Sealed With A Kiss: Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild, page 8
“Not to mention the way you’ve gotten involved with the videos,” Charlie went on. “The stuff you shoot is so much better than anything the rest of us could do. That is all amazing. I promise not to bring Zoey up again. Besides—” She grinned. “Now we’ve got Donovan Foster, who is always happy to be on camera, to handle the media interviews.”
So Donovan hadn’t told Charlie and Griffin about the Galapagos Islands job? That was interesting. Naomi wondered why not. But it wasn’t her news to tell.
“Yep, one thing you can always count on is Donovan wanting to be the star,” Naomi said, with a little pang in the left side of her chest.
Would she love it if he’d be happy feeding alpacas for a living? Or driving swamp boat tours up and down the bayou? Or even just doing videos and commercials for Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild? Absolutely. But, that wasn’t his dream.
She really shouldn’t have fallen for a guy who wanted to change the world.
The Autre branch of the Cajun Navy was scheduled to roll out at six a.m. the next morning. Donovan pulled up in front of Naomi’s house at five-fifty a.m. exactly.
She met him at the bottom of her porch steps.
“You’re bringing a whole trailer?”
The trailer hooked to the back of his pickup was small but she hadn’t realized he’d be hauling anything at all.
The rest of the Autre gang were, of course, pulling trailers that held their boats. They were in the four pickups waiting for them along her street.
Michael was in his pickup with Zeke and Mitch. The two Landry boys would go wherever they were needed, but would most likely join the other Landrys in the boats while Michael joined other official first responders.
Ellie and Leo were behind Michael, pulling their motorized fishing boat with their pickup. Josh and Owen were in the next pickup with one of the airboats on the trailer behind them and Sawyer had Bennett with him pulling one of the larger airboats.
The various sizes of boats would be helpful when they got to Alabama. The bigger tour boat would hold more people, but the smaller boats would be able to get into tighter spaces.
The airboats in particular would be helpful in the flood waters since none of their parts were below the bottom of the boat, unlike the motorboats. The airboats skimmed over the surface of the water and so could maneuver over shallower waters than many of the fishing boats.
Naomi felt a surge of pride. She loved that she knew people who were happy to get up at the crack of dawn and head out to help strangers. She was excited to be a part of it.
This was an adventure for her. It was nothing compared to what Donovan typically did, traveling the world, saving wildlife. But she didn’t get outside of Autre much. Certainly not much outside of their parish. She was happy here. She’d had her taste of the big, wide world. She’d traveled. She’d been to fancy parties. She’d rubbed elbows with famous people. Now she only needed to travel as far as downtown Autre to get what she needed. The people she wanted to get close enough to rub elbows with all gathered at Ellie’s bar. And the only stars she needed to see were in the gorgeous, clear Louisiana night sky.
Still, this trip, with these people, and what they were going to do, gave her a little thrill. It was a devastating situation, of course. That part wasn’t thrilling. But being able to help, being able to do something that would matter, that was bigger than her usual day, felt good.
“Didn’t have enough room in the truck bed for everything,” Donovan told her as he stored her bag behind the truck seat with his.
Naomi checked out the back of Donovan’s Raptor as he stowed her bag. He had a lot of equipment in the back of his truck as well, but it wasn’t the tools the Landrys had packed or the first-aid supplies in Michael’s truck.
“Wow, where did you get all of this?”
He slammed the door and joined her. “Made some calls around the area. Lots of people happy to donate or loan supplies and equipment.”
He had a number of animal crates of various sizes, harnesses and leashes, blankets, pads, and dog beds, along with bags and cans of food of all kinds.
“That’s impressive.”
“The trailer is full too. More food, water, crates, plastic tarps. All kinds of stuff.” He held out a hand and helped her up onto the seat. She didn’t miss the gentlemanly gesture. “Was on the phone with Fiona and then Monica. She runs the biggest pet shelter in that area. Told me some of the supplies they could never have enough of.”
“Like a humane society shelter?”
He shook his head. “This is an emergency shelter. They can’t shelter animals with people, even in emergencies like this, but it’s imperative they set up a separate emergency shelter for the animals too. Did you know that in Katrina forty-four percent of the people who didn’t evacuate said no because they didn’t want to leave pets behind?”
Naomi’s eyes widened. “Wow. That’s incredible. They wouldn’t let them bring them even in that situation?”
