Valerie Hansen - Everlasting Love

“Oh, no, you’re not. I brought you because you’re a natural with animals. I really do need your help.”

“I know, I know. Don’t have a fit. I’ll be good, Meg. But I’m not dead. And that is one great-looking guy, even if he is way too old for me.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Megan said with a knowing grin. She put the truck in park and killed the engine. “Guess I’d better go introduce myself. You wait here.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes. Until I explain who you are and why you’re with me, I think I should be the one to do all the talking.”

“Like, I can’t talk?”

“Nooooo. Like, I’m the adult.”

“Bossy, bossy.”

If Roxy hadn’t been smiling, Megan would have been more concerned about their sibling relationship. The younger girl had grown up a lot while Megan had been away at college and there were areas of both their lives that had changed.

She paused and tried to swallow past the dryness in her throat. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”

“You nervous?”

“Naw. I always shake like this.”

“How come you’re scared?”

“I’m not scared. Not exactly. It’s just that this project is very important to me. I want to make a good first impression.”

“You will. You’ve always been the brainy one. Go impress him, sis.”

“Thanks, I will…I hope.”

Comparing her equilibrium to that of a formerly sturdy table that had just had one of its four legs sawed off, Megan stepped down out of the truck, slammed the door, tossed back her shoulder-length hair and smoothed the hem of her T-shirt before she turned. Then she boldly stepped forward to meet the man she was to work with for the next two weeks.

Smile bright and eager, she offered her hand. “Hi. I’m Megan White.”

“James Harris,” he said pleasantly. “Welcome to Camp Refuge.”

“Thanks. I’m happy to finally be here and meet you face-to-face, Mr. Harris. After we spoke on the phone the other day, I wasn’t sure what kind of reception I’d get.”

“Really?” One dark eyebrow arched.

Oops. She chewed her lower lip, ruing her candid comment and wishing she could take it back. Oh, good one, Megan, she thought. Put him on the defensive right off, why don’t you? Way to go.

Questions remained in his deep brown eyes as he shook her hand. Megan was thankful their handshake was brief. A few more seconds of that man’s warm touch and she was afraid she’d have felt like a second table leg had been sawed off!

“Are you always so honest?” James asked.

“I hope not,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

His resulting laughter was hearty and genuine.

Megan’s stomach did an immediate flip-flop and landed in her throat where it could keep close company with her racing heart. Her project was already getting too complicated, thanks to the addition of a moody assistant. Finding that the camp director was neither old nor ugly, as she’d imagined, just added to her problems. Roxy was feeling abandoned and unloved. The poor kid was primed to develop a crush on the first good-looking guy who was nice to her, and in the case of this particular man, Megan could see how easily that could happen.

Well, there was nothing to do but forge ahead. “I brought my sister with me. She’ll be a big help with the animals. I hope you don’t mind.”

He leaned to peer past her into the truck. “Sister? I wasn’t expecting two of you.”

“I know. Sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll bunk together, of course. I’ll be totally responsible.”

“Yes, you will. How old is she?”

“Fifteen. She’s a great kid. You’ll like her.”

He looked again. “You’re not twins?”

Megan blushed under his steady assessment. “No. I assure you I’m much older.”

“Could have fooled me. Same dark hair, same pale skin. Don’t see that much around here, not with all the sun we get in the summer.”

“Our mom is light and Daddy is kind of dark,” she explained, nervously combing her hair back with her fingers and tucking the sides smoothly behind her ears. “Roxy can get a pretty tan. I always burn. But enough about us. I want to thank you for letting me bring my project here.”

“Don’t thank me,” James said. “Like I told you when you phoned, I think these kids have enough troubles already. They don’t need more grief.”

“I agree. But my animals have been chosen and trained to be particularly gentle and loving. What makes you think being around them will have a negative effect?”

“Experience,” he said flatly. “These kids are only here for a short time. They already get too attached to me and my staff for their own good. Imagine how hard it will be for some of the more sensitive ones to leave a favorite pet behind, too.”

This was the kind of unreasonable attitude Megan had battled more than once. “Have you bothered to read my formal proposal, Mr. Harris?”

“I scanned it enough to get the basics. I don’t need to read all the details to see it has problems you haven’t even considered. I know what’ll happen. I have plenty of firsthand experience working with troubled kids.”

“And I suppose they all respond to your methods?” she asked. “None of your students resist reform?”

The brief flash of emotion in his deep brown eyes took her aback. So did a surge of compassion. She hadn’t meant to belittle his work or hurt his feelings; she’d merely wanted to make him listen to reason and give her project a fair shake. She needed an ally, not an adversary.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that,” Megan told him. “I know this camp has done a lot of good. But there must be children no one’s been able to reach by normal methods. Kids who’ve been so battered by their pasts that they’ve withdrawn from everybody and everything. Isn’t that so?”

James gave a reluctant nod, shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Yes. Of course.”

“Then you should be glad to have me around. It’s not like it’s forever, you know. When I wrote my proposal for the grant, I designed it to cover a short period of time.”

“I know that. I also know these kids.”

“I can help them.”

“Can you? They come and go around here like they’re stuck in a revolving door. They need peace, not some do-gooder trying to run them through a maze like lab rats.”

Megan was appalled. “If you’d read my entire proposal you wouldn’t say that. All I’m planning to do is introduce a few docile animals into their lives, to give them a nonjudgmental friend to care for and confide in. You talk like I’m planning to throw defenseless kids to a pack of lions.”

“It could end up being the reverse of that,” James warned. “Have you stopped to consider the welfare of your animals? Or of your sister?”

“What do you mean?”

“This isn’t a church camp anymore. It’s a way station for kids who have no place else to go. They’ve been bucking the system for so long, they don’t know how to behave in a normal family environment.”

“I understand that.”

“Do you also understand how cruel they can be for no apparent reason? I can’t guarantee absolute safety.”

Megan huffed as she gave him a brief once-over. The man was obviously strong as an ox. Moreover, now that she’d had time to observe him, she’d noticed a hard, militarylike edge that gave him the kind of commanding presence few people questioned.

She, however, refused to be cowed. “You look like you can handle just about any situation, Mr. Harris. With your support, I’m sure we won’t have any trouble.”

“Exactly my point, Ms. White,” he said, raising an eyebrow and folding his arms across his chest. “I can’t be everywhere at once. And even if I could, I don’t have time to baby-sit you or your little sister. Bringing more unknown elements into these kids’ already-muddled lives is about the dumbest idea I think I’ve ever heard.”