23. Henry
Chapter 23
Henry
T hank God we got the apartment thing taken care of.
Ruby really has to live somewhere that I know is secure and where she will feel pampered and not at all stressed about anything. I need her life in New Orleans to be as easy as I can make it. This time.
I wasn’t able to make the first thirty-six years of her life the happy, easy life she deserved to have. But I can do my best to make up for it now.
And I so appreciate that she understands me well enough to let me do that.
With some very Ruby-esque parameters.
When we are about ten miles away from Autre, we start seeing the signs for Boys of the Bayou Swamp Boat and Fishing Tours, as well as the signs for Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, the petting zoo and animal park. The Landry family owns and runs both.
“That’s the animal park that Princess Fiona works at, right?” Ruby asks.
I’m sure she’s aware of it because the podcast out of Cara has extensively covered Fiona’s rescue and rehabilitation efforts with exotic wild animals, particularly endangered species, and the fact that the tiny bayou town in Louisiana has giraffes, penguins, tigers, and lemurs, as well as the standard horses, alpacas, and goats.
“Yes. Though saying she works there is odd. She’s such a huge part of it. And I don’t think she takes a salary.” I should ask about that. “It would be odd if she did. In fact, she probably gives a ton of money to the park.”
“Well, if she’s anything like the rest of you, I’m sure she does.”
“The endangered species preserve on Cara is because of her,” I comment.
“Oh, I know. I went to see it while I was there.”
“I’m glad. It’s impressive.”
Ruby sighs happily. “Impressive is a good word for most things about the royal family.”
For the most part, I agree.
We pull into town, and I immediately feel happier. The town and its people have a typical southern Louisiana laid-back, charming style. But the town is also full of people I adore and we’ve made a lot of good memories even in the short time we’ve been here.
I’m especially excited to share this place and these people with Ruby.
And her with them.
She is such a huge part of my life now and they have become so important to me that it has felt strange for the last several months that they don’t know one another.
“Right here?” Sammy asks, slowing down by the nondescript building with the gravel parking lot.
I know I will find several people I know at Ellie’s bar, but for now I say, “No, just keep going. Let’s go to the petting zoo first.”
“Have you been out on swamp tours?” Ruby asks as we drive past the swamp boat tour company’s office and the boat ramps.
“Of course. It’s required,” I say with a chuckle.
“Are they as fun as they advertise?”
“The tour I went on is a bit different than the ones they give the paying guests,” I say with a short laugh. “My first tour was to Leo Landry's old fishing cabin. Leo is the grandfather to the whole Landry clan.” I frown. “Well, most of them. Not all, I guess. Anyway, his fishing cabin is extremely… rustic. It’s deep in the bayou, and I promise it has seen some things.”
“They don’t take just anyone there?”
“No. It takes a bit to get to and you would be convinced that you were in the middle of a crime documentary about halfway there.”
She laughs. “You are so dramatic.”
“That’s funny, that’s what they said.”
She shakes her head. “You consider Hilton hotels rustic, Henry. I can only imagine the horror on your face riding an airboat down the Louisiana bayou toward a ‘rustic’ fishing cabin.”
“There wasn’t a bottle of sparkling water or a crumpet to be found for miles,” I say, playing right into the stereotype she’s painting.
Which isn’t that far off.
The fishing cabin did, in fact, horrify me.
“What is a crumpet anyway?” she asks. “Are those real?”
“Very real. And delicious.”
We pull up in front of the building that houses the offices for the petting zoo and animal park. I don’t have to wonder how I’m going to find someone or who it will be because there is a small crowd gathered right near the entrance to the goat barn.
“You can head over to the bar,” I tell Sammy. “We’ll meet you there in a little bit.”
“Sounds good. I’ll be the big guy face-first in a bowl of gumbo.”
I laugh. “You won’t be the only one. I’ll look for the guy in the green shirt.”
He chuckles. “Perfect.”
I help Ruby out of the car, and we approach the group.
I only recognize some of them. Griffin Foster, who is one of the veterinarians for the animal park; his wife Charlie, who handles PR and marketing; Zander Landry, Autre’s cop; and Knox, the longtime town manager who was a write-in for mayor once and now continues to win every election via write-in.
I’m already grinning as we approach because they’re standing near the goat pen and Griffin is surrounded.
“What’s going on?” Ruby asks.
“Looks like goat shenanigans,” I say.
“You say that as if it’s a regular occurrence.”
“Oh, it is,” I tell her. “One of the goats, Stan, can open any gate they put on any pen. This leads to the goats getting out, which leads to them roaming the town. It’s such a regular occurrence that they have a goat phone that is manned twenty-four-seven. When people see the goats anywhere they’re not supposed to be, they simply call the goat hotline, and someone from the animal park comes and rounds them up.”
