Jill knew she was staring at him. He had just said the words sixteen million dollars to her. That definitely deserved a stare.
She turned back to the enclosure. She could now see six of the penguins. Correction, six of her penguins.
Suddenly her chest felt warm and she felt her eyes stinging again.
She now had eight penguins. Galápagos penguins.
Thanks to a sweet little old man who had come to the zoo one Thursday and had started up a simple conversation with the words, “Some scientists think that penguins sometimes jump for sheer joy.”
She’d instantly known that this man knew more about penguins than the average person. Penguins leapt from the water like dolphins, an act called porpoising, and it was true that some scientists thought it truly was out of happiness more than for any other reason.
Watching the penguins, she felt a little like jumping for joy herself. This was an amazing opportunity. And she suddenly understood why A.J. hadn’t told her about them.
He’d wanted this to be a surprise. He wanted to make her dream come true and he’d wanted to do it in a way that would give her joy even as she was sad and grieving losing him. It was his way of showing her that their bond would go on.
“How long has he had the penguins?” she asked.
“They started the program just over a year ago.”
She frowned. “And…when did he get his cancer diagnosis?”
“About fifteen months ago.”
Her breath caught in her chest. A.J. hadn’t gotten these penguins for himself. She was certain he’d been optimistic about beating the cancer at first. That was just A.J. But she also knew that he’d agreed to be a part of the program, even with cancer, because he knew he had her.
“He has all of the permissions, licensing, and paperwork in place. You can relocate the penguins as needed with a little help from me,” William said with a smile. “But you are officially the owner and caretaker of these penguins as far as the program and all the pertinent government entities are concerned.”
Jillian sucked in a huge long breath. “So I have eight penguins and sixteen million dollars. And I need to move them out of here in time for Christine to turn the house into a bed and breakfast.”
“You can keep them here, of course, until you have a plan,” Christine assured her.
She appreciated that, but knew that Christine didn’t mean that she could take a year or more to figure this out.
“So, I guess I need to try to make some plans,” Jill said.
“I’m happy to help with anything you need,” William said. “I have all the contacts that you might need. A.J.’s partners in the private sanctuary program are eager to talk with you.” William smiled again. “A.J. told them all about you. They’re excited to have your expertise.”
“They don’t have expertise?” she asked.
“They are mostly just people with money who want to help with wildlife conservation and really like penguins.”
Oh. So she really would be the expert of the group. Well…great. She was used to that, actually. Truly, in any group of humans, 99.8% of the time she would know more than anyone else about penguins.
Nothing else, of course, but penguins? Absolutely.
“Are there rules about where I take the penguins?”
She supposed she could stay here, but she wasn’t from Omaha. She’d come here specifically for the job with the zoo. But she didn’t really have a desire to go home to Kansas either.
“No, the location has nothing to do with the program. They just require the penguins’ environment be protected and controlled. They want it as natural as possible, with no other penguin types. They want to strictly limit the number of caregivers as well, in a quiet, non-disruptive environment, with plenty of food, of course, so that they feel secure to breed regularly and produce viable eggs.”
That made sense. Food availability was the primary factor that impacted the penguins’ breeding habits in the wild.
So where did she want to take the penguins? What made the most sense? With sixteen million dollars she could probably relocate the penguins anywhere she wanted.
But she was suddenly feeling a little alone.
She often felt alone. She liked being alone. She liked doing her own thing.
But she’d never been responsible for eight other living beings before.
On purpose.
And even if they were penguins, she was feeling intimidated and overwhelmed.
Killing a houseplant was one thing. Something she still felt bad about and why she’d stopped getting them.
Killing a goldfish was also pretty terrible and it had only taken her a weekend to give away the one she’d gotten impulsively two years ago.
She’d never even entertained the idea of getting so much as a gerbil or a bearded dragon or anything. And definitely not a cat or dog.
Now she had penguins. And while, yes, she knew everything about them, these were an endangered species. If she couldn’t keep them alive, it would be devastating. Not just to the general welfare of the penguins, but to her mentally and emotionally.
This was her passion in life.
This was what she’d dedicated her entire career to.
This was what she did instead of having friends, or dating, or going to concerts, or book clubs. Hell, she read research articles—or wrote them—instead of reading books.
Jill felt her heart hammering and her breathing coming in near pants now.
She was freaking out.
Yes, she worked with penguins all day, every day. Yes, including Christmas. Just ask her mother.
But that was in controlled environments. With other people around to help feed them and watch for problems.
No, she’d never forgotten to feed them and yes, she was always the one who caught problems first but she didn’t have to be.
Now, with these eight, she did.
She was on her own.
They were her responsibility. Just hers.
The woman who couldn’t even remember to change her shoes before an after-work meeting.
“Ms. Morris? Are you all right?”
Jill was staring at her penguins. All eight of them were now out in view and she watched them waddle and talk to one another and splash at the edge of the water and in spite of the adrenaline rushing through her veins, her heart swelled.
They were so beautiful.
And they needed her.
Her.
She was their best chance for survival.
She nodded. “I think so.”
“Will that all be possible?” William asked.
Without looking at him, Jill asked, “Are you asking if I’m willing to dedicate all of my time and energy to these penguins and making sure they are safe and stay healthy and continue to breed and multiply?”
“Yes, that is what I’m asking.”
She nodded. “It’s an absolute dream come true.”
1
One month later…
Zeke Landry pulled into Autre, barely pausing his motorcycle at the stop sign before he turned onto Bayou Road, the street that would lead past Boys of the Bayou Swamp Boat Tours and his grandmother’s bar, and would eventually dead-end at his house about a mile from the bayou.
The first stretch of the road in the main part of town was paved, however, and even had a couple stop signs. It ran past the grocery store, the fish market, the city park, and the convenience store and gas station that marked the beginning of the dirt portion of the road.