Chapter 14 #2
He gave me a lazy smile. ‘I don’t know. A genuine one?’
‘I mean, ask someone if they like dogs and it’s fine to say No, I don’t . But puppies? What sort of person can say no to them?’ I replied.
He grinned. ‘Got it. So do you like puppies or do you think you should like them?’
‘Take me to the puppies already,’ I said, shoving his arm.
We took a detour via the volunteer kitchen, where one of the cooks had left a bag of food ready for him to collect, and headed around the back of the camp and into trees.
The rain had stopped as abruptly as it had started, and the air smelled fresh and earthy.
It was dark and Jackson produced a torch and lit a path for us.
‘Poor Utt,’ I said, feeling guilty. ‘He really doesn’t like us, does he?’
‘You can’t blame him for being permanently mad. He must get fed up with a bunch of party animals turning up every two weeks supposedly to help him.’
‘I’m not a party animal,’ I said.
‘Nope, sorry. Don’t believe you,’ Jackson teased.
‘Okay,’ I conceded. ‘I do like to party, but I want to be useful too.’
‘Good, because I’m going to put you to work any minute.’
‘I was looking forward to Utt’s induction,’ I said, following the beam of torchlight.
‘I can continue your education. Ask away.’
‘You know about turtles already?’
He nodded. ‘Sure. I’ve been here four weeks. Some of the eggs that Hugo crushed were collected by me. Really glad I stayed up half the night for that.’
‘So why were you there tonight at the induction?’
‘Shush.’ He deflected the question and took my hand. ‘We need to keep our voices down, we’re here.’
In a clearing ahead of us, a makeshift kennel had been made from a broken wooden crate, and sheltering inside was a scrawny mongrel lying on her side on an old towel. Six puppies were cuddled up against her, two at her teats.
‘Hello, girl.’ Jackson crouched down towards the mother dog and held his hand out for her to sniff. She lifted her head from the ground and gave a low growl.
‘Is this safe?’ I said, keeping myself tucked behind him.
He smiled. ‘Why, do you only do safe things?’
I liked his eyes. And his smile. And his arms. His arms especially.
‘I followed you into dark woods, didn’t I?’
‘True.’ He laughed softly, scratching the dog’s ears. The dog leaned into him and stretched out her legs. ‘You’re safe. She trusts me. She’s just being a mom.’
‘Not all moms do that.’ I tried out his American word, making light of the fact that my mother had stopped looking after me years ago.
My dad too, I thought: he was as much to blame, checking out of mine and Kat’s life seemingly with ease.
He didn’t even phone anymore, left it up to us to make contact.
He met my eye with curiosity but didn’t pry. ‘Can you give her some food from the bag?’
We’d never had a dog at home, and I wasn’t comfortable with this one. Quite apart from the almost certain fleas, the flashing eyes following my every move unnerved me.
‘I’ll pass.’ I knelt beside him and reached out warily to the nearest puppy. The mother didn’t seem to mind, so I gingerly picked it up.
‘Chicken.’
‘A chicken who’s attached to her fingers, thanks very much.’
While the mother was gobbling down the food Jackson had brought, we checked over the puppies in turn. I didn’t fully understand what we were checking for, but he seemed to know what he was doing, and I enjoyed giving them all a cuddle.
‘So what happens next?’ I asked.
I heard his breath catch. ‘Um, we can walk back along the beach, maybe go for a drink, if you like?’
‘I meant when you leave Bali. What happens to the dog and the puppies?’
‘Oh, right.’ He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I don’t know the answer to that. I’m taking it day by day, doing what I can for her and her little family while I’m here. Hopefully things will work out, which is pretty much my philosophy on life.’
‘That’s your master plan for your future?’ I teased.
‘What’s wrong with that? I’m gonna surf, dive, live by the beach forever.’ He tipped over the old can that served as the dog’s bowl and topped it up with fresh water from the bag. ‘Okay, girl, take care of those babies.’
‘You must have rich parents to support you, in that case,’ I said, replacing the puppy I was holding and getting to my feet.
Jackson pointed the torch back the way we’d come, and we picked our way through the undergrowth.
‘Not at all. I’ll get a job, pay my way. Work to live and it won’t even feel like work because I’ll be living the dream. One day I might even open my own surf school, who knows.’
Our arms were touching, his skin sending tiny electric shocks along mine.
‘Ha! So you do have a plan,’ I pointed out.
‘The only plan I have is to please myself. No responsibilities.’
He smelled of heat and sunscreen and boy, and I felt a gathering of desire in the pit of my stomach. ‘Except a grumpy dog and six puppies.’
‘Except them.’ His eyes glinted with mischief, making my heart speed up.
‘So … no girlfriend?’ I asked coyly.
‘Nope. You?’ He shook his head, not looking at me.
‘I don’t do boyfriends.’ I stopped walking.
‘You don’t?’ He raised his eyebrows.
I met his gaze brazenly and smiled. ‘I do boys, though, in case you wanted to kiss me.’
He drew me in close and gave me the best kiss of my life.
‘I knew it,’ I said, laughing, reaching my arms around his neck to do it again.
It was only my first day. I had a hunch that I was in for an awesome four weeks.