Full Moon (23 page)

“It’s okay, Dad. I know it didn’t look very
good.”

My mom wrapped her arm around me. “Baby,
you’ve had a rough evening. Would you like me to make you some hot
chocolate?”

“Mom, I’m not ten anymore, but thank
you.”

“You stayed up late with Julie last night
watching horror movies,” my dad said. “What if you imagined the
robber? Are you sure it wasn’t just a shadow?”

“Dad, the door was left open, and the power
went out,” I retorted.

“You’re tired from work, hon’. It’s easy for
a tired mind to wander and—”

“I would have remembered leaving a door
open. I heard a wild animal howling.”

“We live in the woods, dear. If the door was
left open, something probably wandered in.”

I swallowed hard. “Dad, I didn’t leave the
door open,” I said again. “Like I said, the power even went out. I
had to get the flashlight out of the drawer.”

“We’re in a remote area, and the wind really
picked up tonight. It could’ve easily knocked the power out
temporarily.”

“I’m gonna go, now that you folks are here
with her,” Jesse said.

“Goodbye, Jesse,” I said, gazing into his
eyes. “Thanks for coming over and checking out things for me.”

“Not a problem.”

“Thanks, Jesse,” my dad said, swallowing his
pride and his accusations.

“Yes, thank you, Jesse,” my mom said. “You
take care of yourself, now, and have a good evening.”

After Jesse was gone, I turned to my
mother. “I was so scared, Mom. My entire body was
shaking.”

She looked at me with concern on her face,
the way she had when I was little and had a fever. “I’ve never seen
you this terrified before, sweetheart.” She turned to my dad.
“Something scared her. If she says she saw an intruder, I believe
she saw someone. Maybe we should call the police.”

“I’m sure everything is okay now,” my dad
said. “Nothing seems to be missing or damaged.” As if he refused to
believe the obvious, he turned to me and said, “Honey, maybe you’re
just having a hard time adjusting to such an isolated life out here
in the woods, or maybe you’re missing Sean. I know how much you
cared about him.”

“Dad, I know I cried for over a month when
we broke up, but I’m over him. Besides, this has absolutely nothing
to do with him. Sean breaking up with me was the best thing that
ever happened to me.”

My mom wrapped her arm around me. “How was
dinner? I made spicy chicken. Did you like it?”

“I didn’t eat,” I said. “I was warming it up
in the microwave when I saw that man through the glass.”

“That’s too bad, darlin’. Let me warm it up
for you.”

“I’m really not hungry now, Mom.”

“How about something to drink?”

“I’d love that. Surprise me.”

My mom smiled, and I headed up to my room.
I replayed the entire situation in my head.
Maybe I did overreact, but I
know that growl was real. It was so loud!
I was glad I didn’t check it out on my own, or I
might not have lived to tell the tale.

With that thought on my mind, I slipped into
a nightgown and crawled into bed. I usually kept the door closed
when I slept, but this time, I left it open.

A few minutes later, my mom stepped in with
a steaming mug of cocoa.

“Hey, Mom,” I said with a smile.

“Hi, honey. Look, I know you’re not a child
anymore, but I also know you still love hot chocolate, especially
loaded with marshmallows.”

“I have to work early tomorrow, so I hope it
won’t keep me up.”

“It shouldn’t. At least have a few sips.
Goodnight, honey.”

“Goodnight,” I said. “And, Mom…”

“Yes, honey?”

“Please leave the door open, just this
once.”

Chapter 12

When morning dawned, I peeked out the window
and into the woods. I didn’t see any intruders lurking around. It
was actually beautiful outside, complete with all the shining sun
and chirping birds the outdoors had to offer.

In hindsight, I felt silly for asking Jesse
to meet me at McDonald’s when I was barely dressed and hysterical.
I realized now that I should have called my parents and left him
out of it. I was relatively certain he didn’t want to date a
stark-raving lunatic, but the damage had already been done.

Realizing I couldn’t turn back time, I took
a shower, put my uniform on, and left for work.

* * *

Again when I clocked in for work, Jesse was
waiting for me.

He looked so handsome in his uniform and
with his hair tied back, and I felt a flutter as he pulled me
aside. “How did you sleep?” he asked.

