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Ariel had enjoyed watchingthe party while sipping a bubbly wine Roark left in the refrigerator. Now she calmed herself by nibbling her toast and scrolling through her game camera videos in the silent dark of midnight. She noted the arrival of the possum with her babies. Instead of continuing on to the lake out of sight of her cameras, the new family stopped at a small pool beside the newly widened trail.
A raccoon emerged from the shrubbery to dig into the cat food basin on the other side of the path. And to her delight, a fawn nibbled at field corn in a hay rack built into the trees. The squirrels usually emptied the rack before night arrived, but she enjoyed watching them at daybreak.
Accessing the camera settings, she turned the camera to the platform rigged between trees.
Roark sat there cross-legged, content to be in the open air while he worked. He’d already drawn up schematics for a more elaborate tree house made out of old window frames he’d salvaged from a farmhouse being torn down nearby.
As if sensing her presence, he glanced at the camera, grinned, and waved. A text zinged into her phone.
you got nibbles. jobs yours
She didn’t have to click the link to know he was talking about an operation they’d applied for testing internet security. He was helping her set up a legitimate business with connections Professor Gump was sending their way.
She wasn’t a lone operator anymore. She didn’t miss the loneliness.
muffins baking, she typed back.join me?
He was out of the tree and at the back door in a flash.
He needed a home, and she was ready to share hers with a man as damaged and lonely as she was. In time, maybe their parts would adjust and fit together and make one whole.
They had time to find out.
