8
Oscar sat back on the unnecessarily plush lounge on the Kowalskis’ back porch, beer in hand, and wondered what the hell he’d been worried about. Even the weather was cooperating, the evening warm enough to sit outside, but not the unbearably sticky heat of summer anymore.
Mrs. Kowalski—who had insisted on being calledAnna—turned out to actually care alotabout the local wildlife, especially the birds. It was a shame she’d invited Oscar instead of Ezra, the sanctuary’s designated bird guy, but he’d been away for a few months now. He was coming back, he promised in every email.
But when they’d had to stop accepting birds because they couldn’t afford it and there were other sanctuaries they could be referred to, he’d gotten disheartened. Now he was backpacking and couch-surfing across Europe.
Maybe hewouldcome back. Maybe they could turn the sanctuary’s finances around and bring the birds back, and Ezra would come back for them.
“What do you think of our alligators?” Mr. Kowalski—Gary, Oscar mentally corrected—asked.
The question was definitely directed at Ryan, who Mr.—Garyfound infinitely entertaining for reasons not entirely clear to Oscar. Not that he couldn’t see that Ryan had a lot of appealing qualities, but they seemed like they’d bemoreappealing to him than a straight man.
“Oscar tells me they’re not dangerous unless provoked,” Ryan said, which was true—he’d seemed a little unnerved by having them so close to the sanctuary, unchecked, and with no fencing. So Oscar had been forced to reassure him that it was actually fine.
Which had kind of been endearing, so maybe that was what Mr. Kowalski saw in him.
Gary.
Dammit.
Of all the things he expected to be tripped up on, having to remember that the Kowalskis had first names hadn’t even entered his mind. He’d been dreading having nothing in common with them, or being in a situation where there was more than one fork and he had no idea which to use.
None of which had come to pass. Just the names thing. He was shocked that, aside from the surroundings, these were surprisingly normal people. Gary was a civil engineer, but he was also on several conservation boards as an advisor.
The money came from Anna’s side of the family, but she was fine, too. Maybe a littlelessnormal than Gary, but good-hearted, Oscar thought. Smart, too.
They were a well-matched couple, and they seemed happy. If anything, Oscar envied them.
“I’m actually not sure those are alligators,” Oscar added, nodding to the few shapes they could see moving in the water from here. The dying light made it hard to tell, but the silhouette of the animals seemed wrong. “This water is brackish, right?”
“Brackish?” Ryan asked.
“Between fresh and salty,” Oscar explained. “I guess they don’t have marshland where you’re from.”
“No, but you should see some of the rats,” he joked in response, only the faintest hint of embarrassment at having to ask in his tone. Oscar wanted to assure him that there was no shame in not knowing things, that curiosity was a more useful trait than knowledge, but now didn’t feel like the moment for that.
After all, they were supposed to have been together a while. They should have been past the need for reassurance.
“So what do you think they are?” Anna asked, looking out at the water.
“American crocodiles. I mean… I’d have to get closer to find out, but…”
“You’re not getting closer to the crocodiles,” Ryan said, sitting up straight as though he might have to physically stop Oscar. “Imagine the paperwork if you got eaten.”
“Aww.” Oscar grinned at him. “You reallydolove me,” he teased.
Some part of him knew that Ryandidcare—or at least, that paperwork wasn’t really what he was worried about. He was turning out to have a dry sense of humor that Oscar really liked. Even when he was nervous.
“They’re rare, aren’t they?” Anna asked, leaning forward with interest.
“Unusual,” Oscar agreed. “They’re listed as vulnerable, but the population is increasing, so conservation efforts are working. Not so much here, but in the rest of the Americas.”
“Thanks to people like you,” Gary said.
“Well, we don’t really work with crocodiles,” Oscar said. “Thatwouldbe cool, though. We’re incubating some alligator eggs at the moment that lost their mother. They don’t need her immediately, but they’ll need some guidance when they’re babies. I can’t wait for them to hatch.”
“Oh, take pictures!” Gary enthused, beaming at the thought. “Put them on up on Facebook. People love cute baby animals.”
