Fate snorted. “Well, there goes the only suggestion the modern muses came up with.”
Karma gave a slight shrug. “Gaia isn’t all bad, you know. In fact, deep down, she has some very positive traits.”
Fate snickered. “Must be deeper than I’ve ever looked.”
* * *
Aaron wandered aimlessly around his large living room. He had immediately retired from the Boston hospital where he’d worked for thirty years as a cardiac surgeon. Kind of necessary since he’d been diagnosed with essential tremors. At last, he dropped into his favorite chair, and as soon as he did, his black-and-white cat jumped onto his lap.
“Hi, Cat. I’m sorry we never gave you a more imaginative name, but you came when Ruthie called, so in a way, it’s your fault.” He scratched behind the cat’s furry ear, and the feline began to purr. On the housekeeper’s day off like this, he hadno oneto talk to but his cat—not that he talked to Mrs. Rivera very much. He had to keep his family’s magical witch power a secret, and it was easier to do if he didn’t communicate much with people who had no knowledge of magic and the paranormal.
“Can I confide in you, Cat? Of course I can. You won’t tell anyone, will you, boy?” He sighed deeply. “My hand trembled during a transplant. I can’t afford to nick an artery if even one finger trembles.”
He ran his currently steady hand over the cat’s soft back. “I have a beautiful million-dollar home in Brookline, but what’s a home without a family in it? No offense. You’re part of the family, but you don’t take up much room. What are we doing here?”
He answered, “I’m talking to myself. That’s what I’m doing.”
He let out a huge groan. Despite feeling odd about it, he continued his musing aloud. “My wife died two decades ago. You weren’t around then. I’ve raised my daughters, and they’re both living their own lives in their own homes, starting families. My nest is empty. Again, no offense. We’ll call it empty-ish.
“I miss my daughters, who I could talk to frankly about our Wiccan roots. I have one useless power. The power of invisibility.” He chuckled bitterly. “I might as well be invisible right now. Couldn’t have gotten a useful power, like my girls’ power to save one life a day with supernatural intervention.”
Cheek resting against his fist, he thought about how pathetic he seemed. He couldn’t stand being this way. He hadn’t told anyone about his diagnosis. “Maybe it’s a good thing they’re not here. The girls would worry, and I don’t want to burden them. They just think my early retirement is a well-earned vacation. In a way, it is. I’ve been itching to do something new, but a pigeonhole is hard to break out of. And I’m getting too old to learn a new specialty.
“What can I do? There has to be more to my life than waiting for grandchildren to be born. I need to dosomethingto make myself feelusefulagain.” He reflected back on his undergrad days. “I took a course in botany once. I really enjoyed it. Maybe I could take up gardening…”
He thought about a friend of his who’d discovered a rare plant in the rain forest—it became one of the wonder drugs of the century. Aaron had recently been on a trip to the Brazilian rain forest, but it was brief and with a totally different purpose. His family’s nemesis had to be dealt with, and he was only there to supervise. His son-in-law’s family had actually taken the bad guys down. He couldn’t even participate in his own coup.
He scratched his head. “If I were to cultivate some kind of wonder drug, what would it be? Hmm… Well, what’s the number one cause of death? Heart disease, right? I’m in the cardiology field. Who better to research a cure for weak or damaged hearts? An undiscovered medicinal plant won’t be easy to find, analyze, test, patent, and get approved, but I’m done feeling sorry for myself!”
His daughter Kizzy had recently moved to Puerto Rico with her husband, Noah Fierro. When learning about the island his daughter was moving to, he had stumbled across a fact that surprised him, namely that Puerto Rico contained the only tropical rain forest in the United States.
The couple was still in that honeymoon stage, so he wouldn’t intrude by staying with them, but he could book his own hotel room nearby, then offer to take them out to dinner and make it seem as if he was taking a long-awaited tropical holiday. No one needed to know he was exploring the idea of switching to research.
Feeling more excited about this than anything else in recent weeks, he placed Cat on the floor, popped out of his chair, and strode to his office where he kept his computer. Nothing said he had to act on the idea, but it wouldn’t hurt to poke around online and check out areas besides San Juan, which was the spot he had learned about before she moved. He was concerned mainly about hurricanes after his daughter told him she and Noah were moving there to aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.
Scanning specifically for information about Puerto Rico’s rain forest, he first learned its name, El Yunque, and thank goodness its pronunciation was included in the article…El Yu-ke. The fact that it rained year-round was no surprise. Twenty feet per year, though? He’d definitely have to pack his rain gear.
Then he saw facts that interested him as a doctor. Since rain forests have also been called the world’s pharmacy and he hoped to discover something no one else had, Puerto Rico was a good place to start. There were species of flora and fauna only known to exist in El Yunque.
The more he read, the more he needed to know. It would be easy to get lost, poisoned, or eaten in any rain forest, but he would learn how to be safe.
He admired his daughter and son-in-law for their selflessness. They were doing everything they could to help those on the island who were still in need, she as a doctor, he as a firefighter and EMT. Plus almost the entire Fierro family had moved there and were volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, actually rebuilding neighborhoods which the hurricane had destroyed.
Aaron, pragmatic man that he was, realized money made the world go round, but without it, all the island had was its hardworking people and natural resources. For years, he’d put plenty of money aside for a rainy day. Now he realized how ironic it was.
He dug his cell phone out of his pocket, brought up his contacts, and smiled as he clicked on Kizzy’s number.
“Hi, Dad!”
“Hi, honey. It’s good to hear your voice. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
“How would you feel about my coming for a short visit sometime soon?”
“Really? I’d love that!” she answered. “When?”
“As soon as I can arrange a pet sitter for Cat.”