“The goats hate the petting zoo so much that they’re always trying to escape?”
“Nope. Sugar, the one with the big pink bow around her neck, is in love with Griffin, the grumpy-looking one there with the dark hair. If she hasn’t seen him for more than about twelve hours, she gets separation anxiety. Then Stan breaks them all out and she goes looking for him. The rest go with her for…moral support?” I grin. “Or just for the adventure of it. I don’t know.”
Ruby looks at me for a moment, realizes I’m not joking, and laughs. “Do we really want to know what’s going on over there?”
I nod. “Very much.”
“I’m just saying,” the man I don’t recognize says as we approach. “She was our sheep first.”
“You didn’t even care where she was until you noticed her on our website,” Griffin says.
“You didn’t even ask around if anyone was missing a lamb?” the woman I don’t recognize says.
“What did you want me to do? Draw missing goat posters? The goats got out. They came back with a lamb. The poor thing was starving, and her front leg was injured. Obviously, whoever she belonged to didn’t give a shit. We took her in and took care of her.” Griffin is glaring at the two people.
“What is it that you want exactly, Brandon?” Charlie asks the man. “You think this is your lamb, but you can’t really prove it.”
“Y’all found a lamb. We’re missing a lamb,” Brandon says.
“You want it back?” Charlie asks.
“No,” Griffin says immediately. “You left that lamb out in the pasture. That’s the only way the goats would have found her. The only way she could have followed them home. You didn’t have her in a barn the way you should have. She was starving. Clearly not being cared for by her mother or you. You can’t have her back.”
“We didn’t know the mother had rejected her,” the woman with Brandon, who I assume is his wife, protests.
“You’re just proving my point, Jackie,” Griffin says. “If you didn’t even notice that, you shouldn’t have animals in your care.”
“And,” Charlie interjects. “If you take her back, people are going to wonder what happened to the lamb and why she’s not here, with her friends, who saved her, where she clearly wants to be.” She holds up her hands. “And we’ll have to tell them the truth. We’ll have to add to her story on the website. I’m just putting that out there.”
“You’ll make us the bad guys?” Jackie asks.
“You’re already the bad guys!” Griffin exclaims.
“Fine,” Brandon says. “You can keep her. But we want some of the money you’re making off her.”
“Excuse me?” Griffin asks, stepping toward the man.
Zander starts to shift, but Charlie puts her hand on Griffin’s arm.
She tips her head. “What money, Brandon? We’re a petting zoo. We have people coming here to see animals every day. Goats, alpacas, rabbits, pigs. Now there’s a lamb. But there’s no way to prove that people are coming specifically because of her.”
Jackie snorts. “Except that you have her up on the website with the story of how the goats ‘adopted’ her. And you’ve got stuffed lambs in your gift shop now. And the T-shirts that say I want to be a goat at Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild too with the cartoon lamb and goats on it?”
Griffin rolls his eyes.
Zander looks at Charlie, “You’ve got all of that?”
She shrugs. “Yeah. It’s a great story and people love it.”
“Do I need to be here for this?” Knox asks Zander.
Zander grins. “Probably not.”
“So why did you call me and tell me to come?”
“I just wanted you here.”
Knox sighs. “Do you need to be here?”
“Not sure yet.”
“Can’t you arrest them? Or at least make them give me the money I deserve?” Brandon asks.
“Arrest them for what?” Zander asks.
“Stealing my lamb!”
“It sounds like your lamb left you,” Zander says.He looks at Griffin. “Have you ever touched that lamb outside of the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild property?”
“No.” Griffin sounds perturbed. “Of course not. We already have so many animals around here, why would I steal another one?”
“Well, you would if you thought it was being mistreated,” Charlie says, patting her husband’s arm.
“That’s not really helpful,” Zander mutters to her.
“I didn’t know it was being mistreated until it showed up here,” Griffin says.
“It wasn’t being mistreated!” Brandon protests.
“Neglect is mistreatment,” Griffin snaps.
“And when the lamb showed up here with the goats, Griffin didn’t really have a choice,” Knox says. “He simply did the right thing by taking care of an animal in need. As everyone would expect him to do.” Knox looks at Griffin. “You’re a veterinarian. It’s probably in some ethical code for you to take care of the lamb, right? Do you have Hippocratic oath?”
“It’s not called that, but there’s something like it,” Griffin says.
Knox looks at Brandon. “Seems to me he had to take the lamb in.”
“I could…sue the petting zoo for letting the goats out,” Brandon says. “If they weren’t out roaming all over, they wouldn’t have kidnapped my lamb.”
