“I mean, some of the tours are closer to dusk, so it isn’t the only time. But I’ve always had the best luck in the wee hours of the morning.”
“Hmm.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m intrigued. And I really do want to see a moose. Might be worth it to get up at the crack of dawn.”
“They’re pretty cool to see.”
“I bet. Okay, we can do one early in the morning and see what happens.” He paused. “What happens if one of them sees you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t they super aggressive?”
I shook my head. “Not the ones in Maine.”
“Wait, there’s different moose cultures?”
Laughing, I said, “No, no. But the ones in Alaska and the Rockies have to deal with grizzly bears. There aren’t any apex predators in Maine, so they’re basically just big deer.” I paused to overtake an eighteen wheeler. “I mean, I wouldn’t try to go upand pet one, and I sure as shit wouldn’t get between a mom and baby. But all the ones I’ve ever seen just kind of look at you, then go lumbering off into the trees.”
“Oh. Huh. Funny, you only ever hear the stories about the ones in Alaska.”
“Well, yeah. A story about a moose charging a vehicle twice its size is a lot more interesting than one about a moose staring stupidly at you before… leaving.”
“Fair point. Do you think the warnings about moose actually keep people from trying to mess with them?”
I snorted. “You mean like they keep people from trying to pet the fluffy cows in Yellowstone?”
Jesse laughed, which was cuter than it should’ve been. “Okay, that’s true. God, I can’t believe the stupid shit people do around buffalo. I’ve been to Yellowstone, and those things are fuckinghuge.”
“I know, right?” I scoffed and shook my head. “I was there one year, and I’d stopped to take some photos of a herd of elk. I shit you not, there were people walking around in among the elk. Like, between the moms and babies.”
“Oh my God. Seriously?”
“Yep.”
“Ugh. No wonder people are always getting gored.”
“Natural selection at work.”
“No kidding. Whenever I see one of those reports about someone getting messed up by a wild animal, I’m like, okay, what stupid games did they play to win that stupid prize?”
I barked a laugh. “Yes, exactly!”
It was good to know I could take Jesse out into a field of moose and not worry about him doing something reckless or stupid. He was as enamored with animals as I was, but he also respected their space and their ability to inflict grievous bodily harm. Hell, even if it wasn’t an animal that could toss him in theair like a ragdoll, he was still careful and considerate of them. Just watching him with his cats had made me get all fluttery inside because what could I say? I was a sucker for someone who loved animals that much.
It was honestly one of the things I’d loved about Selena. She liked animals a lot, and she was calm and kind to them. And Jesse was clearly conscientious about them. He wasn’t the type to do something stupid with a wild animal, and from watching how he took care of his cats, he would probably eat glass before he disturbed one.
The more I thought about that, the more I realized there were other activities we could probably engage in without me worrying too much about him.
I drummed my fingers on top of the wheel. “Out of curiosity, have you ever ridden a horse?”
“Oh, yeah. Lots of times.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmhmm. Took lessons as a kid, and I even competed as a teenager. It’s been a while, though. Why?”
I glanced at him. “Would you be comfortable renting horses and going for a ride?”
“Ooh, we can do that?” The excitement in his voice was more endearing than it had any right to be.