“Couldn’t. It poses a safety risk to the other humans. People are allergic. Animals can get aggressive when they’re under stress or around strangers. There can be a lot of problems. It’s hard enough having that many humans all sheltering together in an emergency. Add in animals and it’s a risk for everyone. Even the animals. So there need to be shelters for them too. Usually very close by. That’s what Monica has set up down there.”
Naomi nodded. “That makes sense. And they need additional staff and supplies.”
“For sure. The animals’ owners are mostly in charge of coming in and caring for their own pets so that helps with the staffing situation, but they do need experienced animal handlers and can never have enough supplies.”
“Are you going there then? To help at the shelter?”
“I’m going wherever I need to go. I’m probably better out doing rescues, but we can do a little bit of everything, I figure.”
We. She liked that. She’d also do whatever needed done. She could help at a shelter—animal or human—but she kind of wanted to stick with Donovan.
Which was selfish. She needed to think about the people who needed her in Alabama, not her I-want-to-watch-him-being-a-hero obsession with Donovan Foster.
“And don’t worry, I made sure to throw the air mattress back there,” he said with a grin and a wink.
She didn’t respond. Because her answer would have been thank God.
She knew they weren’t going to be having sex while in Alabama. This wasn’t a sexy, romantic trip. They’d likely never be totally alone and even if they were, they were going to be exhausted. If not sweaty and dirty. She had no idea what the shower situation would be like down there.
But she wanted to cuddle up with him at night.
Even sweaty and dirty.
And that told her everything she needed to know about how gone she was over Donovan.
He rounded the front of the truck and got behind the wheel, pulling out onto the road behind the last pickup in the caravan.
“So how do these animal rescues usually go?” Naomi asked. “How do you find the animals and get them back to their owners?”
“Usually a local group will have set up some kind of hotline or possibly a website or Facebook page where people can report their animals missing or report that they had to leave pets behind. They can give the animals’ names and descriptions and so on,” Donovan said. “There will also be people patrolling residential areas where animals might have either been left behind or might have escaped when the storm got bad and not be able to get home. There could be animals trapped in debris. There could be animals who left home during the storm, sheltered somewhere else, then came back but can’t find their humans. There’s a lot of different scenarios.”
Naomi felt her heart ache thinking about it all. How scared the animals would be. How heartbreaking a decision it would be for the humans to have to leave a pet behind.
“And then you capture them and take them to a central location and then put the word out?” Naomi asked.
He shrugged. “Pretty much. We’ll make sure they’re fed, check them for injuries. There will be local vets around volunteering, I’m sure. Griffin threw in some general antibiotics and bandaging supplies and a few other things we might need for triage too.”
“What should I be prepared for?” Naomi asked, feeling her stomach tighten. She led a sheltered life, she’d admit. On purpose. She’d been out in the world as a kid, growing up in the public eye. She’d had enough of it and when she’d come home to Autre, she’d hunkered down. But she could admit that she’d maybe hunkered down too much. She hadn’t felt like she was missing out on anything. At least, not until lately.
But now she was on her way to do something bigger than she’d done before. Because of Donovan. While this exact same adventure was tiny compared to his usual.
“There will be some hard things to see. There will no doubt be some animals that didn’t make it. There will be some that were abandoned, some we’re never going to be able to reunite. But there will be adoption groups on the ground as well. Hopefully a lot of those animals will find new homes.”
Naomi nodded and looked out the windshield.
She’d been through a couple of hurricanes, but they had been category twos or lower. She had of course seen the news and heard stories from Harvey and Maria as well as other hurricanes over the years, but she had never been directly involved in any of the rescue and recovery work. She’d stuck close to home, made sure her family and friends were okay.
Her brother hadn’t gotten far from home either. But Michael responded to fires and car accidents and medical calls and took care of the town and surrounding area.
She took care of the people in her immediate circle.
Even though Michael had a great reason for staying close—his son, Andre—he still cast his net wider than Naomi did. She took caring for others seriously. She was the one with the purse that always had a magical fix in it—duct tape, super glue, pain reliever, stain remover—and she loved being the one people could depend on for good, reasonable advice…and duct tape…but she didn’t open that purse for people outside her closest friends and family.
Now, though, she was on the road to another state, a new city, to help strangers. And she was excited. Apprehensive too because she had no idea if she’d be any good at this. But she wanted to be there.
And it was because of Donovan.
She wouldn’t be going if Donovan wasn’t a hot, charming, walking-talking package of trouble-waiting-to-happen who she wanted to keep an eye on.
