“I just don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“It won’t. I know how to take care of myself.” And I did. I’d been in the military, stationed overseas. Where I’d had to always be on alert, sleep with one eye open, and all that.
“But you don’t have to take care of yourself all by yourself now. That’s what friends are for.”
The sentiment hit me harder than it should have. I’d blame it on the lack of sleep and the stress I’d been under for the past several days. Wiping a tear away before it fell, I took in a breath. “Gotta go, I’m almost there. I’ll call you later.”
As I pulled into my own drive, Bodie’s sheriff’s truck loomed before me.
CHAPTER 18
ALEX
I couldn’t believemy grandfather. How dare he bring up the past, especially in front of Zina? I could still taste her on my lips, still feel the way her hair slid through my fingers as I kissed her.
I pulled some clothes on and headed down to the warehouse to check on preparations. Toby was there, doing a final walk-through of the dome. He’d already filled the large aboveground pool. I’d checked with the aquarium on exact requirements and had dumped enough salt in the bottom to make sure the penguins would feel right at home.
“Think you’ll be wrapping up today?” I asked.
“Yeah.” Toby fiddled with the thermostat. “It’s done. Now all you need to do is get the temp down to where you want it and bring in the ice and snow.”
“I can’t believe you were able to get this done so fast.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, isn’t that right?” Toby clapped me on the shoulder. “I’m just going to make a few final adjustments.”
We were doing everything we could to make sure we’d have things ready. Now that the habitat was finished, I’d have such little time to get the penguins trained. Good thing they were coming from the aquarium where they’d participated in plentyof training sessions, so they were used to working for treats. I hadn’t been able to make it over to Houston to see them in action yet. The director said I could come by anytime and hand select the penguins I wanted to have at the wedding. With everything under control, today seemed as good a time as any to head over. Maybe the girls would want to go with me.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Char. If memory served, she had a rare day off and might enjoy having some time to herself.
“Hey, what’s up?” she answered, her voice a little breathless.
“I need to head to Houston to check out those penguins. Thought maybe the girls would want to go with me and we could give you a day to yourself. What do you say?”
“Really? I was just starting to clean out the girls’ bedrooms. Do you know Frankie keeps all kinds of food under her mattress to train Shiner Bock?”
I stifled a chuckle. That didn’t surprise me at all. Frankie loved that damn bird with a fierceness. She’d do just about anything for him. “I believe it.”
“I wanted to ask you a question about Shiner.”
“What’s up?”
“I think Dolly’s allergic. Is there any chance he can move out to the Phillips House with you?”
I groaned. “First Gramps, now the damn bird, too?”
“Just long enough for me to see if it makes a difference?”
“Yeah, fine.”
“Thanks. Frankie will be heartbroken if we have to give him away. And I’m sure they’d love to go with you to the aquarium. What time?”
“How about an hour?”
“That’ll be fine. I’ll have them ready.”
“Sounds good.”
“Hey, Alex?”
