THE COUGHS KEPT coming as Rachel reached up to find out what hit her. Whatever the thing might be, it was still there, making her head feel heavy. She knew her face must be bright red from the coughing spasms. She became even more glad for the dim light in the park.
"Hold on. Don't panic." Ignacio took the glass from her and set both next to the picnic basket.
"I'm not panicking. I just don't like sudden surprises," Rachel said, sputtering out another cough to clear her throat.
He rose to his knees, and soon she could feel his hands in her hair. She started to ask what it was, expecting a bat or one of the nocturnal birds of the park. Then she heard a chirp and a soft thrumming.
"It's really tangled in here. I'll have to take out some of the pins," Ignacio said.
She put her hand down. She couldn't believe it. "Let me guess. A Mandian flying squirrel?"
Ignacio's hands paused. "How did you guess?"
Her heart sunk lower. Why now? "One white ear and the other with a small notch in it under the feather tufts?"
Ignacio settled on his legs, one hand still in her hair. "How did you know that?"
Rachel reached up to the little fur-ball shaking itself silly with its thrumming to pet the furry back. "May I introduce Pookie?"
The squirrel started thrumming even louder, nestling down even further into what had once been an elegant hairstyle. Its nimble hands rubbed against her skull as it snuggled ever deeper into her hair.
Ignacio stared at her with wide eyes. "Pookie? Who would name the poor thing Pookie?"
"The name wasn't supposed to stick!" She reached up with both hands to try and pry Pookie out, but it grabbed onto her hair even more. What a day for him to appear. "Usually I wear a pony tail when I visit and it's not too hard to get him out."
Finally she gave up, and Pookie went back to his happy thrumming. Great, what was she supposed to do now? Go the rest of the evening with a Mandian flying squirrel cuddled up on her head?
An odd muffled noise had her turning to Ignacio, only to find him trying to smother laughter, and failing miserably. "Remind me to never let you name any of my newts."
"Oh, you're a real help." Then she started laughing, as well. It was too ridiculous not to. "If you'd told me we were coming here, I could have warned you."
"Let me guess, another rescue?" He asked.
"Of a sort. He was getting transported back to his home world to be released and caught a virus. I'm one of the volunteers who nursed him through. But, with the illness, he couldn't go back home. He might carry it to the native population." She reached up to give him another scratch. "So, his permanent home is here in the refuge."
"Were you the one who gave the name?"
"No, one of the other volunteers!" She said quickly. Then grinned. "I wanted to name him 'Sunny.'"
"Not much more imaginative than Pookie." He warded off her threat to throw a roll at him. "Okay, enough laughing. How do we get him out?"
Rachel reached over to pick up her glass. "We'll wait a few minutes. Sometimes he gets bored and will leave on his own. It's feeding time anyway."
Only, Pookie was quite happy where he'd landed. It made it hard to hold a conversation with Pookie thrumming away along with the occasional chirping commentary.
Ignacio didn't refill her glass when she finally finished it. He took it and put it in the basket. "I'm sorry, but I can't talk about newt reintroduction issues while the guy is staring at me with those satisfied eyes making those noises. I keep getting the feeling I should close a bedroom door."
Rachel laughed. "It's nothing like that. Pookie thinks I'm one of his moms coming to visit."
"Either way, Pookie needs to go play with his kind and eat. How do we get him out of your hair without shaving you." Ignacio said, clipping closed the flap of the basket. "I should be giving you those looks, not him."
She almost collapsed into laughter again. Ignacio blushed so deep she could see it in the dim light around them. Poor guy. He'd been around only animals a little too long.
"We'll go find Reggy."
"Ah, the gamekeeper." Ignacio packed up the basket and reached down to help her up.
Rachel felt as though she should be careful at how she walked in case the books on top of her head fell. Only, this wasn't a posture exercise. Pookie wasn't going to go anywhere until good and ready, and a good head-shake wasn't about to loosen his grasp.
Ignacio flapped the blanket and folded it with practiced ease. With the blanket over an arm and the basket in hand, he motioned her to lead the way.
"I'm getting the feeling you picnic often," Rachel said, taking the path following the lake edge.
"When I get the chance. I prefer being out here with the animals and scenery instead of cooped up in confining spaces."
Rachel couldn't help asking, "By yourself?"
"Usually. Sometimes with a few friends." He took her arm as they started moving up an incline. "Fishing?"
"Not really interested. I would prefer to watch the flitch's fish."
When he started laughing she realized he'd meant something else. Goodness, she was as bad as him. She really needed to get away from the pipes of Redpoint One a bit more often.
They found Reggie near the feeding huts for some of the more shy animals. He took one look at her hair and joined in the laughter. "Found you again, did he?"
"On a special night. Can you help get him out?" Rachel asked.
"Tonight another charity dinner?" Reggie rubbed the short gray beard. "I don't recall one happening tonight."
"No, a private picnic."
"A picnic date? Ah, now that makes more sense. Tonight is a good night for it. Come with me. Let's see if we can lure him out." Reggie led the way to another hut filled with bins clearly marked as feed for various animals.
