Let the day begin.
As I circle the lot one more time, I glance at the clock on my dash. 11:06.
“There’s one,” Miles says.
I pretend not to hear him.
“Oh, come on, Jordan! Why are you stalling? They’re already open.” He cranes his neck to look at the zoo gates. “And the line is already long.”
“Exactly,” I say. “I’m letting them get through, so we can take our time.”
Miles sighs dramatically. “Jordan.”
“Fine. I’m parking.”
I send a prayer that I stalled long enough to make this work.
Miles climbs out of the car, stretching his arms like a cat. With his back to me, I quickly shoot off a message.
We’re walking up now.
No response. That’s fine. Either the plan works, or it doesn’t.
Miles can’t stay still, waving his hands around as he describes his dream zoo route. “First the penguins, and like, all the arctic animals. I can’t remember if they have polar bears here, but if they do, we have to see them. Then the Sahara. I can’t wait forthe lions. Oh, and the tigers! And I heard the Hogle Zoo has a train you can take from one side to the other, so that’ll be nice. And we need to see the—”
I tune him out when I see her, standing near the entrance wearing jeans and a red tank top. She has a huge smile on her face, bouncing on her toes like she’s excited to be in on the secret. I take my hat off and pretend to ruffle my hair while secretly waving in her direction. I told her to look for a green hat.
Sophie beams when she spots me, bouncing and waving before running in our direction.
“Don’t you?” Miles asks.
I jerk my attention to him. “Huh? What?”
“I said I sometimes feel bad for the animals, all locked up and stuff. It’s sad.”
I shrug. “Oh, uh. Yeah, sometimes.”
Miles barely seems to hear me, still talking a mile a minute. He’s so excited, he doesn’t even notice her at first.
Sophie gets right in front of him, walking backwards with her brows raised, nodding enthusiastically as if agreeing with everything he’s saying. “Uh-huh. Yeah. That’s so cool.”
When he finally sees her, he halts, eyes getting huge behind his glasses. “Oh my God!”
Sophie squeals, tight curls bobbing against her dark skin. “Well! Are you going to hug me or not?”
Miles crushes her, swaying from side to side.
She giggles. “Oh, it’s so good to see you!”
Her voice is warm and rich and her vibe inviting. I can already see why Miles likes her.
“How are you here?”
I clear my throat. “I might’ve had something to do with it.”
Miles is stunned, pulling back. “What?”
Sophie and I exchange a private smile, both full of concern for Miles. “I felt like your situation was more of… a team effort, so I called in reinforcements. Asked her to come for the weekend.”
