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“I think you’ve won her over,” Bea said, taking the coffee cup Aidan offered her.
“And how about you?”
Her heart thudded. Was he flirting with her? She was so out of practice, she couldn’t be sure. “Definitely a fan.”
She drank from her coffee cup and let her eyes drift shut as the flavour filled her mouth and the hot beverage ran down her throat. “That is divine. Oh, hang on. I’ve got something I have to do fairly urgently. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have to go.”
She raced back into the house, found a towel and headed out the back door.
Aidan followed. “Can I help you with anything?”
She nodded. “That would be fantastic. How are you at catching wildlife?”
He fell into step beside her. “What’s going on?”
“There’s an injured pademelon on the beach. I thought I’d take the poor thing to the sanctuary and see if Penny can do something to help it.”
“Ah, okay. Let’s see if we can catch it, then.”
They found the animal only a little way from where Bea had left it earlier. She threw the towel over it, and Aidan scooped it up into his arms and held it as gently as possible while they strode back to his truck. Bea told Dani goodbye and joined Aidan to drive to the Coral Island Wildlife Rescue Centre. It was on the eastern side of the island in the middle of nowhere and it took them half an hour to drive there.
A small cluster of homes ran along the beach beside it, a tiny village looking out over the ocean. The locals called it St James, after Penny’s family. They were the first to build there, from what Bea could remember. She’d spent several sleepovers in the family beach house during her school years.
“I can’t wait to see what Penny’s done with the sanctuary,” Bea said.
“She came home from living overseas after a breakup, I believe. She built a wildlife sanctuary on the land next to their beach house and from what I’ve heard, it’s top notch. How’s the patient?”
Bea peeked through a gap in the towel to see the animal resting in her lap. “Seems fine.”
“The towel was a good idea.”
“I think it’s exhausted as well. Possibly lost a lot of blood. I guess we’ll find out soon.”
When they pulled into the parking lot beside the wildlife sanctuary, Bea climbed out and carried the injured pademelon in her arms to the side gate. The sanctuary was surrounded by a tall wire fence, and there was a white building inside the fence. Aidan pressed the buzzer by the gate, and after a while, Penny appeared to unlock it.
“Beatrice! What a pleasant surprise,” she said. “Hello, Aidan. Fancy seeing the two of you here together.”
Penny offered Bea a wink, which she studiously ignored while her cheeks blazed. “We brought an injured animal.”
“Let’s take a look, then.” Penny opened the towel and studied the creature for a moment then covered it back up. “Come with me. We’ll get set up in the clinic and find out what’s going on. Evie will be thrilled. She just popped over to see me for a cup of tea. She volunteers every now and then so we can catch up.”
“What good timing,” Bea said.
Aidan followed the two of them as they walked through the sanctuary. There were large cages holding all different types of native animals. The cages were clean and filled with branches and leaves, so it was often difficult to see the occupants. Penny pushed through a door and into the building, then led them down a short hall and into a room that looked like a surgery apart from the small cages filled with animals — some sleeping, others bandaged.
A young woman stood at a bench, a pair of glasses perched on the end of her nose as she ran her finger over a piece of paper in front of her.
“Hi, Anna. This is Beatrice and Aidan, and they’ve brought us a patient.”
Anna greeted them then checked on the pademelon. “Oh, she’s beautiful.”
“Can you please clean her up so we can get a better idea of what’s going on with her?”
“Sure thing,” Anna said.
“Let’s go and see Evie, and I’ll make you each a cup of tea.”
They found Evie seated at a small round table in the kitchen beside a plate of chocolate biscuits and fresh sliced fruit. A kettle boiled on the bench behind her, whistling a trail of steam that rose high above it.
