Aurielle began to walk a perimeter while I sketched the unique flowers, leaves, and nectar cup of theM. eveniavine by lantern light.
After about twenty minutes, Aurielle returned and flopped her notebook onto the blanket beside me.
“Find anything?” I asked, putting my pencil down.
“I saw some night-blooming phlox and caught a scent of their honey-like fragrance. It was amazing. Any sign of the bats?”
“Not yet.”
There was movement down the trail, and I lifted my binoculars.
“The bats?” Aurielle asked.
I shook my head. “Students.”
As they drew closer, the outlines became familiar. It was Callan and Hollis, floating some plant materials on leaves along the narrow trail that ran by where we sat. Glow stick lights were hanging from their belt loops.
Hollis glanced in our direction, saw us looking, and winked before continuing along the trail.
Callan’s gaze caught mine as he walked past, and even in the dim light, I felt the intensity of it. Then he glanced at the tree where theM. eveniavine hung. “Pollinator studies?” he asked. There was a playfulness in his expression but a little heat too. I sucked in a breath.
“You got it,” I said.
“I heard Professor East planted that vine himself, and he does something to increase the echolocation response on research nights so that students have a better chance of seeing the bats,” Callan said.
“I hope you’re right. I’m sure Aurielle doesn’t want to camp out with me all night,” I said.
Callan glanced down the trail where Hollis was already disappearing, only the flicker of his glow stick indicating where he was. Callan dropped his voice low, locked eyes with me, and said, “I could think of worse ways to spend an evening.”
My stomachflipped.
He raised his voice and nodded to Aurielle. “Good luck, you two.”
“Thanks,” Aurielle called as I struggled to recover from the way his words had made me feel.
“Fronds, Hollis is a flirt. Did you see that wink? Too bad he doesn’t realize his charms don’t work on everyone,” Aurielle said once Callan’s light began to disappear.
Aurielle had never expressed interest in anyone at Evergreen Academy or mentioned a significant other back home. In fact, a few times she’d been vocal that she had no interest in romantic relationships.
“Coral might have tried to fling a fern at him for that wink,” I said, and Aurielle laughed.
The heat of Callan’s gaze was still lingering in my mind. I studiously tried to force myself to refocus on watching theM. eveniavine. I couldn’t miss the bat because I was distracted by a certainsomeone.
A moment later, there was a soft graze against my outer thigh, and I looked down to see that a flurry of leaves had surreptitiously slid up the side of my legs where I sat.
Automatically, I set down the binoculars and pulled the note out of the pile. So much for being focused.
You look cute in reconnaissance gear.
I felt my cheeks flush. For a guy who wanted whatever was going on between us to stay under the radar, he sure knew how to play. I was debating what to send on a note back to him when Aurielle pointed into the trees above us to the north. She held her binoculars to her eyes.
“There! I see a bat.”
My binoculars were back in place in an instant, and I focused on the nectar cup dangling from the vine like a succulent treat for the bats.
Time seemed to freeze as we watched the winged creature approach theM. eveniavine, attracted by its own sonar echoing back from the vine’s disc-shaped leaves. We were lucky to be witnessing this since, outside of Evergreen Academy, this vine was endemic to Cuba.
The bat flitted in and got to the nectar in the cup hanging below the flowers, and theM. eveniavine successfully transferred its pollen.
