CHAPTER SIX #3
At about the thirty-minute mark, Mabel and I climbed back into the truck and made our way to the center of town, bumping down the narrow, winding road, passing barely anybody the entire drive.
“It’s weird how few vehicles we see on the road,” my kid remarked, as if she could read my mind. “I can’t decide if I like it.”
“I was just thinking the same thing. Does it make you feel lonely?”
“I never feel lonely. I like being alone. I like being with you or being alone. I don’t know if I know what lonely feels like.”
That made me glance over at her and grin. “And I hope you never do, kiddo. It’s not a good feeling.”
She only gave me a half-second side-eye before hollering, “Stop! Look!” and pointing to the side of the road. “It’s a …” But she’d already flung open her door—now that I’d abruptly stopped—and was running ahead.
I pulled the truck over to the shoulder and tossed on my hazard lights before getting out. “Don’t touch it,” I yelled before reaching into the back seat and grabbing a towel. “Birds carry all kinds of diseases.”
I jogged to join her where she crouched down in front of the large bird of prey.
“It’s an osprey,” she said, using a stick to gently lift the bird’s wing. “Pandion haliaetus. It’s just a juvenile, and it’s wing is broken.”
The bird stared at us with wide, buggy eyes and tried to get up and fly away, but every time it did, it would collapse back to the ground.
“Dad, we need to help it. Take it to an animal rescue center.”
“I don’t know if the island has one, kiddo.”
She met my gaze with hers, disbelief in her eyes. “What do you mean? Did you actually bring me somewhere that doesn’t have a place where you can bring injured birds? Injured animals? Isn’t there a vet on the island?”
Shaking my head because I didn’t have an answer, I brought out my phone and quickly Googled vets on San Camanez. Nothing came up. But what did come up was a random comment about a guy who rescued animals from kill pens. Did an injured bird count?
I needed to ask for a second opinion.
I dialed Spencer.
“Yo,” he answered on the third ring. “How’d the first week at the school go? The kids say you’re great. Better than the last douche.”
“Hey, man. Is there a place on the island where one might take an injured bird?”
“Huh?”
“We, uh … we stumbled across an osprey with a broken wing, and Mabel is asking where we can take it so someone can … heal it.”
Spencer made a scoffing sound. “Not on this island, bro. Sorry.”
“That’s what I thought. No vet?”
“Nope. But … there is Tommaso Barone’s place. I’m not sure if he’d take an injured wild animal though. From what I understand of the guy, he just accepts animals on their way to slaughter. Specifically, horses. He’s got a pig too, though.”
“Where abouts is this guy?”
“Not far from you. He’s dating Danica St. Claire. She’s one of the women who own the winery.”
One thing about Spencer, the guy was a talker.
“I’ll text you his address. Worse case, he turns you away. But he might be able to help.”
My phone vibrated with his message. “Got it. Thanks.”
“No worries, bud. Hey, come by one night for a drink and a bullshit.”
“Will do.” Then I hung up.
Mabel snatched the blanket from me and was already scooping the bird up. It struggled for a moment, but when she wrapped the fleece around the animal and cradled it to her chest, it stopped trying to get away.
“You have an address?” she asked.
“I do.”
“All right, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.”
“But … the pizza?”
The look my child gave me would have melted steel. Like, how dare I think of food at a time like this? A life was in jeopardy.
With a sigh, I turned off the hazard lights, checked my mirror and over my shoulder, then pulled back out onto the empty road. “Okay, look, the pizza place isn’t open forever. Can we just go grab the pizza and then take the bird?”
Her side-eye was lethal.
Sometimes I needed to remind myself who was the adult, and who was the child in our relationship. We weren’t that far apart in age; however, I was the dad. I was the adult, and I didn’t need to ask my thirteen-year-old for permission—besides to enter her room.
“Nothing is more than like twenty minutes. We’re like five minutes to the pizza place.”
“If this bird dies …”
It probably would.
There wasn’t a vet or a wild animal rescue center on the island. How much could a guy who rescued horses do for a bird with a broken wing?
I raked my fingers through my hair while keeping one hand on the wheel.
Things happen in threes right? First, it was the Kyla news, then Mabel freaking out about it, followed by the injured osprey.
This was it. This had to be it. This had to be our limit for shit going sideways for us.
We hadn’t even been on the island for a month, and already it felt like I was being tested beyond my capabilities.
This island was supposed to be a fresh start, a safe haven and a place of peace.
So far, besides today with Naomi, I hadn’t felt too much peace.
Was the island the problem? Or was Naomi the solution?
I’d have to think a bit more on that.