Forever Fall (23 page)

She laughed. “I know just what you mean. I’m not a morning person either.”

Almost immediately, Hunter’s mind launched into a vision of what Rose would look like in the morning, sleep still in her eyes, pillowcase creases on her face and her auburn hair splayed out across his bare chest.

Whoa! You’re getting yourself in way over your head, fella. Remember, you’re the guy who doesn’t want anything to do with the responsibilities that relationships inevitably demand.

How could he have forgotten all the years of raising his siblings, worrying about them, arranging his life around them?

By the time he had his wayward imagination under control, they’d arrived outside a small, cinder block building with a sign over the door with the words
Animal Nursery
emblazoned on a small sign to the side of the door. He opened the door for them and waited while Davy passed through, followed by Rose.

Rose looked around, the nurse in her doing a clinical assessment of the room. The overly warm room held wire cages in a variety of sizes—some empty, some occupied by a variety of furry babies. In the center stood a stainless steel examination table. One wall held cabinets with glass fronts that displayed an array of medicines and instruments and what looked like a baby scale. The odor of antiseptic permeated the spotless surroundings, reminding Rose of a hospital operating room.

“Here’s our newest baby,” Hunter said, releasing the catch on one of the cages and scooping out a small ball of fur from inside.

The lion cub, a light tan with dark markings on the ears and head, looking amazingly like a larger version of someone’s full-grown house cat, stretched its paws out and yawned. Rose ran a tentative finger over the downy fur. In response, the cub licked her hand, its rough tongue sending shivers over her. An odd, but certainly not repulsive feeling.

“Where’s its mother?” she asked continuing to pet the little cub.

“It’s a male. Born in captivity in a privately run, roadside zoo out west. The authorities closed the zoo for cruelty to the animals, and the mother died shortly thereafter from the abuse she’d sustained there. A friend of mine had helped with the animal removal and reassignment of the stock and had the cub sent to me. When he’s healthy enough, I’ll transfer him to a reputable zoo.”

“Does he have a name?” Davy stroked the cub’s nose.

“No, I’m afraid I’ve been too busy to think about names.” Hunter turned to the boy. “Would you like to name him, Davy?”

“Really, Doc?”

Hunter nodded. “Really.”

Davy’s eyes glowed with excitement, and then he became serious. “It has to be a special name. One that fits him.” The boy stepped back and studied the baby cat, the expression on his young face reflecting his deep consideration of the name issue.

The cub stretched again and curled up in Hunter’s hands. Hunter offered the cub to Rose. At first, never having held an animal before, she hesitated. Then the cub licked her hand again, and that’s all it took to make her reach for him. Cradling the small animal close, she moved her body back and forth in a rocking motion. His eyes drifted closed.

“You’re a natural,” Hunter said. “Maybe you can get him to eat. I haven’t been able to get him interested in food since he arrived two days ago. If I don’t get some food in him soon, I’m afraid . . .” He shifted his gaze to Davy.

Knowing the consequences of the cub not eating, she gave a slight nod. “I’ll give it a try.”

Hunter set to work preparing an oversized baby bottle filled with a white liquid, then handed it to Rose. She shifted the cub into the crook of her left arm, as if it were a human baby, and offered him the nipple. At first he sniffed it, and then turned away, but moments later, when she commenced a soft cooing sound, the cub turned back, sucked in the nipple and began devouring the formula.

“Well I’ll be damned,” Hunter said, under his breath. “You’re hired.”

His unexpected proclamation almost caused her to drop both the cub and the bottle. “Really? You mean it?”

“Anyone who could get that little fella to eat is qualified in my book.”

She’d been about to ask Hunter about job benefits when Davy broke in. “Boomer. We can call him Boomer.”

“Boomer?” Hunter looked at the small cub still sucking greedily on the nipple and laughed. “Isn’t that name kind of big for such a little guy?”

“Maybe now,” Davy explained, his face serious, “but when he grows up, it’ll be perfect.”

Hunter looked at Rose, who smiled. “Can’t argue with that, can you?” She glanced down at the tiny cub. “Besides, now that he’s got the hang of eating, he’ll be a bruiser in no time, so you can’t pin a sissy name like “Tabby” on him. He’d spend all his time fighting off other lions who make fun of him.” She looked at a grinning Davy. “Right?”

Davy nodded enthusiastically.

Hunter grinned, too. “Okay, Boomer it is.”

The cub had finally stopped feeding, and Rose noted the look of longing on Davy’s face. She stepped forward, then stopped. Glancing at Hunter for his okay and receiving it, she carefully shifted the small, furry body into the boy’s waiting arms. They all laughed when Boomer stuck his nose into the opening in Davy’s shirt front and immediately fell back to sleep.

“I think he thinks I’m his mom,” the boy said, a tinge of red coloring his cheeks.

Watching the boy with the cub gave Hunter an idea. Normally, he steered clear of kids, having had enough of them while raising his sister and brother, but he liked Davy. Besides, a chasm separated standing guard 24/7 over two teenage kids and having Davy around for a few hours every day.

