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Nora groaned. “Difficult. No one ever warned me nursing school would be hard.”
I laughed. “I guess we thought you would remember from the first time.”
Nora poked her tongue out of her mouth. “Well, thanks for the words of encouragement and good luck with the friends with benefits thing.”
She raised her voice as she walked away, drawing the attention of Tammy behind the register and the handful of other patrons in the store.
CHAPTER21
Ben
I stoodin front of my house and checked my watch.
8:45.
Fifteen minutes before my interview with Dana. Hopefully, she’d show up this time.
Thea was right. I should repaint the sign by the road. She’d successfully convinced me to keep the giant billboard declaring “Welcome to Clarks! Bears, Beers, Bathrooms” which was as recognizable as the Old Man in the Mountain, and now seemed to be headed in the same direction: complete destruction. For a newcomer like Dana, who needed an actual address to find her way around, a sign that advertised the correct business might be helpful.
A gray sedan slowly picked its way over the pitted dirt and pulled up next to me. Dana emerged from the driver’s seat, shielding her eyes against the bright winter day sun. “Wow, this place is really out there.”
“Glad you found it,” I replied.“You can leave your purse in there. Not many people are up this way and you don’t want to bring anything in the enclosures you aren’t prepared to lose.”
She set her purse back in the car.
“Did you find the place, okay?”
“The sign was a little confusing. Do you also offer bathrooms and beers?”
“I have a six-pack in the fridge, but no, not to the public anyway. This place has been in my family for generations. It used to be a roadside attraction. The sign is the closest thing to a billboard the state will allow and there was a bit of a dustup when we wanted to take it down.” I gestured for her to follow me down the road, toward the administration building.
“Interesting. What kind of roadside attraction?”
“The normal: convenience store and gas. Only, my grandpa took in injured bears, too. He trained them to do tricks to pull in more tourists. It worked, too. During its heyday, people came from all over the country.”
Dana blanched. “Do you still have bears?”
“Just one left but he’s pretty old. We don’t have the resources to take in anymore.”
“Did your family history inspire you to start the rescue?” she asked, following me as I led her to the administrative building.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “My grandparents are good people, but domesticating bears never sat right with me. My parents weren’t interested in taking the place over, and I’d been working here since I was old enough to sit behind the register. So, I inherited it.”
“What did they think about the change in direction?”
“Baffled, mostly,” I said with a shrug. “They were happy I planned to retire the bears, give them a place to live out their days. They didn’t understand why I wanted to take in more animals.”
“And how many animals are there?”
“Right now?” I pursed my lips. “Twenty-eight. Twenty-seven on site.”
“Where’s the twenty-eighth?” she asked with a laugh as we stopped on the porch.
“Franklin Notch Town Hall. They have a pen right out back that mostly stays empty. A couple of years ago, they took in a moose I didn’t have room for and made her mayor. This one is just a council member.”
“No leadership ability?”
“Not this one,” I laughed. “Although, I bet if she’s still in that pen come tourist season, she’ll get a promotion.”
