Now, Mr. Campbell is ready to hand over the job she’s wanted most of her life, to Rogar, and her boss would put it on a silver platter if Rogar asked.
If she didn’t know everything was true, she’d laugh. Oh, Lord, her life was screwed up beyond repair. She leaned against the concrete barrier and rested her chin on her hands. “Oh, Sheba, what in the world am I going to do?”
Callie should just quit. Her college education was going to waste. This was home, though. At least, the closest she’d ever been to having one. So what if her family consisted of a jaguar and a handful of zoo employees. She couldn’t just leave, could she? She looked at Sheba, knowing they’d shared a bond from day one.
She sighed. Maybe it wouldn’t be that much longer before she got the job.
A group of children came up the path, drawing her from her thoughts. She straightened, smoothing her hands over her shirt so she would look professional, then pasted a smile on her face.
Ten-year-olds. She could guess their ages within a few months. Three of them barreled up the sidewalk. One tripped, falling toward her. She instinctively grabbed and caught him, along with all of the soda and all the crushed ice that was in his very large blue cup. She sucked in her breath as ice went down the front of her shirt.
“She made me spill my drink,” he screamed in her ear.
Great, now she was wet, cold, sticky, and had hearing loss. Would her insurance cover this? Hmm, not likely. She glanced at the teacher who already looked frazzled, and felt a moment of pity. They should double teachers’ salaries. The woman clapped her hands together and the little boy stopped yelling.
“Kelvin, don’t you think you need to apologize to the woman, then thank her for catching you?” the teacher scolded.
“My soda…”
“Kelvin?” The teacher gave him that look that works on every child, and most adults.
Kelvin kicked at the sidewalk. “Sorry.”
Callie kept her smile bright and cheerful. “It happens a lot. Apology accepted.”
“Can we go to the petting zoo now, Mrs. Cooper,” Kelvin asked.
Apparently, he assumed his apology would automatically clear him of all wrongdoing. Callie smiled at the teacher and walked away. When she was a safe distance, she pulled her shirt out of her pants and shook the rest of the ice out.
“What happened to you?” Gail asked as Callie hurried inside their tiny office. If you even could call it an office. A small desk and a private bathroom.
“I was checking on Sheba and met up with a class that will be here in about ten minutes.” She reached inside a bottom drawer and pulled out a clean uniform top. It always paid to have an extra one around here.
“The Wild Bunch.” Gail groaned.
The next two hours were frantic as back-to-back classes came through the petting zoo. Kelvin didn’t improve after he got to Callie’s section. If anything, the sugar in the soda had only wired him more.
Kelvin pulled the cat’s tail, then cried when Miss Kitty spat at him. The he chased the duck, until the duck turned and chased him, while he screamed and yelled. The kid had a great shot at being an opera star. He could already shatter eardrums.
Then the baby goat butted him, knocking little Kelvin on his keester, and Kelvin screamed and yelled some more. Before Callie could take a deep breath, they left, and the next group arrived. Little Kelvin morphed into little Julie, and everything repeated.
And then they were gone, and for a moment, there was blessed silence. Until her cell rang. She reached in her pocket and brought it out, flipping it open.
“Hello?”
“Callie, DeeDee.”
Gail made a motion of eating, then went inside. Callie nodded, and relaxed against the fence.
“What’s up?’ she asked.
“What’s up?” DeeDee mimicked. “As if you didn’t know, you sly fox.”
“Have you been drinking?” It was early but…
“No, I did stop by your house, though.”
Callie straightened. “Why would you do that?”
“I was dropping off your birthday present. Happy birthday.”
Callie put her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes for a moment. With every thing that had been happening, she’d totally forgotten today she turned twenty-seven. Was that all? She felt so much older.
It was probably too much to hope that DeeDee hadn’t seen Rogar. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “Thanks. You…uh…shouldn’t have.”
“This is your friend from your college days, right? You told me he’d left. I’m hurt that you couldn’t share all the juicy details.”
So much for hoping. “He’s not staying long.”
Her sigh came across the line. “If I were you, I’d keep him as long as I could. Yum-yum.”
“What exactly did you two talk about?”
“Not much. Oh, hey, I’ve gotta run. Big meeting in a few minutes and I’m a little late. I just wanted to tell you happy birthday.”
“Thanks, but…” The phone went dead. She knew DeeDee well enough that this didn’t bode well. They’d been friends a long time. The girl lived in a fairy tale of her own making. That wasn’t to say she wasn’t very astute when it came to business. DeeDee just believed in happily ever after.
Callie, on the other hand, had grown up in the real world. The one where prospective parents came looking for a child of their own. They didn’t want the odd kid. The one who lost herself in daydreams and heard voices.
Callie had eventually learned to tune out the voice inside her head, and not talk to her like they were best friends. But by then it was too late. New parents didn’t want someone her age, they wanted babies. Cute little babies with their toothless smiles and that sweet baby smell. Not that she blamed them, but still, it might’ve been nice living in a real home.
Gail poked her head out the door. “You better eat while you can. June called to warn there’s another class coming our way.”
Callie straightened. Had she been lost in thought that long? Apparently.
The rest of the day went downhill. She was so exhausted that she didn’t even stop by to tell Sheba good night. After finishing her paperwork, she and Gail walked through the employee’s gate, and headed toward the parking area.
She glanced around, hoping Rogar would be inconspicuous when he picked her up, but he wasn’t even there. At least, she didn’t see him, or her junker car. But what she did see was a shiny new red Jaguar with an even bigger red bow on it.
Please, please don’t let this be happening.
“Wow, now that’s one fine looking car,” Gail said.
“Yeah, it is.” She was pretty sure she was going to throw up.
“Let’s go see who it’s for,” she whispered, dragging on Callie’s arm.
“Oh, no, we might spoil the surprise.”
But Gail wasn’t one to wait. She hurried over and walked to the back of the car. Her hand flew to her chest. “Callie, it’s for you! There’s a sign with your name on it. Hey, look everyone, Callie has a Prince Charming!”
Prince Charming was going to die a slow and painful death just as soon as she drove the car back to her house. She couldn’t afford a taxi. But as soon as she got home, she’d throw the keys in his face!
But it was a really sweet car.
Chapter 11
This was her house, wasn’t it? Callie slowed, but didn’t pull in the driveway. It didn’t look like her house. The ones on either side looked the same, but this didn’t look like her house. Not even close.
Flowers bordered both sides of the driveway and the sidewalk. There was even a small three-tiered fountain with water splashing over the sides. A bench sat beside it.
It looked nice. She had a feeling DeeDee had something to do with all this.
Callie finally pulled into the driveway, parking next to Rogar’s black Jag, and shifted into Park. Before she turned the key, she lightly caressed the steering wheel. The car was sweet. But she couldn’t keep it.