“Davy, how would you like to work part-time for me?”

The boy’s head snapped up, and his gaze searched Hunter’s. “For real, Doc?”

“Yeah, for real. I’ll even pay you.”

“Cool,” the boy exclaimed, his attention immediately recaptured by the cub.

“You could come out after school and on Saturdays and help me feed and water the animals and clean out their pens. What do you think? Is that something you can handle?”

“You bet I can.” Davy’s eyes sparkled with excitement.

“You’ll need to get your mom’s okay.”

“I will. I promise. She won’t care though. She knows I’m a sucker for animals. Mom says I can charm anything with fur on it, just like Dr. Dolittle.” The boy’s face flushed pink. “She wishes I’d be as eager to do my chores as I am to take care of the animals.” He giggled, dipped his head, and turned a slightly darker shade of pink. “She calls me Dr. Littledo sometimes.”

“Well, Dr. Littledo, if your mom calls me tonight and okays it, you can start tomorrow.”

The grin on Davy’s face widened. “Thanks, Doc.”

As Hunter turned away, he caught Rose looking at him. Her half smile made his stomach flip. Just the type of smile he’d envisioned her having first thing in the morning.

Shaking away his thoughts, he stared back at her. “What?”

She shook her head and her long hair shifted back and forth, caressing her cheeks in a very sexy, unconscious come-on. “You’re a nice man, Hunter Mackenzie.”

“It’s nothing. The kid is as natural at this as you seem to be.”

She continued to bathe him in her glorious smile.

Despite his efforts not to read anything into it, her smile made him feel like he’d just won the Nobel Peace Prize.

By the time they got back
to the office, an elated Davy had rushed off home to get permission to work for Hunter. That left Rose and Hunter to discuss salary and other aspects of her new job.

Rose had just filled out the job application form, when Hunter’s curiosity got the better of him.

“I’m amazed at what you did with that cub. I’ve tried everything to get him to eat. Have you worked with animals before, had your own pets?”

Rose dipped her head. Her face disappeared behind that veil of auburn hair. “The closest I have ever come to an animal, domestic or wild, is in books and movies and watching people walk their dogs.” She lifted her gaze from the form she’d been filling out. “Foster homes don’t allow pets. Out there,” she motioned toward the animal nursery, “that’s the first time I’ve ever touched an animal.”

He couldn’t believe it. She seemed so comfortable handling the cub. “You’re telling me you had no pets?”

“Well, I had a cricket once for about a week, and then my foster mother found it and stepped on it. She said crickets eat clothes, and she couldn’t afford to buy me new ones, so the cricket had to go.”

Hunter, who, along with his siblings, had had every kind of pet from a snake to a pot-bellied pig while they were growing up, couldn’t imagine anyone not allowing a child to have some kind of animal, fish, insect or bird as a companion. From the tone of her voice, he sensed that, while it had only been a cricket, her pet’s death had left a scar on Rose’s life.

“You meant what you said out there, didn’t you?”

Roused by her question, Hunter sought to put meaning to it. “What I said?”

“About hiring me,” she explained, handing him the completed application form. “You’re not going to just file this and forget about me, are you?”

Forget her? Not in this lifetime. “Oh, you’re hired all right. You performed a miracle out there. I want to see if it was a fluke, and the only way I can do that is to hire you.” He took the form and laid it atop a pile of papers threatening to cascade to the floor at any minute.

Her large eyes opened wider. “Does that mean I’m on a trial basis?”

He laughed. “No, you are not on a trial basis. The job is permanent for as long as you want it. I will expect you here bright and early at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“What about your former assistant? Won’t she want her job back when she gets home from her honeymoon?”

“No. She’ll be moving to Raleigh where her new husband works, which means I need a permanent replacement, and that would be you”

“Well, then, I’ll see you tomorrow at eight.” She bathed him in a smile unlike any he’d seen from her so far. “I better be getting home.”

“Which is where?” He scanned the form she’d just filled out.

“I left that line blank because I’m still looking for a place. Until I find one, I’m staying at the motel out on Route 6.” She stood and began gathering up her things to leave.

“If you’re interested, the apartment over the garage is empty. I lived there while the carpenters built my house. You’re welcome to it if you want. It’s completely furnished, and all you’d need to move in right away are your clothes, food and some linens. It’s rent-free and comes with the job. Right now, I’m using it for storage, but if you’re willing to stick around for a couple of hours after work tomorrow, we can clean it out.”

Although the rent-free part fit right into her financial status, the idea of living so close to a man who could turn her knees to mush with a smile cast serious doubts on her decision. Not to mention that right now, letting a man into her life would not be the smartest move on her part.

“May I think about it?”

“Certainly. It’s been vacant for almost three years now. A few days more isn’t going to change that.”

“Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow, eight o’clock,” he said and winked. Her stomach flipped.

Rose had almost reached the door when she recalled that she’d forgotten one very important thing. “Are there medical benefits with this job?”

In the act of punching the play button on the blinking answering machine, he paused thoughtfully. “Yes, of course.”