22

Bunny Hugger

“Oh my God,” Rajni sighed on the other end of the phone. “He caught a baby bunny for you?”

Mari shifted in her seat on her motel bed, grinning into the empty room. “Yup. It had fallen down one of the foundation holes for a new tower, and he found me in tears because I couldn’t catch it. So he unbolted one of the boxes off the side of the crew truck, and used that and a shoelace to trap it. And then he cut the bottom off a can of LaCroix to make it a little water bowl. Because he was worried it was thirsty.”

There was a moment of silence. “I think I just had a cute-gasm. Is that man still single? Because if you’re not gonna hit that, I’m sure going to. Maybe he can catch me a shrike so I can tame it and teach it to skewer me lizards on cue.”

Mari laughed at the mention of the desert bird and its odd eating practices. “You are a deeply disturbed woman.”

“Yes, but I could be a deeply disturbed woman with a cool pet-skewering bird.”

“Also, what would Leo think of you stealing my boyfriend?”

“He doesn’t get any say in the matter!”

“Did you guys break up?” Mari caught herself before she tacked on the word “again.”

“He’s got that jealous thing going again and I’m not into it. He—”

A beep interrupted Rajni’s rant. “Hey, can you hold on? I’ve got another call.” She pulled the phone away from her ear to see who it was, and froze.

It was area code 262.

Wisconsin.

She hadn’t seen that area code since she fled the state. No one back there had her new number.

Brad couldn’t have . . . there was no way. The phone wasn’t even registered under her real name. But if he had . . .

Her voicemail was just a generic recording. If he didn’t hear her voice, maybe he’d think it wasn’t her number. While she stared, her heart pounding, the call went to voicemail. She waited, not even breathing, but whoever it was didn’t call back. Slowly, her fingers loosened. If it was Brad, he’d never stop calling. Never give up once he’d found her. Must have just been a wrong number, or a telemarketer.

“Sorry, just a marketing call,” she told Rajni. “What were we talking about?”

“Can’t remember,” the other woman said. “Though, hey, I’ve been meaning to text you but when I went to do it, I didn’t have enough service. I was going to ask if you put in your résumé for that job walking triangles in the Chocolate Mountains?”

“Oh wow, it’s already time to start worrying about the next job, isn’t it?” Mari sighed. “I heard we’ll be done with this project in four weeks.”

“I heard three.”

“Yeah, but Jack said that the foundation crew has been having a lot of trouble getting the concrete to set up in this heat. They poured a whole truckload of ice into the mix yesterday and still didn’t hit the temperature right. Had to rip out the footings on Tower 1195 and start all over again, so he thinks the concrete thing will buy us an extra week.”

It was the closest they’d come to talking about what they might do after this job was over. Mari had brought up how soon it was all ending, and Jack had rushed to explain at least three reasons it might last a little longer. It was sweet, how earnest he’d been. She knew it was too early for promises, or to even consider prioritizing a relationship over the jobs that would carry them in different directions in a few short weeks’ time. But a pang twisted her stomach every time she thought about living someplace where Jack wasn’t just on the other side of the wall.

“Buy us an extra week?” Rajni laughed. “Like I’m dying to stay? It’s hot as hell’s sweaty armpit up here and I’m ready for a research job with just us bios. I’ve had enough of these environmentalist-hating construction workers. I’ll dump ice into the concrete truck myself if I have to.”

“It might come to that. I heard that Chocolate Mountains job was already full, but I’ll send my qual forms just in case. Lord knows my bank account needs the work.”

“Good. It’ll be fun to camp out with you again. I say we make Tuesdays ladies’ night. Me and you and Ivy and Lisa can find a spot off by ourselves and let the guys fart themselves to sleep once a week.”

“I suppose it’s not a coincidence that you chose Taco Tuesdays.” Mari laughed. “Smart woman.”

“Hey, the guys don’t just love me for these rockin’ legs, sweetie. It’s all about the brain. But speaking of tacos, I’ve got to make dinner. Talk to you soon? Don’t hesitate to call me if the Beastmaster does something cute.”

“Will do.” She hung up with a smile still lingering on her face. Why had she always assumed Rajni didn’t want to be better friends? She was a riot.

She glanced at the clock and her smile faded. It was getting late and Jack still wasn’t back. When her boss had stopped by to ask her to trap the rabbit, an offhand comment had led to Marcus betting Jack that he was faster on an impact wrench than his crew. Marcus managed to beat the apprentice, and Kipp, and gave Gideon a good run for his money. He didn’t come within a mile of matching Jack, but the bet had been that the biologist couldn’t beat anyone at all.

As a result, Jack was over at Marcus’s right now, changing out a loose belt on his Toyota to pay off the debt. She’d missed Jack at dinner, but counted it an evening well spent, because the men seemed to be getting along much better. Jack didn’t seem to have many friends, much like her when she’d first gotten here. The difference was, other guys weren’t as likely to do what Lisa had and drag her into the circle despite her worrying that no one wanted her there. Hopefully, right now Marcus was doing the same thing for Jack.