"What happened the last time?" Ignacio asked as he settled at a metal table next to Rachel.
"Charity dinner invaded by snuggly little flying squirrels. What's to tell?" Rachel said, the thrumming near her ear as strong as ever.
"Nice to see you again, Ignacio. Have new inhabitants for the lake soon?" Reggie asked as he rifled through several tubs on a shelf.
"No, not right now. All are slated to head back to their home worlds," Ignacio said.
Reggie glanced over at him, frowning. "Can you take out the basket? I don't want Pookie to get confused over smells. People food should remain people food."
Ignacio started. "Right. I should have thought about that. Be right back."
He gave her a squeeze on the arm and then slipped back out the door. Rachel watched him go, sighing as she propped her head up in her hands. "It's always something."
"Pookie was just saying hello." Reggie pulled a canister off a shelf and started making his way back to the table.
"I'm not mad at Pookie. Pookie and I get along great."
"Problems with the date?" He set the canister on the table and grabbed a scoop and small bowl.
Rachel averted her eyes, knowing what the canister held. She'd had a great dinner. She didn't want to spoil it by looking at Pookie's dinner. "The date is going fine."
"Uh huh. Right. And Pookie is a solar monkey." Reggie took the bowl and waved it in the air next to Rachel's ear.
A thin furry arm reached out, the flap of skin it used for gliding waving in the air. Reggie pulled the bowl just out of his reach, but Pookie wasn't ready to let go to go after it yet.
"What's to tell? It's the first date. My first dates are usually disasters," Rachel said. "Not that this one is. So far so good, other than talking only about business."
Reggie shook the bowl again, eliciting another attempted arm-grab. "You were hoping for something more personal? Such as details about his wife?"
"Wife?" Rachel repeated. She hadn't read anything about him being married in any of his research. Oh no, was she now 'the other woman?'
"Dead wife." Reggy said.
"Dead wife?" Oh no. Did one of the newts off her?
***
Ignacio left the building and found a bench to set the basket and blanket down on. He should go right back in, but he found himself reluctant to do so.
The humorous image of Rachel in her beautiful golden dress with an adoring flying squirrel peeking out from the curls of hair on the top of her head was irresistible. Both so soft, in more than dress or fur. And much too familiar.
He'd found a woman who possessed a magic touch with animals. Someone who loved animals on their own, without faking it in an attempt to continue dating. Someone who appeared honest and real in everything she did. Who honestly liked him and what he did without hesitation.
He'd had that once, and lost it. With it came the memories he'd tried so hard to suppress. Tried and obviously failed.
With it, the charm of the evening disappeared. A heaviness settled on his heart. He wasn't ready for any of this, and it wasn't fair to Rachel.
"He's out," Rachel called out.
His cue to go back inside. To continue a date his heart no longer wanted.
He forced himself to return, finding Rachel still sitting at the bench with her hair down around her shoulders, and a thrumming squirrel held in her arms and happily munching large beetles from a cup on the counter in front of it.
The image flashed to that of someone else a bit shorter with red hair, holding a rescued bird. He blinked rapidly, the image so real. The image shifted back to that of Rachel.
He couldn't say anything, although he knew he should. The image was seared into his mind, making him incapable of thinking or feeling anything other than deep pain.
"Operation Squirrel Escape accomplished," she said with a grin.
"Hand him to me. I'll make sure he gets a good feed before releasing him by his favorite tree." Reggy reached out for him. "Off you go. Get a head start on a walk or something before he decides to come looking for you for another snuggle."
Ignacio thanked him while Rachel passed him over. Even while eating, Pookie didn't want to let go.
Pookie. What a name for a male squirrel.
"He's right. We should make a run for it. Would you like a walk?" Rachel asked, joining him near the door.
Right, a walk. A walk would be a good past-time to follow a picnic. The paved walkways through the refuge were well-lit and perfect for such an activity. His mind knew all of it. His heart was another matter.
"Sorry about your hair," he said, finally getting out a few words.
"No harm done. Despite the timing of his hello, it was nice to see Pookie again," Rachel said. She pulled her hair back and used one of the clips that had once kept the loose bun in place to instead move her hair away from her face.
They returned to the bench with the basket and blanket. Ignacio picked them up, wondering what he should do now. Had it been enough time for the date to safely end? Should he walk a token amount around one of the smaller environmental enclosures?
"Reggie told me a little of the consulting you do for the refuge. You seem to be everywhere. I admire the dedication," Rachel said.
"I'm needed." He pushed the blanked higher on his arm as they headed back the way they'd come.
"Along with the newts. I'm amazed you have time to sleep."
"I get by."
All the while images of another woman flashed through his mind. What was wrong with him? Tied to the past, tied to changing the future for animals unfortunate enough to be in the way of human progress. For once it all felt so confining, but he had no idea how to get out from the tangle.
"What direction?" Rachel asked in the silence.
Happiness and humor no longer glowed from her face. No touch of laughter touched her voice. Instead, she was worried.
And, it was all his fault.
The short way, then. Then, time to end the date. It had gone on long enough.