The Nature of Love (Love in the Spotlight #3)

Chapter 24

Twenty-Four

Chris opened the back door, trying to push aside the image of Erykah’s confused face. She must’ve picked up on his altered behavior. Not that he could really feign surprise. He’d decided on the airplane to give her the space she desired, but judging by the look on her face, that’s not what she wanted. Or at least, if he was interpreting it correctly, she wasn’t feeling gratitude but hurt.

“Hey, you Chris Gamble?” the animal control officer asked.

“I am.” Chris stuck out a hand. “What do we have here?”

“Someone found a female black-footed ferret in their garage. Called animal control, and now here we are.”

Chris examined the small crate the animal was in. “Is she hurt?”

“Negative.”

“All right.” Chris signed the transfer paperwork.

Then he got one of the clean crates from the bottom shelf and opened it so that the man could transfer the ferret with ease. She quickly moved to the other enclosure, and Chris closed the crate doors. After locking up behind the man, Chris turned to the ferret.

“Welcome to Gamble on Nature. I’m Chris,” he said, pee king into the crate. “You’re going to be okay. I might even introduce you to Kimble if you’re well-behaved.”

She chucked at him, and he laughed.

He didn’t think she was someone’s pet. There was a look about her that spoke of the wild, but the quickness with which she’d traveled from crate to crate spoke of domestication. Maybe she’d recently been released from a breeding farm.

He turned on the laptop in the in-processing room and pulled up their standard questionnaire. Grabbing some gloves, he opened the crate into an enclosure that would allow him to examine the new ferret and ensure she was physically okay.

After going through the checklist, Chris determined she was fine. Probably got turned around and found herself in the garage. He should’ve asked the animal control officer if the ferret came from a rural neighborhood or suburban one. That’s something he could do tomorrow morning. He sent himself an email detailing that and added a note to check for chipping, so he wouldn’t forget to do so tomorrow, then slid his phone back into his pocket.

“Hey, you wanna meet Kimble?”

Actually, this would be a good thing for Erykah and Cheyenne to witness. He wasn’t sure if Ash would care, but it was safe for them to watch. He coaxed the ferret into her crate, then slid off the gloves.

He walked down the hall and found the girls in his office.

“What is it?” Cheyenne asked.

“A ferret.”

“Like Kimble?”

He nodded.

“Can I see?”

Chris glanced at Erykah, asking the question with his gaze. She nodded.

“Su re. Do you want to come too, Erykah?” Chris asked.

Her mouth parted, and he smiled, trying to show that he wasn’t totally closed off. But he was going to need clearer direction from her. Did she want the ease and friendliness that was normally between them, or did she want space and less of him?

He swallowed against the indigestion that question raised in his insides.

“Yes, that sounds like fun.”

Chris motioned for them to follow him. Cheye slid her hand into his and started chatting animatedly as they headed toward the back. Apparently she’d been researching ferrets, rereading the book Erykah had checked out of the library for her.

“Do you think she’ll like Kimble?”

“I hope so.”

“Are you going to name her?” Cheye asked.

“Probably not. We have to find a new home for her.”

“No!” Cheyenne squeezed his hand. “Keep her. Don’t send her away.”

He drew in a breath. Chris stopped walking to kneel before her. “I want the best for every animal I meet. You know that, right?”

She nodded, but her lip remained poked out.

“So it may not be best to keep her here. There might be a better place for her. Plus, if she has a chip saying she belongs somewhere else, I’ll have to give her back.”

“Would you ever give me back?” Cheye whispered.

Chris froze. He wanted to look toward Erykah, but he had no idea if she could hear their conversation since Ash had started babbling when Cheye first started talking. Lord God, please give me wisdom.

He looked her in the eyes. “Cheyenne, we’re friends, right?”

She nodded vigorously.

“Since we’re friends, that means I will always be here for you, even if we don’t live together.” The words had his stomach in knots, but he had no idea why.

Sure you do. Erykah and the girls will move. They’ll no longer be in your life on a daily basis.

But until he was hauling boxes, he’d forget that bit. He was needed now, and that had to be his primary concern. Besides, the Lord wouldn’t want him to turn into a ball of worry thinking about the future.

“Okay,” she murmured.

He stood.

“Everything okay?” Erykah asked, coming to stand next to him.

“Tell you later,” he mumbled.

“Got it.”

They continued to the back room. He pointed to a spot they could watch, then went to retrieve Kimble. The little guy was playing around in his enclosure. Probably came out to eat the dinner that was left for him before the last person clocked out. Kimble happily climbed up Chris’s arm and onto his shoulder.

“Want to meet a lady friend?” Chris asked.