“Look, Jesse, I’m sorry I bugged you last
night. I’m so embarrassed. I should have—”

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about,”
he cut in, speaking with heartfelt sincerity.

“I beg to differ. I was at McDonald’s in a
robe.”

“Technically, you were in the parking
lot.”

I smiled at his attempt to make me feel
better. “I guess. But anyway, I’ve had enough of the wild animals
around here. They’ve gotta do something about their wolf
problem.”

He smiled. “I totally agree.”

Ms. Aikers approached us, bid us a quick
“Good morning, folks,” then handed us our assignments for the
day.

“Looks like my job’s for the birds today,”
Jesse said. “I guess that’s all right. I’ve been missing Beauty
Queen.”

I glanced down at my assignment sheet.
“Mine’s worse. She put me on cage cleanup.”

“I can get my stuff done pretty quick, and
then I’ll come over and help you,” he offered, ever the good
Samaritan.

“That’s so nice of you. Thank you,
Jesse.”

“Not a problem. I’ll see ya later.”

“Okay,” I said with a big smile.

* * *

I was mopping one of the empty cages when
screams echoed in the air. I quickly threw down the mop and hurried
out to find a crowd of people gathered around the cage across from
me, screaming in panic about a five-year-old who had fallen into
the mountain lion’s cage. The child was unconsciousness in the
enclosure, and the big cat was quickly approaching. Shouts and
cries pierced the air, especially from the little one’s mother.

“Can you help?” the kid’s mother yelled at
me, noticing that I was wearing a zoo uniform.

“Uh…” Not sure what to do, I began to scream
and yell and try to get the animal’s attention. When that didn’t
work, I reached down and grabbed several rocks, then started
throwing them at the mountain lion. The animal didn’t even flinch,
as its attention was completely absorbed by the child.

Suddenly, zoo workers entered the pen and
desperately tried to get to the child as the mountain lion snarled
at them.

Its menacing growl made me shudder, and when
I felt a tap on my shoulder, I jumped like an NBA player.

“What’s happening?” Jesse asked.

“A kid fell in!” I said.

Without waiting for any further explanation,
he took off in a flash to help the other workers. On the way over
to help, I ran into my boss.

“Taylor, stay back,” she said.

“But I want to help, and—”

“You stay right here,” Ms. Aikers commanded.
“We’re getting tranquilizer guns.” The woman looked frazzled, more
shaken up than I’d ever seen her before.

My gaze shot to the pen. Just as Jesse
hopped in, the mountain lion lunged at one of the zoo workers and
sank its teeth into the bald man’s head, causing blood to gush
everywhere. Somehow, Jesse managed to pry the animals jaws open and
free the man, and the victim gasped for breath and crawled away.
That left Jesse face to face and alone with the big, angry cat. The
bald man was three times Jesse’s size, so I didn’t know how Jesse
could possibly escape the animal.

“Jesse!” Jeanie shouted. “Get out of
there!”

I knew it was better if Jesse didn’t run, if
he just stayed and confronted it, tried to look big and bad. If
Jesse tried to run, the cat would only be instinctively driven to
give chase, and Jesse would become helpless prey.

The lion snarled and focused on Jesse, and I
wondered why Jesse wasn’t screaming and yelling at it or lifting up
and flailing his arms, all the usual tactics for getting away.
Instead, he just looked at the animal and calmly spoke to it,
boldly staring into its eyes. The mountain lion turned and calmly
walked to the back of the enclosure and just waited, and the other
workers cautiously rushed in and grabbed the child.

When Jesse came out, I ran into his arms. “I
was so worried,” I said. “You’re so brave.”

Jesse was smoking hot, but he was also the
most caring, selfless person I’d ever met. He was a hero, with a
heart to help others, and I’d already been on the receiving end of
that more than once. It was yet another of the amazing qualities
that drew me to him like a fly to honey.

He gazed into my eyes. “I didn’t mean to
worry you, but I had to help that kid.”

Jeanie rushed over and hugged Jesse long and
tight. “Jesse, you scared me half to death,” she said. “But, as
always, you’re a hero. As a matter of fact, a news team is waiting
at the office to interview you.”

“How did they get here so quick?” I
asked.

“They were already here, doing a piece on
the grizzlies,” Jeanie said.

