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Monday
Two days later, Finn flipped burgers left-handed on the grill as the evening transitioned into a purple twilight. Grace lounged nearby in a lawn chair, watching the gorillas in their enclosure across the yard. Finn had brought Cargo with him, and the big mutt reclined beside Grace, licking her hand whenever she stopped scratching his head.
The gorillas were climbing the rope net. Neema had Kanoni on her back, and Gumu carried the white cat Snow under one arm like a football.
Robin, Keith, and Mia Valdez watched from the ground next to the fence. Mia had been released from the hospital only hours ago and sat in a wheelchair to relieve her blistered feet. Tonight, the family was staying in Grace’s staff trailer, but they’d leave in the morning for Bellingham. Instead of the revealing clothing Mia had worn in her photos, the teen was now dressed in camouflage cargo pants and a loose T-shirt, and her blond hair was short and spiky. She was subdued and still croaking from smoke inhalation but seemed remarkably resilient, given what she’d been through.
When the gorillas reached the top of the rope net, Gumu cradled the cat, and Neema pulled Kanoni into her lap to nurse. Baby happy me, she signed to herself, or perhaps to the baby gorilla. Even Finn could understand those signs.
Grace smiled. “Kanoni’s going to be okay. She’s still weak, but her fever is gone and she’s eating again. And now I have plenty of money to pay the vet.”
He waited for the explanation of her sudden windfall.
“Get this: Robin set up this system on my website where people can order customized cards featuring their names and a painting by a gorilla. I couldn’t believe it! It’s automatic. People just fill in a form, choose the gorilla and the painting, pay the fee, and the order goes off to the printer, just like that.”
“Sounds magical.” He mashed the spatula into a burger, checking for doneness.
“There have already been four hundred and thirty-two orders, and it’s just getting started.” She shook her head in amazement. “Money in the bank! Robin told me she was a wiz at online sales, but I had no idea. If it keeps up, I’ll bring in enough money to actually hire staff again.”
“That’s fantastic. Even better is the cabin in the San Juan Islands.”
The Valdezes had offered Finn and Grace the use of their vacation home on Lopez Island for two weeks in July, in gratitude for Finn saving their daughter.
“It’s not luxurious,” Keith had warned. “No television. Solar power, wood stove, composting toilet. But the location is beautiful. You might even see orcas.”
“Sounds like heaven,” Finn told him.
“Mia and I will come to Evansburg to watch over the gorillas while you’re gone,” Robin volunteered. Mother-daughter bonding, Robin had called it, saying she needed to get to know her daughter better.
While Finn felt slightly guilty about taking their offer for merely doing his job, he wasn’t about to look this particular gift horse in the mouth. He and Grace rarely had whole days to themselves, let alone two weeks. He’d have time to finish his painting. Wildflowers were going to make up the foreground of the barn picture. He’d had enough of fire for a while.
Turning toward him, Grace said, “I can’t believe you beat your chest and faced down Gumu.”
“Robin told you about that?” He felt his cheeks flush. “I can’t believe it, either.”
“You are now the chief silverback in the troop.”
“That’s always been my secret ambition.” Finn poured two glasses of red wine. Handing one to her, he sat down with the other on the lawn chair next to hers. “Grace, just for the record, I would have been okay with it.”
She looked at him, her lips parted, a quizzical expression on her face.
“I would have been happy about the baby.”
“How’d you know?”
It had taken him a while to clue in. The hospital had steadfastly refused to tell him anything, but Grace’s recent behavior, the signs on the day she collapsed, and the doctor’s odd inflection when she’d said, “She’ll be okay,” had led him to the conclusion that Grace had suffered a miscarriage.
He shrugged. “I’m a detective.”
She studied his face. “How do you feel about it now?”
He reached for her hand. “I’m okay with it. How about you?”
“I’m a little sad. Neema signed me cry sad you, like she knew, too.”
“She pays attention to your moods.”
Grace sighed. “I have to admit, I’m also a little relieved. And that makes me feel guilty.”
Across the yard, Neema lifted her head and gazed in their direction. Maybe she’d heard Grace say her name.
As the gorilla signed, Grace translated for Finn. “Gorilla good love baby.”
Robin Valdez, watching from below, turned to face Finn and Grace, and then she also signed my baby good love my baby. She touched Mia on the shoulder, and then, meeting Finn’s gaze, finished with the hand gesture that meant thank you.
He was getting pretty good at reading sign language, but the world didn’t need to know that. Finn simply waved at her, and Robin turned her back again.
“It’s been a hell of a week.” He took a sip of wine. “I’m glad that everything turned out okay for that family.”
“I’ll be okay, too.” Grace squeezed Finn’s fingers. “And we already have our family.” Lifting her chin, she indicated the gorillas, then patted Cargo. The dog moaned with pleasure.
“Our family is a little hairy,” Finn commented.
“I know you never planned to take care of two cats and a dog,” she murmured.
“But I can’t imagine my house without the menagerie now.” He took another sip of wine. “You probably never imagined you were living with a skeleton in your barn.”
“Or that I’d become involved in kidnapping cases,” she reminded him of their shared past.
He snorted. “And I never thought I’d need clues from gorillas.”
She laughed. “Matt, just so you know, I don’t intend to be a gorilla keeper for the rest of my life. I want to find a sanctuary for Gumu and Neema and Kanoni, where they can be part of a bigger gorilla family like they would be in the wild. But until I can make that happen . . .” She smiled at him over her wine glass. “Most people’s lives are not nearly as interesting as ours, are they?”
Finn held up his wine glass in a toast. “Here’s to interesting lives.”
~ END ~
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