
“I don’t think they’d be able to offer you the same salary as you’ll be receiving in California,” Jasper added, but I waved that off. I wasn’t doing what I did for the money.
My job in California would give me the freedom to put into operation my methods of eco-preservation around the turbines and to affect a wider area. It would also allow me to work with other wind farms around the world and share information.
Yet this was my home state. A place that I loved, and if I could stay to help the wildlife here…
Plus sticking it to the board of Blue Skies would be greatly satisfying.
“But if you don’t want the DNR job…” Lucian reached over and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. His thumb caressed my cheek. “We’d come with you to California.”
The whole world froze. I blinked in slow motion.
Surely I didn’t hear him right. “You’d leave the farm?”
There was no way. They loved that place.
“We’d buy a house for us in California and split our time between there and here. I can do most of my work remotely.” Jasper’s gorgeous auburn hair blew around his face, and he brushed it back with a gloved hand. How was he saying this socasually? “At least one of us will be there with you all the time. We wouldn’t have to give up the farm, and you can have your dream job.”
“But… but…” They would do this for me? I couldn’t quite catch my breath. “But you love the farm. It’s your life.”
Jasper scooted forward to place a hand on my leg and looked me dead in the eye. A burst of heat erupted as he did. “We love you more.”
They loved me?
Did I fall asleep in Miss Eloise’s room? This couldn’t be real. I pinched myself under the blanket, and it hurt. Okay, it was real.