Still, there was only a half-hour’s worth of shows left before they flipped to reruns for the night, and she got a little pang that they wouldn’t get to hang out. Of course, it was just one night. She’d so quickly gotten used to sharing her evenings with someone who made her smile.

For just a second, she thought of the yellow cottage, and the rest of the interpretive team that would be living beside her if she decided to take the job. Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. On this job, making friends seemed to be coming easier to her than it ever had. Like something in her that had been bracing for their disapproval was finally starting to loosen its guard. But then, she couldn’t imagine liking any of the interpretive team at the park as much as she liked Jack. And a national park held few jobs for a construction worker.

She caught herself checking the parking lot for his truck again, and swished the curtains determinately closed. She was being silly, and she had plenty to do.

Her microwave needed cleaning, after all. The motel maids never remembered that part, so she set to it with a vengeance, and after that she did a load of laundry in the rusting washer next to the ice machine. She was just getting ready to go move it over into the dryer when a knock sounded at her door.

She answered, the smile that rose to her face so automatic that she couldn’t have stopped it if she tried. Jack smiled back from the other side of the threshold, a little bashful.

“Hey. Thought maybe I’d, uh—stop by and say—anyway, I’m back.” He shifted his weight, the paper grocery bag in his arm crinkling. “Not that you asked, or—”

She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him softly on the lips. “It’s nice to see you. Have you eaten? Want me to make you something?”

His eyes were hazy after the kiss, and a second late, he frowned. “You don’t gotta cook for me all the time. I stopped by the store on the way home. Got some steaks for us for tomorrow. I can do them on the barbecue out back.”

“That thing is full of wasps,” she warned.

“I cleared the wasps out last week. Wanted to give it time to settle before I used it.” He shot a glance at her. “Can’t cook much except on a grill, but I’m half-decent with a set of coals. Probably could use some protein, as many vegetables as you eat.”

“Ha!” She caught herself smiling. “Very thoughtful, though I don’t think I’m in too much danger of vegetable overdose. Want to come in?”

He nodded, his face lighting.

It was only the second time he’d been in her room. They’d tried watching shows in here, but he kept shifting his weight around and asking if she was tired and what time she went to bed, and no matter how much she reassured him, he still left exceptionally early. It seemed to work better if they just went to his room, where he knew she’d leave whenever she was ready.

What would he think if he knew she’d been considering sleeping over?

“Do you want me to put those in my fridge, or do you want to drop them off in your room?” She pointed to the grocery sack of steaks.

He grimaced. “We can keep them here. Smell of fresh meat is turning my stomach anyhow.” He passed over the bag.

“You not feeling well?”

“Yeah, uh, when I got done fixing Marcus’s truck, Lisa wanted me to stay and have dinner with them.”

Mari cringed. “Why’d you eat it, though?”

“She’s your friend, isn’t she?”

“That doesn’t mean I eat her cooking.”

Jack snorted. “Okay, well, next time warn me, and then you’ll know why she calls you spouting about what an ungrateful ass—I mean, jerk I am.” He sat down on the edge of the bed. “Speaking of, she asked me a truckload of questions about you. I think maybe you need to call her more or something.”

Mari raised her eyebrows as she went around to take her spot on the other side of the bed. “Questions like what?”

“Like how you been and how you seem and if you’re eating enough.” He looked disgruntled. “If Ricky’s giving you any trouble down at the motel. Told her I fired his ass.”

“Oh, I probably should have told her he was gone. I got out of the habit of mentioning him because I didn’t want her to worry.”

“I almost miss the moron. That new idiot operates a crane like he’s playing a bad game of Jenga. Gonna get us all killed.”

She winced. “I hope not. Because I don’t miss Ricky much.”

“Ricky ain’t coming back,” he reassured her.

He scooted back onto the bed, put his arm around her shoulders. She froze a little at the surprise of it. Had he ever reached for her so casually before? She melted into his side, enjoying having him finally home for the night.

“How many fistfights did you and Marcus get into at dinner tonight?”

“Ah, he’s all right. For a hippie. Talked guns, mostly. Bet him a fifty that if the three of us went down to the range, you’d outshoot him.”

She pulling back, laughing. “Now why’d you go and do that? I told you I was quieter on the stalk than him, but he’s a dead-on shot.”

“I got a feeling you can take him.” Jack settled her more closely into his side. “We have time for a show before bed?”

For a second, she considered bringing up the topic of the job ending again, but she didn’t want to pressure him to put a name to what they had here, or commit to something he might not be ready for. Even if she got lucky enough that he was interested, a lot of her jobs were so remote that it would be the kind of long distance that came with no internet, no mail delivery, and only sporadic cell phone service. And if she took the biologist-in-residence spot, there’d be no place for him there at all. Permanently.

She swallowed away that thought and put on a smile for him.

“Sure, I have time to watch a show. Nowhere else I’d rather be.”