“Kidnapped!” Charlie laughs. She looks at everyone. “Get it? Baby goats are called kids? The goats might have thought she was a goat so ‘kidnapped’ her?”
Griffin actually cracks a smile. Ruby giggles. I grin.
Brandon doesn’t. “So you admit that your goats stole my lamb!”
“Well, that won’t matter,” Knox says. “The town passed a declaration about a year ago that no one could hold the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild responsible for anything the goats do while they were out around town.”
“ What ?” Brandon demands.
Knox shrugs. “I was surprised, too. It’s ridiculous. But the town knows the animal park brings a lot of money into town, so they let them get away with a lot. And the only other option was to get rid of the goats. No one wanted that. They find the goats entertaining. Besides, the Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild is great about rebuilding fences, replanting gardens, and cleaning up after the goats, so no one really cares that they get out. In fact, a few people want the goats to dig up their flower beds because the replanted flower beds are always gorgeous. Anyway, you’re not going to be able to hold the business responsible.”
“Huh,” Zander says. “Maybe you do need to be here.”
Knox shrugs.
“So they just get to make money off a lamb that belongs to us ?” Brandon asks.
“They get to make money off a lamb that they rescued from a terrible situation,” Zander says. “And you get to avoid being prosecuted for animal neglect and cruelty. I also won’t come check out your farm to be sure no other animals are at risk.”
“Are you sure you shouldn’t do that?” Griffin asks.
“How about this?” Charlie asks. “You let Zander and Griffin come look around your farm and?—”
“No fucking way,” Brandon says.
“Ooh, not a great way to seem totally innocent,” Knox says.
“As I was saying,” Charlie goes on. “You let them come look around, you leave Splenda here and?—”
“Splenda?” Knox asks.
Charlie points at the goat with the pink bow. “Sugar.” She points to the lamb. “Thinks she’s a goat like Sugar. So…Splenda. The sweet, white stuff that’s kind of like sugar, but not really.”
Ruby giggles again, and I hug her against my side. I knew she’d love this place.
“ Anyway ,” Charlie says. “You do that, reassure the guys that you messed up this one time and never will again, then we’ll do a joint interview with the news station out of New Orleans that loves to cover the animal park. We’ll tell them that Splenda is from your farm. We’ll leave out the part about you neglecting her. We’ll just let you link your name to the feel-good story and you can even plug your…what do you make again, Jackie?”
“Candles.”
“Your candles,” Charlie says. “Maybe you can name a new scent Sugar and Splenda. Make it white. Put a little lamb and a goat on the label. I’ll bet people will buy that.”
Jackie actually smiles at that. “That’s a good idea.”
Charlie nods. “I know.”
“What’s it going to smell like? A barnyard?” Brandon asks.
Charlie gives him a disappointed look. “Oh, Brandon. That is not a good idea. I think you need to let me and Jackie handle this joint effort.”
Brandon opens his mouth to reply, but Charlie steps forward, links her arm with Jackie’s, and pulls Jackie away, walking toward the barn.
The men watch them go.
Then Brandon says, “I want to be on the news.”
Griffin shrugs. “Then you’d better get back on Charlie’s good side.”
“Is that hard to do?”
“It sure can be,” Griffin says. “And the methods I use are absolutely not available to you. So…good luck.” Then he follows his wife with a huge grin on his face.
Zander looks at Brandon. “You should go home.”
“But…Jackie.”
“She’ll find a ride home,” Zander tells him.
“But she…”
“There’s cappuccino, and probably gumbo, and a lot of animal visiting, and a lot of people visiting in her immediate future. It will be a while. But she’ll come home happy, so…you’re welcome.” Zander turns him and walks him toward his truck.
Brandon doesn’t seem to know what else to do, so he gets in his truck and drives off.
Finally, Zander and Knox notice me and Ruby.
“Henry!”
They come over with smiles. Well, Zander does. But Knox doesn’t frown, which is basically like smiling for him.
“Hi, guys. Ruby, Zander Landry, and Knox. Fiona’s husband.”
She extends her hand. “Hi, Zander.” She shakes his hand, then Knox’s. “We met at Cian and Scarlett’s wedding. I keep meaning to ask someone, is Knox your first or last name?”
“You can just call me Knox,” he says, taking her hand.
“Ohhkay.”
“It’s nice to see you again,” Knox says. He looks at me. “You’re taking her to meet Ellie?”
“Yes.”
“So she’s the one.”
Well…yes, she is. I nod. “Yes.”
Ruby looks at me. I meet her eyes and repeat, “Yes.”
She smiles. “Let’s go meet Ellie.”