Chapter 6 #2
At the moment, Jasna was sitting in the straw with the calf’s head in her lap.
She was muttering to herself, trying out different names.
Tonka had been notified about the calf when he’d been in town a few days ago.
A rancher had asked if he might be interested in taking her because the mom had died, and he had no time to take care of a newborn.
If Tonka didn’t want her, he was going to sell her to the butcher.
Once he heard that, the decision was easy.
The Refuge didn’t need another cow, but there was no way Tonka could let the calf be sold for meat.
He hadn’t asked his friends if it was all right to bring in another animal, but to his relief, they didn’t mind.
There would come a time when The Refuge couldn’t sustain any more rescued animals, especially since Tonka was the sole person responsible for their care, but for now, they were doing all right.
There were other ranchers around the area who took in injured and neglected animals, and if needed, Tonka was fairly certain he could contact them and they’d agree to take in some of the rescues.
But for now, seeing Jasna bond with the calf made his heart swell.
The girl had been too excited to stop for lunch, and Tonka hadn’t pushed.
She’d eat and sleep well tonight, of that he had no doubt.
He also hadn’t wanted to leave her alone in the barn, so Jasna not wanting to take a break meant Tonka hadn’t either.
Which further meant, he hadn’t gotten to see Henley. He’d sent a few texts, letting her know they wouldn’t be up for lunch and not to worry, but it wasn’t the same as seeing her in person.
“Scarlet Pimpernickel!” Jasna exclaimed softly from inside the stall.
Confused, Tonka looked down at her. “What?”
“Scarlet Pimpernickel,” she repeated. “That’s her name. Scarlet for short.”
Tonka chuckled. “Sounds good.”
Jasna beamed up at him.
“You okay here for a while?” Tonka asked. The need to see her mom was almost overwhelming. He felt more comfortable leaving Jasna alone for a short time, now that she’d been here for a few hours and everything wasn’t so new.
“Of course.”
“I’ll be back in a bit. If the goats come in wanting dinner, don’t give in. They know when they eat but they’ll do their best to sucker you into feeding them early. If you get bored, you can always go check on Chuck and his lady. Make sure they’ve got lots of peanuts and walnuts.”
Chuck was the squirrel he’d rescued. The poor thing was missing two feet and had nearly been starved to death. Of course Tonka had fed him, and now the little guy was pretty tame, living with his girlfriend in a squirrel condo Tonka had built for them behind the barn.
“Bored? Are you crazy?” Jasna asked with a completely befuddled look.
Tonka chuckled. “Right. If you need anything, I’ll be up at the lodge.”
The girl nodded, but her attention was already back on the calf, who looked perfectly content to lay right where she was for the rest of her life.
Giving the girl one last look, Tonka headed for the exit. With every step he took, butterflies swam in his belly. He felt as if he was thirteen and about to ask a girl out.
He waved at Carly, Jess, and Ryan, who were folding sheets in the maintenance building located next to one of the cabins.
He was glad the new girl was working out, since there really was too much work for just two people.
And it was even more of a relief that the three women were getting along.
They worked hard taking care of the lodge, and getting the cabins cleaned and ready for new guests.
The Refuge didn’t offer daily housecleaning during a guest’s stay.
If they needed new towels or wanted a change of bedding or whatever, they could simply request it.
But no cleaning during a visit sometimes meant a lot of work for the women after guests left.
With Alexis quitting, the cleaning of the lodge itself had been left to the guys, and they were all relieved when Ryan had been hired and took over that duty.
Looking around their vast property, Tonka smiled slightly, pride filling him.
When Brick had invited him to invest and be a part of The Refuge, he’d accepted simply because he suspected if he didn’t…
he wouldn’t be around much longer. Tonka had been struggling to get out of bed each day, and the sheer volume of work required to get the retreat up and running had taken his mind off the shit that had happened to him.
But now, as he walked toward the lodge, satisfaction settled deep.
It hadn’t been easy to make The Refuge what it was today.
But he and his friends had relentlessly made it one of the premier places in the country for people suffering from PTSD to get away from real life for a while.