Kimble chucked at him. Chris prayed the animals would be okay. He was hoping they’d play together and enjoy seeing one of their kind, especially considering the species was endangered.

Cheyenne cheered when he walked in with Kimble, while Erykah’s mouth dropped in surprise. He stopped near her, and Ash’s eyes widened.

“Erykah, Ash, this is Kimble. Kimble, meet the ladies.” Kimble chucked, never leaving the perch of Chris’s shoulder.

“You have a real-life animal on your shoulder,” Erykah said.

“No different than Charlie lying on my lap.”

She snorted. “Likely story.”

He loved when her snarky side came out. She kept it so close to her vest it was easy to forget sarcasm was one of her love languages.

“How about we put Ash in the floor seat and let you hold Kimble?”

“Yes!” Cheye clapped her hands. “Can we make a YouTube video too? I’ll direct.” Cheyenne made a shooing motion to her aunt.

Chris bit down on his tongue, trying to keep his laughter in.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Erykah said.

“The floor seat is in my office.”

“I’ll get it.”

Cheyenne took off before he could say otherwise. “Walk,” he shouted after her, then turned back to Erykah. “He’s harmless. He’ll love you.”

Determination coated her brown eyes. “Okay. I can do this.”

“You sure can.” He grinned, and all of a sudden, she was looking at him like she had before. No guardedness in her eyes, just pure ease.

Erykah set Ash in the little baby seat while Chris got his phone set up on the tripod so Cheye could direct their video. He doubted it would be good enough to upload, but if it excited her, he’d let her play around.

“Hey, guys, I’m Chris Gamble, bringing you another Gamble on Nature video. Today I’ve got a special guest, Dr. Erykah Kennedy.” He turned toward her, and she waved at the camera. “Dr. Kennedy isn’t an animal doctor. She’s actually an orthopedic surgeon and one of my good friends. It’s her first time meeting Kimble.” He paused. Maybe he should’ve thought this through.

“Ho ld hands so Kimble can go across your arm onto her shoulder,” Cheyenne suggested.

Chris laughed. “Great idea, Cheye.”

“I don’t know.” Erykah’s voice shook.

“It’ll be great.” He laced their fingers together, ignoring the way his body seemed to relax with relief. Never mind the way his senses came alive under her touch.

He sidestepped, then lifted their hands. “You ready?”

“Um...” She bit her lip.

“Do you trust me?”

Her gaze met his. “Yes.” She paused. “I’m ready.”

“Kimble, go.”

The ferret went down his shoulder across his arm, then scrambled up Erykah’s. She squeaked out an unintelligible sound that had the girls laughing. Kimble stopped on her shoulder, curling up.

“You did it, Auntie Erykah.” Cheyenne clapped with glee.

“I knew you could,” Chris said. Hearing his voice drop down an octave had his throat drying out. Was holding her hand really affecting him that much?

“I think you can call him back now,” she said.

Chris blinked. “Right. Kimble, come.”

The ferret reversed his course and made it safely back to his shoulder. Cheyenne squealed with happiness, then yelled, “Cut! I saw that in a movie once.”

He laughed out loud.

Erykah let go of his hand, and an expression he couldn’t catalog flashed in her eyes before she moved away, picking up Ash from the baby seat. Chris moved to his phone to stop the video.

“I stopped it,” Cheyenne said.

“How?”

She rolled her eyes. “You just press the red button, and it stops.”

“Oh, she knows how to record videos,” Erykah said wryly. “Ask me how many videos I’ve found on my phone of her and Ash.”

He chuckled. “Two or three?”

“I stopped counting. Some were good, and I saved them.”

“Kids these days are surprisingly smart with technology.”

“Agreed.” Erykah came to stand by him. “Will you introduce Kimble to the other ferret now?”

“I will.”

“Can I record?” Cheyenne asked.

“Sure.” He handed her his cell phone. She moved to the end of the plexiglass enclosure, holding his phone horizontally.

Chris set Kimble in the enclosure, then picked up the female ferret’s crate to let her into the enclosure. She and Kimble stared at each other, then ran closer, and a second later, they were playing.

Ash giggled as she watched, and his heart filled. He loved these girls. If he and Erykah ever dated, well, he could imagine a life very much like this one but with the affection that was currently lacking between him and Erykah.

“I think you should name the ferret Phoebe if you change your mind about letting her stay,” Erykah suggested.

“Like the detective in Kindergarten Cop ?” he asked.

She smiled. “Yep.”

“Why not Joyce? After all, that’s who he fell for.”

“I’m pretty sure the ferrets are siblings.”

He threw his head back and laughed. Immediately Cheyenne began questioning what was so funny. Knowing she wouldn’t understand, he put her to work helping him close the center once more.