They spent about twenty minutes discussing, and then Corey flipped the top of her notepad shut. “I think I have a good place to start. With your timeline, I’ll be calling you later this afternoon to set up some appointments. What does your schedule look like?”
Jeff’s only plans in the next three weeks included occasional T-ball games, naked time with Carter, and writing and polishing as many songs as he could squeeze out of his brain. He was just lucky that, with the prospect of leaving the label on the table, writing was coming a lot more naturally. “I’m pretty flexible.” Except, shit, he wasn’t supposed to tell Carter about the whole switching labels thing, and if Carter started asking questions, Jeff would fold like a wet paper bag. “Preferably regular business hours, but I can make evenings and weekends work.”
“Business hours are great, actually, since most people are at work at those times, so the houses will be empty and you’ll be one of the only ones looking.”
“Great.” He smiled and stood. “Then I look forward to hearing from you.”
And spending a fuck ton of money. No big deal.
He picked up a few sandwiches and some veggies and hummus for a late lunch in the hopes that he’d find Carter in his office, doing whatever park naturalists did when they couldn’t be in the field, but when he pulled into the parking lot, Carter was getting into a truck with Kara at the wheel.
Jeff hopped out, anxiety spiking. “Trouble?”
“Maybe not.” Carter looked anxious to go, practically vibrating with nervous energy. “We got a report of a bear and cub, and the location doesn’t match the trackers for the other mothers we know about. Kara’s going to drive me out.”
Grabbing the bag of food from the console, Jeff asked, “Can I come?”
Kara drove like she had to be reminded this was a conservation area, not a go-kart track. From the seat behind her, Jeff could see Carter’s right leg twitching as if he wanted to hit a brake.
“I can’t wait until that boot comes off,” she griped. “Do you want to check this out before the bear disappears or not?”
“I’d like to get there in one piece.”
Before Jeff could add his two cents—Carter did that to him all the time too—Kara wheeled around a curve and the seat belt tightened until he wheezed for breath. The bag of sandwiches fell to the floor.
Maybe Carter had a point.
They pulled to a stop just off the side of the road in an otherwise deserted area of the park. There was a walking trail on one side, and a bearproof garbage can stood where the trail intersected the road. Or perhapsformerly bearproof—it looked like someone had taken the curve too fast and hit the side of the can hard enough to dent it. It obviously didn’t close properly anymore, and now garbage lay strewn across the road and down the path.Somethinghad definitely been here.
“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to stay in the car,” Carter said, turning around.
Jeff gave him a flat look. “You literally have a broken foot, butIshould stay in the car?”
“You both should stay in the car,” said Kara, “but you’re both stupid. Carter, get your air horn. Jeff, stay away from the bears. And cabin porches.”
“Harsh.”
They got out, leaving the doors open to avoid making any loud noises. Jeff worried about the damage running away from a bear would do to Carter’s broken foot, but it turned out he didn’t need to worry. As soon as they got out, Kara held a finger to her lips and pointed. She must have heard something.
Carter craned his neck over the bed of the truck but eventually shook his head. Then Kara climbed up on the back tire and pointed into the trees.
When Carter made to do the same on the opposite side of the truck, Jeff hissed, “Absolutely not.”
Rolling his eyes, Carter shuffled around the back of the truck, lowered the tailgate, and used the built-in step to gain a vantage point.
Fine. Not to be left out, Jeff climbed up after him. Carter’s long legs made it look easy. For Jeff it was almost a jump instead of a step. He was afraid he made too much noise, but when he got his footing, Carter wrapped an arm around his waist, tugged him close, and turned his body so Jeff could follow the sight line from where he was pointing with his other arm. “There.” The smile came through in his voice, warm enough that Jeff felt it at the top of his head. “See them?”
Jeff looked.
It took a moment to discern the three dark shapes in the underbrush—Jeff really was going to have to get glasses, damn it—but when he did, he smiled. “Is that them?”
“No tracked bears in this area. And none of them have twins.”
Jeff leaned into Carter’s shoulder for a moment. “Well, what are you waiting for? Shoot her with a tranq gun or something and get another tracker on her! I can’t go through this again!”
“We didn’t really come prepared for that,” Carter said, amused. “We’re just here to check that she’s okay.”
“Ugh.” Jeff sat down heavily on the wheel well. “I could not do your job.”
