Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“Wild yoga? What the hell is this?” Noah snatched a flyer from the bulletin board at the front desk. His back ached from sanding, and his head throbbed like someone had buried an axe in his skull when he wasn’t looking.
Gloria closed the cash drawer and wrote something on a deposit slip.
“Isn’t it amazing? Cassie talked to Gretchen over at Namaste Yoga on the square, and Gretchen’s going to volunteer her time to lead a sunrise yoga class on that grassy knoll between the lion and tiger enclosures.
One Saturday a month until October, and all the proceeds will go to the sanctuary. ”
His temper flared. “Why is Cassie getting so involved here? Doesn’t she have enough shit to do?”
“Language.”
“Sorry. But the question stands. Why are you allowing her to get so involved?”
“She wants to help, Noah. And in case you forgot, if we don’t have a serious cash influx before the end of the season, this is all over.”
“We just raised the prices. We haven’t given it time to work yet.”
“I’m not going to talk with you about this again. Cassie has experience. She knows what works.”
“With the California crowd, sure. Who in this town is going to sign up for sunrise yoga?”
Gloria tapped the screen on the iPad she kept below the register. “Eighteen people so far. And the event’s only been up for two hours.”
Noah growled and moved to the aisles, straightening stuffed lions and other useless trinkets.
He had had enough of Cassie infiltrating every part of his life.
She was a tenant, she was his only neighbor, and now she was volunteering here.
What did she want out of all of this? What did she stand to gain?
And of all the places in the world, why had she landed here?
There was no way her intentions were pure. He was going to get to the bottom of it.
“Well, might as well rip the Band-Aid off now since you’re already pissed off. There’s something else you should probably know about.”
Noah whirled around. What else could possibly be happening?
“Cassie’s starting an internship program here.”
He froze with a hand around a stuffed deer. “What does that mean?”
“Vet students will be rotating through her practice and the sanctuary, learning about animal care and helping with upkeep.”
“So we’re going to have a bunch of unvetted strangers traipsing through here? What if they’re crazy people? Or animal abusers?”
“They’re medical students. And Cassie said it probably wouldn’t even start until the fall. It takes time to set things up.”
“And? You think crazy people and abusers can’t make it into a DVM program?”
Gloria sighed. It looked like the weight of the world was on her shoulders.
“I love you more than life, Noah. You are my son, my pride and joy. And sometimes the thorn in my behind. I am so grateful for all the help you’ve given me with this place over the years, especially since your daddy passed. ”
She came out from behind the desk and walked over to him. “You’re always so worried about failure. You haven’t failed, sweetheart. You’re not even in charge. I’m in charge. This is my fault.”
A memory intruded. His dad in a hospital bed, hooked up to a breathing machine. Monitors beeped in the background, and everything smelled like antiseptic and despair.
His face grew hot, and he looked down at the wooden floor. A couple spots needed to be sanded.
“I have failed, though,” he said. “That last day in the hospital, Dad made me promise that I would do anything and everything I could to keep this place running. I should’ve gotten a better-paying job or learned to write grants. At the very least, we should’ve raised prices years ago.”
Gloria shook her head. “We kept the costs low for so long because we wanted everyone to be able to come and learn about the animals. If we want to keep this place open and accessible for learning, things need to change. That’s the simple truth. We’ll never know if we don’t give it a shot.”
“We barely know her,” he said.
She nodded. “I know. I think Cassie’s running from something, trying to make a life for herself.
If this gives her purpose, and it helps us out, I’m not too proud to accept the help.
But I need you to get on board. And I need you to try to make nice with her.
Get to know her a little. And for god’s sake, stop yelling at her. ”
“Her dog broke into my workshop and ate one of my projects this morning.”
In reality, the damage had been pretty minimal. He had been able to sand out the tooth marks before varnishing. But the disrespect, he would not forget.
Gloria pressed her lips together like she was trying not to laugh.
“And she called me an emotionally distant control freak,” he added.
“And?”
He blinked. She couldn’t seriously be on Cassie’s side. “You’re gonna let her talk to your son that way?”
She shot him a look. “When was the last time you had a date? Or dinner with friends? You’ve been punishing yourself for Bobby’s death for so long that you’ve driven everyone away.”
Noah snatched his hands back and strode over to the door. His heart beat like a drum in his ear. “I’m not talking about this.”
“Sweetheart, you need to learn to talk about this. Have you looked at any of the therapists I sent—”
The door swung shut behind him, muting the rest of her sentence. He jogged across the parking lot and threw himself into the truck, then peeled out of the parking lot and headed toward home, chest heaving and painfully tight.
He wasn’t going to think about Bobby. Not tonight.
He pulled into the driveway and slammed his door shut.
What was that? He picked his head up.
Obnoxious pop music blasting from next door. Just another way Cassie was getting under his skin.
He eyed her front door, hands twitching. As satisfying as it would be to storm over there and have something concrete to yell at her about, he wouldn’t be surprised if he was met with a baseball bat or some pepper spray. Better to leave a paper trail. He pulled out his phone and composed a message.
Noah: Turn the fucking music down.
He stomped into his house, fuming at the thumping bass from next door. The audacity of this woman. It was practically the middle of the night. Did she have no respect for anyone?
Or maybe she was just punishing him for this morning.
A full five minutes passed before there was an answering vibration.
Cassie: Noise ordinance starts at ten. Eat a dick.
She signed it with a kissy face. He glowered and set his alarm. His mother be damned. He wasn’t going to make nice with Cassie any more than he’d welcome a snake into his yard. Maybe if he pissed her off enough, she’d get back in her Range Rover and leave for good.