The Hero I Need

“You need to be at my place tomorrow morning for planning. Once I hear back from Faulk, we’ll have a more exact time to embark. In the meantime, I want you to make a list of everyone you know with an extra stock trailer who’d be open to renting it out. Ideally somebody who isn’t big into farming or the traveling rodeos so they don’t have any highway violations sticking around. Then we need another truck, a trailer, and somebody with a clean driving record who can keep their mouth shut if we pay ’em well and won’t mind playing decoy.”

“Decoy?” Weston whispers.

Grady just nods, his dark eyes twinkling with amusement.

“You’ll see, my boy.”

I look at Grady and blink at the decoy thing myself, wondering what in Hades he’s plotting.

Whatever it is, I know what I have to do.

Once I get Bruce settled in Wyoming, I need to head home. Back to California.

I’ve caused enough havoc for this lifetime here in North Dakota.

I thought I’d known exactly what I’d wanted when I came here, but the truth is, what I wanted doesn’t even exist. It was a fantasy.

My father warned me, but I’d been too pigheaded to listen.

Big cats need help surviving in this world, in the wild against poachers as much as they need a hand against other evildoers in captivity.

I hadn’t taken any of that into account in my fantasy world.

I’d been too focused on myself. On the prestige I’d gain rather than thinking about what the animals needed.

Grady and Weston are still talking, but I’m not listening.

Instead, I’m thinking about how much my life has changed forever over the past month. Is this what it’s like to grow up?

My father always said that had to happen before I’d figure out what I wanted out of life.

Like every headstrong girl with a shiny new college degree, I hadn’t listened.

I thought I was grown-up as soon as I graduated.

Surprise—I was wrong.

And maybe I still am because I’m not sure responsible adults run around stealing tigers in distress and dumping them in the laps of handsome small-town single dads.

The ride home from the bar is silent for good reason.

We both know things have changed.

I can’t help wondering what would’ve happened if Grady and I met under different circumstances, without Bruce in the picture.

Would there still be this magnetic pull?

Would I have ever pierced his gunmetal heart?

I’ll never know.

I’ll never know a lot of things about the two of us, because there won’t be a lasting us to worry about soon.

As he parks the truck and turns if off at his house, Grady says, “I’m gonna call Joyce and ask if the girls can stay with her for a few days. It’ll be easier on them when you and Bruce leave if they aren’t around.”

I nod, despite my heart turning inside out.

“Sorry. I need to protect them.” He sucks in a slow breath. “From everything I can, you understand. So I’d appreciate it if you just...if you wouldn’t make saying good-bye a big deal.”

A suffocating pain fills my chest like an angry fist gripping my heart. I can’t help the dagger look I throw his way.

“Sure. Whatever.” I throw the door open and climb out. “I’m going to check on Bruce. ’Night.”

“Goodni—”

I barely hear his response because I shut the door before hearing the last syllable.

My eyes burn like lit coals, this bleary veil across my vision as I walk to the barn.

Bruce is blissfully sleeping, and as I sit on the edge of the wall, looking at him, visions of the past few weeks crisscross my mind.

How excited Sawyer and Avery were that they had a huge cat living in the barn. The awe on their faces when they saw Bruce for the very first time, and the many laughs they’ve given me.

I’m going to miss them like hell, but even worse, I know they’ll miss me.

Remembering an art project from high school, I leave the barn and go to the kitchen. There, I mix together salt, flour, and water into a thick dough and carry it back outside to the barn.

After forming two large heart shapes from the dough, I carefully step into the pen.

“Hey, Brucey,” I say, watching closely as I walk toward him. “Big day coming up, so you’re smart to rest up. I know I’m breaking every rule in the zoologist’s handbook by doing this, but...I need your help. Avery and Sawyer need a goodbye present before we leave. Okay?”

He opens his eyes and blinks at me curiously, and for a second I hesitate.

As comfortable as I am around him, I respect the fact that he’s a colossal animal with untamable instincts. The tiger is Mother Nature’s sledgehammer wrapped in a fashion mogul’s dream.

He’s lying near the trailer, front paw stretched out in front of him, making this adorable snorty sound as I approach. His huge head lolls back, bored by my presence.