Chapter 11 #2
“After that, I guess I just decided I preferred to interact with animals because they don’t know how to be deceitful.
How to be evil. They don’t turn on you without reason.
As long as they aren’t hungry or cold, have adequate shelter, aren’t beaten…
they’re perfectly happy to be your friend and they’re completely loyal.
I’d seen firsthand how evil humans can be, and after losing Steel, I painted almost everyone with the same brush.
“I know that’s a fucked-up way to see the world, and I’m working on it. Thank you all for not giving up on me, and for putting up with me being so standoffish.”
Tonka stared at the men around the table.
He respected each and every one of them.
He’d kept them at arm’s length even though they’d been nothing but supportive.
He didn’t know how they’d react to what he said—plenty of people thought his grief was bullshit because he’d lost a dog—so he braced for anything.
“Holy shit. Henley truly is a miracle worker,” Spike said into the silence.
For a moment, everyone stared at him in shock—then they burst into laughter. Tonka couldn’t help but join in. His friend wasn’t wrong.
“Right?” Pipe said. “She’s turned our grunting animal man into a pile of mush!”
Tonka threw his pen at Pipe, chuckling when it bounced off his forehead.
“Ow!” he exclaimed, bringing a hand to his head.
Everyone laughed harder.
“I mean, I know Alaska changed me into a better man, but jeez,” Brick said with a shake of his head and a fond grin.
“Where can I find me a Henley?” Spike asked. And while Tonka and everyone else knew he was kidding, there was an undercurrent of wistfulness in the question that was easy to hear.
“It’s been really great having you around more,” Tiny told him.
“Agreed,” Stone said with a nod. “I mean, I’m guessing you’re never going to volunteer to run a karaoke night or anything, but seeing you at meals and at some of the nightly activities has been awesome.”
“And having Jasna around this summer has been a ton of fun,” Owl said.
“I second that. She’s so inquisitive and full of wonder. You forget how healing that alone can be. And some of the guests have even mentioned how they’ve loved chatting with her in their reviews,” Pipe agreed.
“We should talk about that,” Brick said in a more serious tone of voice.
“When we started this place, we agreed that no children were allowed. We didn’t want to have undisciplined or unruly kids running amuck.
Not to mention, crying babies could be a trigger for some people.
But do we want to revisit our stance on the kids thing? ”
“You asking for any particular reason?” Stone asked with a grin.
Brick smiled. “Maybe. I mean, I’m not saying Alaska and I are going to pop out a baby tomorrow, but there might come a time when we want to have children.
And hopefully someday you guys will find your own women and possibly want kids yourselves.
It seems a little unfair to have a no-children rule when our own could be running around someday. ”
“And opening the place up to kids would let more single parents take advantage of what The Refuge has to offer,” Stone said.
“But here’s the thing,” Pipe said. “As far as our own children go, we have a say in how they’re raised.
We can teach them to be respectful and not bring them up to be hooligans.
If we open The Refuge to kids, we have no control over how they’ll act.
I mean, we can have guidelines and stuff, but what do we do if one of them is a holy terror? ”
“Good point,” Stone said.
“And crying babies could still be a trigger,” Tiny added. “I think our cabins are far enough away from the others that if we had babies, they wouldn’t always be heard by the guests.”
“So, what? Alaska and Brick won’t be allowed to bring their baby to the lodge?” Owl asked. “Just in case it might cry and make someone uncomfortable?”
“No, I’m not saying that,” Tiny said.
“What if we started off by saying children over the age of eight will be welcome, but with certain rules? Like they have to be accompanied by an adult at all times?” Spike suggested.
“Or maybe we could have certain weeks where children are welcome. That way, anyone making reservations would know when there might be kids around, and can decide on their own if they want to come at that time,” Tonka added, speaking up for the first time.
“That’s a good idea,” Brick said. “We could also come up with age-appropriate activities and stuff, maybe hire someone to entertain the kids while the parents take some time for themselves or when they’re in therapy sessions.
Down the line, we could even add a building that’s specifically for kids. ”
“I have to admit, I like the adult vibe we have going on here,” Spike said.
