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I smiled and hugged my sister before she left. As soon as she was gone, I fell to the bed with a sigh. I hated lying to my family, especially Emily, but I was also relieved that Em believed me. Considering she could read me better than anyone, the fact that she fell for our story meant the rest of my family likely would too. I wasn’t as close to my older brothers, and Grace was too busy with her family to really dive into my personal life. I just hoped Em would stay too busy with wedding planning to really dig deep or notice if I acted weird.
Knowing everyone thought I was with Levi meant less time trying to avoid being set up and more time to focus on what really mattered - the job search.
I opened my laptop and did a quick search on my college’s job board. A new job had been posted in my field and I clicked on it. The Tanzania Wildlife Reserve Internship Program.
My heart skipped a beat. I’d heard about the program from my department, and a few of our alumni had completed the program and ended up working at it full-time. The internship often led to a career with the reserve or another in Africa. It was considered one of the most prestigious opportunities in the field of exotic animal veterinary medicine, and only a few lucky people got chosen when they were open for new interns.
I read through the requirements, checking all the boxes plus some, before heading to their website. Brilliant photos of Africa. Elephants being fed by hand. Giraffes that stuck their head in the window of your office. And I knew their reputation of being good to the animals, focusing on their care above all else, was amazing.
This truly was a dream opportunity, and they only opened the program every few years. This was my one chance.
But Africa… It was so far away.
I had always imagined leaving Sunville, and part of me had always dreamt of moving somewhere like Tanzania or Kenya one day, but I never really thought about it seriously. The thought of being on a whole other continent from my family made me sad, but at the same time, that’s what airplanes were for.
I knew I likely wouldn’t get chosen anyway. After all, thousands apply and only a handful get selected. The rejection rate was incredibly high. There were numerous interview rounds and tests, and it was not going to be easy.
But it was worth a shot. At least if I got denied, I could always tell myself I tried. If I didn’t at least try, I might always wonder what if…
I bookmarked the page and navigated to my resume and CV and began cleaning it up. The application was long; I knew it would take me several hours, but it’s not like I had anything better to do.
And in that moment, the only thing that mattered was applying for my dream job.
Chapter 6
Levi
I checked the time. I had an hour before I needed to get ready for the wedding and head out. Dr. Graham knelt by my mama goat with a stethoscope to her belly.
“She’s likely due any day now, but I think you already knew that,” the vet said.
“But everything seems fine?” I asked, petting Ginger’s head gently. The goat bleated at me and tried to stand up. The vet moved out of the way, and we let the goat stand up on four legs. She was so round and looked ready to burst. I’d called the vet for a routine check-up to make sure everything was going smoothly.
“Everything looks perfectly fine. I don’t see any issues. She seems healthy. Her heart rate and everything is normal.”
“Glad to hear it. It’s my first time being a goat midwife.”
The vet didn't laugh at my joke as he packed away his tools. But I didn’t hire him for his sense of humor; I’d hired him for his knowledge of farm animals.
We walked back to his car and made some small talk.
“You have my emergency line in case you need it. If I’m not on-call, someone else will be,” he said. “And we can always be here within the hour.”
An hour. It seemed like such a long time if something went wrong, but I had to trust that nothing would go wrong. Animals gave birth in the wild without the helping hands of humans all the time, Ginger and her babies would be just fine.
“Thanks, Doc,” I said.
The vet got into his car and drove away, giving me plenty of time to get ready. But first…
“Ginger girl, you deserve a carrot for being so good for the vet.”
I went into the house, got some sliced carrots and hand fed them to her and the other goat in the enclosure with her, Gilbert.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to find a photo from Anna.
I borrowed a dress from Emily… what do you think, the pink or the black one from before?
The pink dress was floral and girly and very pretty with a skirt that flowed out and showed off her figure, but it just lacked the sexiness of the first one.
