“What about her mama?”
“She was there, but I couldn’t grab her,” he told me while kicking the door shut. “I’ll go back and try.”
“You won’t find her. Maybe when the fawn is better, we can take her back there. Ah, baby. Let’s see if we can get you fixed up.”
I led the way to my clinic inside the only building I’d managed to fully renovate. Fortunately, I had no other overnight guests for the evening. “Get her on the table. If you don’t mind, you’ll need to hold her.”
“Of course,” he said, grinning that I’d asked him for his help for once.
As I stroked the baby’s fur, I could tell she was missing her mother. I longed to share with her that so was I. I got everything ready, setting up an IV so she’d sleep without pain.
“Did you hear about the fire in town at the recreational store?” I asked.
“I heard. It wasn’t the same thing, honey. Caused by faulty wiring. Because of the ammunition inside as well as the huge propane tanks for refilling them for grills, the fire burned way too hot for the firefighters to make a dent. Stop worrying.”
“I’m trying.”
He shook his head. The man would forever worry about me.
A few minutes later, I realized he was staring at me. “What?”
“Do you realize I’ve never watched you work? Maybe I should come around more often.”
Hearing the lilt in his voice, I lifted my gaze. “Nice try, but I’m just fine. You don’t need to worry about me. Aren’t you busy with this fantastic training camp you have?”
He burst into laughter. “The camp would be more successful if we had more applicants for the smokejumpers.”
“I would have thought tough guys would be chomping at the bit.”
“Not with the pay being so low and them needing another job. But we found a couple new recruits who I think will make excellent additions to the team.”
“Well, that’s good. Where did you find them?” There was something about his hesitation that dragged my attention away from the sweet fawn. “Is that a secret?”
“Just found them around.”
I cleaned the wound, thankful the injury wasn’t too serious. “I know that tone. What are you hiding?”
After taking a step away, I could tell he was still debating. “One from an ongoing training program in Idaho.”
“The other?”
“Well, there’s a program in a few prisons where they select candidates to help the firefighters. They gain experience with wildland firefighting. Most aren’t qualified for the team, but one was brought to my attention.”
Wildland firefighting was dangerous, but a smokejumper’s role was treacherous.
I knew why the hesitation and while there would always be a slight twinge of pain from hearing about any prisoner, I couldn’t hold what had happened to my parents against every inmate who’d served their time. “Stop it, Uncle Landen.” He hated when I called him that, which I only did when he was driving me crazy.
“I didn’t think. I shouldn’t have told you. Maybe I shouldn’t have allowed the man to be hired.”
“Nonsense. I love you to death, Uncle Landen, but you’re driving me crazy. What happened to Mom and Dad was tragic, horrific and I miss them every day, but I can’t and won’t blame the world for their deaths. That’s no way to live my life. I have my practice, this budding little sanctuary that one day I’m determined will befilled with animals. I have my friends. I’m happy. Can’t you tell I’m happy?”
“While you’re a strong-willed girl, which is no help to my sleepless nights, you’re a terrible liar.”
“Thank you so much. I love you too. And I’m serious.” As I finished the stitches, I shifted my gaze to the fawn’s face and muzzle. She’d need bottle feeding if I couldn’t get her back to her mother soon. In some crazy way, keeping the little fawn would keep my spirits up, preventing me from wallowing in self-pity in front of the television with a pound of dark chocolate.
Which my thighs definitely didn’t need.
“Why don’t you come to dinner tomorrow night?”