“This isn’t a theme park or a summer camp.
We started this place with the intention for our guests to have a place where they can relax.
No matter how well-behaved the kid, having children around brings a different vibe to the place.
I think we’ve seen that with Jasna around this summer.
And don’t get offended, Tonka, I’m not saying I haven’t enjoyed her being here. Just that it’s different.”
Tonka nodded. His friend wasn’t wrong.
“However,” Spike continued, “what I love even more about this place, and working with all of you, is that we aren’t afraid to make changes.
To keep up with new needs and demands. So many other businesses would refuse to do anything different, especially when they’re making a profit.
I like that we can talk about the pros and cons of things and come to a reasonable agreement. ”
The others agreed with Spike, as did Tonka.
Hell, he was just glad to be involved in the discussion.
It might have taken five years for the fog in his head to begin to clear, but he was lucky to have landed here in New Mexico with these men.
Any other employer would probably have fired him by now.
Not wanting to put up with his idiosyncrasies.
“Okay, we’ll need to come up with some verbiage for the website and figure out what weeks we want to open the place to people with children.
I’ll have Alaska look at the reservations and see if there’re any weeks that seem better than others.
This summer and next are already pretty booked up, but maybe we can find time in the fall and spring that will work,” Brick said.
More nods around the table, before Brick changed the subject.
“So…I take it things are going well with Henley?”
“Yeah, they are,” Tonka said with a small smile.
“Good. You deserve to be happy,” Brick said. “And before we get all mushy again, you want to talk to us about how the calf is fitting in? What’d Jasna name her again?”
“Scarlet Pimpernickel,” Tonka said with a grin.
“Good Lord,” Owl groaned with a smile and a shake of his head.
“Scarlet for short,” he informed them. “And she’s good.
A little on the thin side, but we’ll fix that in no time.
Although she’s gonna grow up to be just as big or bigger than Melba.
We’re probably going to need to expand the paddock.
Especially with the horses and goats and who knows what else we’ll take in. ”
The next twenty minutes were spent discussing how much space there was in the barn and how many more animals they could reasonably house before the barn itself needed to be expanded as well.
“If we keep expanding, we might need to hire someone to help Tonka,” Stone said. “I mean, I know the barn is his domain, but there are only so many hours in the day.”
“That’ll be up to Tonka,” Tiny said firmly. “The barn is his domain. I would never want to bring someone in who might disrupt his routine.”
The others all looked to him for his thoughts, and once more, Tonka was thankful for these men.
They might all be former military, and a little rough around the edges, but they were considerate and loyal.
And instead of feeling panicked at the thought of sharing his animals with someone, of allocating some of his workload, Tonka thought about how much more time he’d be able to spend with Henley.
“I’d be open to having some help,” he said simply.
Brick grinned, as if he could read Tonka’s mind. “I’ll put out some feelers when the time comes, but you’ll be in charge of interviewing and hiring, all right?”
Tonka nodded. In the past, he would’ve balked. Would’ve told Brick to hire whoever he wanted. But today, he felt confident enough to make such an important decision for himself.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m about meeting’d out,” Stone said. “Anyone want to check out the bunkers with me? We haven’t done it in a while, and after what happened with Brick and Alaska, I figured it might be a good idea to make sure they’re all good.”
“I’m game,” Spike said as he stood.
“I can take anyone interested on a hike to Table Rock, to keep them from possibly following you guys and seeing something they shouldn’t,” Pipe volunteered.
“It’s also about time to check all the bird feeders around the property.
I’ll ask Jasna to recruit some volunteers to help her refill them.
That’ll keep a few people occupied until dinnertime,” Tonka volunteered.
He wanted to do his part to help his friends, but giving Jasna the job would thrill the girl—and give him and Henley a moment to be alone at the same time.
She didn’t have any sessions scheduled this afternoon, and he knew she’d come down to the barn to hang out until he was finished with chores and they could go eat.
“Perfect. Thanks, everyone. I’ll keep you updated on everything we talked about,” Brick said as he scooted his chair back and stood.