“There was more than one. There were two cubs in that den, and they took both. This is the second one.” Amanda pointed at the final bear. “See the match?”
“Holy shit. Excuse me. There was another cub?”
“They left that unsavory detail out of their reports. By the time the real mother had shown up, it was too late. The cubs were gone. They didn’t name the second one, because she ended up being sold on the black market.”
“What’s her name?”
“Nova. She lives in a really horrible little private zoo in Singapore. I got the zookeeper there to send me pictures.”
“Same issues as Molly?”
“Worse.”
He handed her back the file and stood at his window. He couldn’t see the polar bear habitat from here, but he could see the path down to it. A peacock strutted on the sidewalk, fanning its feathers.
“I know what you’re thinking, but there’s no reason to believe Molly would accept her sister. It’s been, what, fifteen years?”
“In the wild, polar bear sisters and their mother live in overlapping territories. Had Molly and Nova not been taken, they would still be there.”
“It’s a lot of money and effort to ship a polar bear here from Singapore. And there’s no reason to believe they will let her go.”
“They will let her go,” Amanda said.
Amanda walked down to the polar bear habitat. She stood at a distance, admiring Molly in the sun. She was rolling in the grass on the top of the hill. Amanda didn’t want the bear to see her until she was back for good.
Sean saw her, and waved. He looked happy to see her.
“Hey.” He came at a trot.
“Hi,” Amanda said.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Amanda knew this one. He was saying he was glad to see her, not that his eyes were sore.
“So are you.”
The sun caught his dark hair. She wondered if she had made a mistake saying that. But he smiled at her, and she felt good all over.
“Did you have fun on your trips?” he asked innocently.
“Kind of. I’m going to miss Larry.”
“Who is Larry?” He looked concerned.
“He’s a friend of mine. Older. Like, you know—a father figure.”
“Oh. I was worried there, for a minute.”
He was still smiling at her, directly. He didn’t look at all ashamed of what he had just said.
“Why did you say that?”
Now he looked nervous. “You know I like you, right?”
“I couldn’t tell. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. Just say you’ll go on a date with me.” His cheeks had turned a deep crimson red.
