She held out her hand. “Teri. It’s nice to meet you.”
He shook. Her skin was soft, and her hand small, but her grip was firm, and it sent a strange thrill through him. His inner snow leopard purred at the touch.
She wasn’t acting standoffish, or like she couldn’t wait to get away from him. Was it possible that she didn’t share her sister’s opinion of shapeshifters?
Zach forced himself to focus on the issue at hand. “Listen, we have a bit of a situation, and maybe you can help me out. We’re looking for a possible injured woman, about your age, blonde, who might be in trouble out here. She might be a bit confused, not sure where she is. Have you seen anyone who fits that description?”
Teri’s smile froze on her face. “What—um, what makes you think she’s out here? Was she hurt in the park?”
“No, we got a call from her mother. She says her daughter must have come to the park without thinking the situation through. It’s possible the mother’s mistaken, but we take these things very seriously, so...”
He trailed off. Teri had buried her face in her hands. “Oh,” she said. “No. No, no. Oh my God. I am so sorry.”
She looked exactly like she had when he’d seen her yesterday. What could’ve made her so upset? “Why are you sorry?”
She lifted her head. She was blushing, her cheeks bright pink. It was unexpectedly cute.
“It’s me,” she said. “The injured girl, I mean. I am so sorry. I knew my mother would overreact, but I didn’t think she’d call the Park. This is so embarrassing.”
Teri was the injured girl? That...didn’t make sense. She seemed completely fine.
Although, Zach remembered the way she’d been walking. Slow and careful, like she didn’t want to overtax herself. And, when he’d met her yesterday, she’d been in the parking lot of a doctor’s office. “Were you hurt?”
He was surprised by the wave of fierce protectiveness that came over him at the thought. Deep inside his chest, his leopard growled.
“Yes.” It was like her innate cheerfulness was sinking away, to be swallowed up by something slower and sadder. “It was a car accident. Three months ago. It was really awful. I only started walking without a cane a couple of weeks ago, and I’m still not completely a hundred percent.”
Her chin came up, and her expression firmed. “But I can walk. All the concussion symptoms disappeared a long time ago. My mother is just...” She trailed off.
“You are Teresa Lowell, then,” he said, just to confirm. Teri must be a nickname.
She nodded miserably. “I’m so sorry to cause trouble like this. Taking you away from work...”
Zach hated the sight of her so dejected. He wanted to see that sparkling cheer again; it didn’t seem right that anything could take it away so easily.
“It’s no trouble,” he told her. “Really. We’ve only been looking a few minutes. Here, let me radio in.” He called Cal, and told him that he’d found the girl, she was fine, and the mother had just been overreacting.
“Thought so,” Cal’s voice came back, which was news to Zach. Although he supposed that they had to treat every situation like this as though someone were truly in danger. “I’ll tell everyone to stand down. Good work, Zach.”
“Thanks.” Zach hadn’t done anything but walk down a path and talk to a pretty woman, but the praise warmed him anyway.
Being part of a team like this, where people supported and looked out for each other, was a new experience for Zach. He liked it more and more every day.
He turned back to Teri. “All taken care of. Really. And don’t think you caused us any trouble, because you didn’t. Your mother was the one who called, not you.”
Teri rolled her eyes. She seemed to be relaxing, at least. “I cannot believe she did that.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Zach noticed that its screen was cracked—another victim of the accident? “No reception. I’ll probably have a hundred missed calls when I get back in range.”
“How did she even know you were here?”
“I left her a note!” Teri ran her hands through her hair, leaving the curls even wilder than they’d been before. “I left her a note telling her I was coming here on the bus, that she shouldn’t be worried, I would be careful, and I’d be back later today.”
“And she called anyway? What was she thinking?” Zach could understand being worried if he didn’t know where Joel was, but not if Joel had said where he was going and when he’d be back.
“That she wanted my ass back home now,” Teri said, with a wryness that didn’t quite conceal the real unhappiness beneath.
Zach was struck with a deep desire to take her in his arms and soothe that unhappiness away. Which was crazy—he was never tempted to come on that strong so soon after meeting a woman. What was it about her?
“Did she call the Visitor’s Center?” Teri was saying. “She’s probably calling back every five minutes for news. I should talk to her.”