She also couldn’t stop wishing that he had kissed her.
‘I’m going to need several more buckets of water,’ Drake told the crowd. Men rushed to do his bidding as Drake tapped Hugo behind the front leg. ‘Time to get up, my friend. We’ll get some water in you and then get you back to the zoo.’
The crowd filled with low mumbles again, clearly certain that it would be impossible for a drunk elephant to stand up.
Fully believing in Drake, Meridith waved at the crowd. ‘Back up,’ she said. ‘Give him room.’
Hugo let out plenty of grunts and groans, and wrapped his trunk around Drake more than once, but finally he made it onto his rump. He sat there with his head wobbling slightly from side to side, scanning the crowd, as if he wasn’t sure what he was seeing, or why so many people were staring at him.
Because he looked so cute, Meridith couldn’t help but giggle. She patted Hugo’s trunk, which quickly curled around her.
Beside her, Drake lifted Hugo’s trunk off her and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders. ‘I know you like her,’ he told Hugo. ‘So do I, but she can’t help you stand. You have to do that on your own.’
Meridith’s heart thudded harder at hearing Drake say he liked her. It was a common enough statement, but it made her realise just how much she likedhim. More than she’d ever liked someone. She felt as if sunshine was filling her.
When she looked up at him, Drake smiled and winked at her.
Thoughts of kissing him filled her head again, but were interrupted when Hugo groaned again and hiccuped hard enough that his entire body shook, which sent more laughter through the crowd. He hiccuped several more times while his trunk stretched forward, trying to reach the water buckets sitting on the ground a short distance away.
Drake stepped away from her and pulled one bucket closer. ‘Here, you go. Drink up, then you have to stand up.’
Hugo stuck his snout in the bucket, sucked up water, sprayed it into his mouth, then returned his trunk to the bucket and snorted at finding it empty. He tried reaching the other buckets, stretching out his trunk and leaning forward, but eventually he realised he wasn’t going to reach the water without standing. He raised his trunk into the air and let out a trumpet that was little more than air. It was so pitiful it made the crowd rumble with laughter once again.
Meridith shared a smile with Drake. Then Hugo began to move, and she clasped onto Drake’s hand, as if somehow their combined strength might help the elephant.
With more grunts, and groans, Hugo rose to all four feet and then took a wobbly step towards the water.
‘Oh, thank goodness,’ Meridith whispered.
‘Were you doubting his abilities?’ Drake asked with a teasing tone.
‘No,’ she replied, heart pounding at the profound connection between them. It felt fragile yet powerful. ‘I wasn’t doubting yours, either.’
He didn’t say anything, just stared at her with simmering eyes that made her feel as if she was in the middle of a dream. A wonderful dream.
‘I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it,’ someone said.
Meridith let out a sigh as Drake turned to watch Hugo empty the other buckets of water.
‘Me, neither,’ another replied. ‘Where’s a newspaperman when you need one?’
‘No one would believe it even if they wrote about it,’ yet another said.
No one would believe what Meridith was feeling, either. She didn’t even believe it herself and wondered what it meant.
Was she falling in love with a man who would never want to get married? What would that do to her? Where would that leave her? Living with Peter for the rest of her life?
‘We need get him to the zoo before he decides to lie back down,’ Drake said. ‘Can one of you men go and get my horse?’
‘Yes, sir!’ a man replied.
‘Will you be all right riding by yourself?’ Drake asked.
Meridith shook her head to clear her wayward thoughts, then nodded. ‘Yes, of course.’
‘It’s not a sidesaddle.’
‘That’s all right,’ she assured. ‘I’ve ridden in a regular saddle before. Where will you be?’
