behind me and give the key back to Cassidy.â He gazed at her. A softness entered his eyes. âOkay?â His voice had gotten husky with emotion.
So much was going unsaid between them.
The look on his face caused a zing of electricity through her. âOkay.â She fought to keep the rising emotion out of her own voice. Almost immediately an ache entered her heart where a single look from Keith had made her feel alive.
Jenna opened the door to her bedroom. She could hear Keith walking across the floor and fumbling with the lock as she took off her shoes and lifted her fluffy comforter. She slipped into bed with her clothes still on.
She liked the idea of renewing a friendship with Keith, but it couldnât go beyond that. It didnât matterhow nice Keith was. It didnât matter that even after all these years, they seemed to mesh so easily.
Jenna adjusted the pillow under her head as the soft comfort of down molded around her. She knew enough from the psychology rule book and her own dating history that she was attracted to men who in one way or another had the same destructive behavior as her father.
The night he had come to her door twelve years ago, she had wanted to keep her fatherâs secret from Keith. She had been following the advice of friends to cut him out of her life. And, on some unconscious level, she must have known that Keith would only hurt her like her father had.
Keith did seem different, but he had a bad track record. She couldnât take the risk to her heart.
SIX
J enna awoke with a start. Had the noise she heard been a part of her dreams or an actual sound? She slipped from beneath the warmth of the comforter, planted her feet on the carpet and rose out of bed. When she pulled back the curtain, it was still light out. She checked her watch, nearly five oâclock. She had slept a full eight hours. Cassidy would have gone home by now. Jenna stepped into her loafers.
She felt a sense of urgency she didnât understand. She needed to check on the birds.
She grabbed her keys off the counter and headed out the door. Her first stop was the flight barn. The barn was designed to help rehabbed birds practice flying in a safe environment. It was over a hundred yards long with perches scattered around the front of the barn. The flight barn was their newest building, only a year old, courtesy of rancher Peter Hickmanâs generous fundraising. Jenna suspected that Peter had chosen to help the center as a way of becoming a part of the community that was slow to accept outsiders, but in any case, his annual fundraiser was an answer to prayer.
When she pushed on the sliding door to the flightbarn, a golden eagle flew by her. The flapping of wings so close always caused her heart to race faster. The golden drifted to the ground at the far end of the barn, the brown feathers catching the light and revealing the gold sheen that was the reason for the eagleâs name. Two other birds, a red-tailed hawk and another golden, walked on the ledges around the windows, occasionally fluttering their wings and doing short, quick flights.
She loved these birds, but she knew that in a way, her choosing to pour her energy into saving the raptors was a form of rebellion against her father. Her father had loved the less volatile songbirds, the domesticated ones and the wild, injured ones people brought to him to take care of. Sheâd gone for the fiercer, stronger birds, less prey to the kind of weakness her father had shown.
All the birds in the flight barn were present and accounted for. Still, something in her felt unsettled. She headed up the hill toward the main building of the center. Maybe her uneasy feelings were just guilt over having slept so long when she should have been working.
She unlocked the back door of the center and walked over to a white board where they kept a record of activity. All the chores, cage cleaning, feeding and medicine had been checked off. Cassidy
So much was going unsaid between them.
The look on his face caused a zing of electricity through her. âOkay.â She fought to keep the rising emotion out of her own voice. Almost immediately an ache entered her heart where a single look from Keith had made her feel alive.
Jenna opened the door to her bedroom. She could hear Keith walking across the floor and fumbling with the lock as she took off her shoes and lifted her fluffy comforter. She slipped into bed with her clothes still on.
She liked the idea of renewing a friendship with Keith, but it couldnât go beyond that. It didnât matterhow nice Keith was. It didnât matter that even after all these years, they seemed to mesh so easily.
Jenna adjusted the pillow under her head as the soft comfort of down molded around her. She knew enough from the psychology rule book and her own dating history that she was attracted to men who in one way or another had the same destructive behavior as her father.
The night he had come to her door twelve years ago, she had wanted to keep her fatherâs secret from Keith. She had been following the advice of friends to cut him out of her life. And, on some unconscious level, she must have known that Keith would only hurt her like her father had.
Keith did seem different, but he had a bad track record. She couldnât take the risk to her heart.
SIX
J enna awoke with a start. Had the noise she heard been a part of her dreams or an actual sound? She slipped from beneath the warmth of the comforter, planted her feet on the carpet and rose out of bed. When she pulled back the curtain, it was still light out. She checked her watch, nearly five oâclock. She had slept a full eight hours. Cassidy would have gone home by now. Jenna stepped into her loafers.
She felt a sense of urgency she didnât understand. She needed to check on the birds.
She grabbed her keys off the counter and headed out the door. Her first stop was the flight barn. The barn was designed to help rehabbed birds practice flying in a safe environment. It was over a hundred yards long with perches scattered around the front of the barn. The flight barn was their newest building, only a year old, courtesy of rancher Peter Hickmanâs generous fundraising. Jenna suspected that Peter had chosen to help the center as a way of becoming a part of the community that was slow to accept outsiders, but in any case, his annual fundraiser was an answer to prayer.
When she pushed on the sliding door to the flightbarn, a golden eagle flew by her. The flapping of wings so close always caused her heart to race faster. The golden drifted to the ground at the far end of the barn, the brown feathers catching the light and revealing the gold sheen that was the reason for the eagleâs name. Two other birds, a red-tailed hawk and another golden, walked on the ledges around the windows, occasionally fluttering their wings and doing short, quick flights.
She loved these birds, but she knew that in a way, her choosing to pour her energy into saving the raptors was a form of rebellion against her father. Her father had loved the less volatile songbirds, the domesticated ones and the wild, injured ones people brought to him to take care of. Sheâd gone for the fiercer, stronger birds, less prey to the kind of weakness her father had shown.
All the birds in the flight barn were present and accounted for. Still, something in her felt unsettled. She headed up the hill toward the main building of the center. Maybe her uneasy feelings were just guilt over having slept so long when she should have been working.
She unlocked the back door of the center and walked over to a white board where they kept a record of activity. All the chores, cage cleaning, feeding and medicine had been checked off. Cassidy
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