Because of their tenacity, and the hard work of the people who worked side-by-side with them day in and day out, they’d prospered.
He pushed open the door to the lodge and inhaled deeply.
The smell of Robert’s delicious chocolate chip cookies permeated the entire building.
Tonka’s belly growled. He’d had a quick bowl of oatmeal in his cabin before heading to the barn for his morning chores, and since he’d skipped lunch, he was definitely ready to eat something.
But more than food, Tonka needed to see Henley. Wanted to lay eyes on her and make sure she was good. He wasn’t sure why the need was always so strong, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to settle until he’d seen for himself that she was safe.
He peeked into the conference room she used for her sessions and saw her sitting in a chair in front of three of their guests.
She was nodding at something one of them said.
One of the many things Tonka liked about Henley was that when someone was talking, every ounce of her attention was on them.
She never made anyone feel as if she was bored or in a hurry.
She made them feel as if they were the most significant people in the world and what they were saying was important.
Tonka had seen a few different therapists right after everything had happened, but he hadn’t trusted any of them.
One man had interrupted him mid-sentence and informed him their time was up and he could pick up where they’d left off next time.
There hadn’t been a next time. Another woman was so frequently distracted by her cell phone sitting next to her on the desk, Tonka finally realized she hadn’t even been listening to him.
A third therapist had actually told him that he shouldn’t be taking what happened so hard, since no people had died.
Those were extreme examples. He knew that. Most psychologists and therapists weren’t so bad, were genuinely interested in helping their clients. But his experiences had soured him on the whole therapy thing, and after those three, he’d decided he was done.
And then Henley had arrived at The Refuge.
It had taken him months to join one of her group sessions, and even then it was only because he didn’t like how one of the guests had been acting, so he wanted to make sure Henley and the guests were safe as she conducted the session.
But as he’d sat in the room and listened to her talk, saw how concerned she was for her patients…how she empathized and truly listened…Tonka understood just how different she was from the therapists he’d been to in the past.
She didn’t offer platitudes. Didn’t tell anyone she understood when there was no way she could know what it felt like to have to shoot another human being in the head in order to survive. She was tough but nurturing at the same time. She gave the guests permission to be sad, angry, and even scared.
And she made herself vulnerable. Opened herself up by sharing her own traumatic experiences, again and again.
In short, if Tonka’d had a therapist like her right after his own life had blown up in his face, maybe he wouldn’t be so messed up today.
He forced himself back to the present and watched Henley through the window in the door for another ten seconds or so, enough time to ensure all was well, before turning and heading for the kitchen.
By the time he’d made himself a roast beef sandwich, eaten some leftover green beans from lunch, scarfed three of Robert’s cookies, then wandered back out to the lobby of the lodge, Henley’s session had ended.
She was just saying goodbye to one of the guests when she saw him. The way her eyes lit up and she smiled made Tonka feel ten feet tall.
“Hey,” he said as he walked toward her.
“Hi,” she returned. “You don’t seem too battered and bruised after spending a few hours with Jasna.”
He chuckled. “She’s actually been a huge help. And she and Scarlet Pimpernickel have really bonded.”
“Who?” Henley asked with a laugh.
“That’s what she named the calf.”
“Oh, jeez. I’m sorry. Don’t feel as if you have to keep that name,” Henley said with an adorable wrinkle of her nose.
“I wouldn’t dream of changing it. She thought about it long and hard, all afternoon.
We’ll call her Scarlet. I like it,” Tonka said.
“And,” he added, lowering his voice, “I have to admit that thinking up names is definitely not my forte, so she did me a favor. You wouldn’t believe how much crap I got about Melba’s name. ”
Henley laughed. “You thought that up?”
“Uh-huh. Thought it was awesome until the rest of the guys tried to veto it. I didn’t care, really, but it was the principle of the thing. I had to stick to my guns. And I know without a doubt none of the guys will give your daughter crap for the name she decided on. Win-win for me.”
“Well, I appreciate it. She’s been looking forward to today for two weeks.”
“Did you get lunch?” Tonka asked, changing the subject.
“I did. I don’t know what Robert and Luna did to those green beans, but I’m not usually a fan and I had two helpings.”