“Great,” Jesse said. “Just great.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I don’t like the spotlight. I didn’t do
anything but what had to be done.”

“Are you crazy, Jesse? You saved a little
kid and Bob. You deserve your fifteen minutes of fame and then
some, so quit being so humble.”

“Jesse,” I said, “she’s right. You did
something wonderful here today. You saved two lives. If that’s not
newsworthy, I don’t know what is.”

He looked at Jeanie. “How is Bob
anyway?”

“The EMTs said he’s fine. He just needs a
few stitches.”

“Thank God,” Jesse said. “That thing had
hold of his head pretty good.”

“Yeah, and he would be dead if it weren’t
for you,” Jeanie said, her red ponytail swishing from side to side
as she spoke. “You aren’t going to be able to pull this one off
like Batman, lurking around in the shadows and saving people
without anyone seeing you. Everybody’s got a digital camera and
camera phone these days, and the whole thing’s gonna be on YouTube
going viral in the next five minutes.” She smiled. “You’ll probably
get Employee of the Month out of it.”

He closed his eyes and exhaled. “I’ve just
majorly screwed up. I gotta go.”

“Screwed up?” I asked, confused. “Jesse,
what’s wrong?”

His eyebrows furrowed into a deep line. “I’m
in a whole lot of trouble, that’s what.”

“With who?”

“I’ve gotta run,” he said, refusing to talk
about it.

“Nobody should be mad you jumped in there. I
think it’s admirable that you’d even take that kind of a risk,” I
said, presuming he was talking about his mother.

“She won’t see it that way,” he said.

“Jesse, if you need anything, I’m here for
you.”

“Thanks. That means a lot. I’ll call you
later.” He turned and left without another word.

Jesse had a certain sense of mystery and
moodiness about him. He wasn’t telling me everything, and I knew he
was hiding something, but I didn’t want to press the issue. I was
sure that in time, he’d fill me in on everything. For the time
being, I just wanted to be as supportive as possible.

Suddenly, Jeanie’s voice jerked me out of my
thoughts. “Jesse’s mom hates it when he’s in the limelight. She’s
really weird about it, like she wishes he was a hermit. I think she
maybe kidnapped him or something.”

I cocked a brow. “What makes you say
that?”

“She won’t let him be in the spotlight for
any reason. One time, we did this big campaign for the zoo online,
and Jesse’s picture was in it, holding one of the bear cubs. She
was livid and marched right down here, demanding that Ms. Aikers
remove his picture immediately. She caused so much trouble that his
picture was taken down twenty-four hours later. Then one other
time, after the zoo helped to cure three geese who had been shot
with arrows, a local photographer took photos of him during their
release. His mother actually paid the guy some outlandish sum of
cash for the memory card so he couldn’t publish the pictures.”

“Maybe she’s just a very private
person.”

“She goes overboard.”

“What does she look like?”

“She’s pretty—tall and thin, with light blue
eyes and dark hair like him,” Jeanie said. “Anyway, we better get
back to work. I’m sure Aikers isn’t gonna be in a good mood after
all this.”

I nodded. “Yep. Back to mopping floors in
stinky cages.”

“No rest for the weary,” she said.

I chuckled. “You got that right!”

Chapter 13

A few weeks passed, and I didn’t see much of
Jesse. His mother, furious with him after the incident at the zoo,
had grounded him and wouldn’t let him out for any reason. I didn’t
get what the big deal was, and I found his mom to be a little odd.
Jesse said she didn’t like guests either, so he never invited me
over; whenever we got together, it was always at my house or
somewhere else. My parents, on the other hand, had met him a few
times, and while they thought he was very polite and a nice guy on
the surface, there was something about him that they just didn’t
trust. My guess was that he didn’t fit up to the preppy image they
expected me to date. They hated his shoulder-length hair and
labeled him a bad boy just by looking at him.

Meanwhile, the ducklings had grown. They
were strong and healthy and ready to be released, and Ms. Aikers
had given us permission to set them free. In our zoo uniforms, we
stood beside Bear Lake, admiring the scenery and the gun glistening
on the water. After a few minutes, Jesse took the animal carrier
out of the company Jeep and opened it, and the five little ducks
waddled into the water and glided away from us.