But whatever had gotten her into the truck, she was excited about what was ahead.
She cast a glance at the man next to her. Yes, he was her biggest worry. She was mildly concerned about the others from Autre. This wasn’t going to be an easy, totally safe situation. But the Landrys knew their way around water and storms like this. Her brother was a trained firefighter and paramedic. He’d seen lots of hard things and in been in the midst of disasters before. Donovan was certainly brave and had the physical stamina and strength to be a lot of help in a situation like this, but she wondered about his experience and judgment.
“So what happened that made you not want to have your family and friends involved in your dating relationships?”
Her eyes widened as he glanced over and met her eyes.
“How do you know I don’t have my family and friends involved in my dating relationships?”
He gave her a really? look. “Because I know your family and friends. And I asked about your past boyfriends.”
She was surprised. “You did? Why not just ask me?”
“Because you weren’t there. I was a little drunk, your brother was there, and it…came up.”
She gave a soft snort. “Oh really? What did you ask? What did he say?”
“Just asked if you were seeing anyone.” He glanced over. “This was a couple months ago.” He focused on the road again. “Michael said he didn’t think so. I asked if you’d ever been really serious with anyone. He said he didn’t think so. I asked why he didn’t know for sure and he said that you just never introduce anyone you date to anyone in your immediate circle. That you keep it all pretty separate.”
She did. After spending eight years in the public eye, having everything from what she was wearing to her moods analyzed for teen magazines and blogs, she’d become a very private person.
“We’re going to do this before I even have coffee?” she asked.
She knew he wouldn’t let it go. Donovan seemed easy-going and laid back and for the most part, he was very good at rolling with the punches. He thought quick on his feet and was able to adjust to any situation in a blink, it seemed. But he also had an intensity about him. He was passionate about the work he did, and the animals he rescued, and she sensed that his intensity could easily be focused on other things that became important to him.
He gave her a grin and reached for one of two paper cups nestled in the cup holders in the center console that she hadn’t noticed before now. He handed it over. “You’re right. My apologies.”
She shivered a little bit as she took a sip of coffee. Being the focus of that kind of ardent attention could be exhilarating. And overwhelming.
As the coffee—the perfect blend of hazelnut syrup and cream in a medium roast—hit her tastebuds, she looked over at him. “You know how I take my coffee?”
He lifted his own cup and took a sip. Then nodded. “We’ve been drinking coffee together for months.”
She studied him as she took another sip. She couldn’t remember a time when he had actually gotten coffee for her or anyone else, but it was possible it had happened. Or maybe he’d just listened to her give her order to someone else. Or maybe he’d asked someone how she took her coffee. Like he’d asked her brother about her romantic relationships. She sighed.
“Well, thank you. It’s perfect.”
“You’re welcome.” He paused and took another sip of his coffee, his attention seemingly on the highway. But not even a minute passed before he asked, “Have you drunk enough to tell me about your romantic past now?”
“There has to be something else we can talk about.”
He pretended to think about that for a moment. Then shook his head. “Sorry. Nothing else interesting. At least not that interesting.”
“You want to know all about my romantic past? Really?”
“Really,” he shifted on his seat. “More than I would’ve expected actually.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t usually get that interested in other people’s stuff. I mean, we all have stuff. We all have pasts and things that we’d rather not dig up. Certainly not with people that we like and admire and want to like and admire us. So generally, I let pasts be pasts.”
She appreciated the fact that she could sit angled on her seat and watch him while he had to focus on driving.
“So why are you digging into my past?”
He nodded, not taking his eyes off the road this time. “That’s the question.”
“Do you have a good answer?”
“I have an answer. I’m not sure it’s good.”
“You mean you don’t think it’s accurate?”
“I mean, I think that it’s…” He took a deep breath. “Complicated. And I’m not sure that making things complicated is a good thing.”
She was intrigued. And she shouldn’t be. Because being intrigued was also complicated.
Having a crush on this guy had been fun. It had also been simple.
When he’d first come to town, it had been fun to run into him and have the butterflies kick up in her stomach as if she was a teenager again. It was fun to hear her friends talk about him and to lean in to catch little details she didn’t know. It was fun to be involved in filming his latest adventure and rescue. But as she got to know him and her feelings had changed from a crush to something a lot more adult and a lot more real, it had gotten less fun. It had gotten more… yeah, complicated.
Crushes were supposed to be from a distance. Crushes were something you got over. Yes, it was a little ridiculous for a twenty-five-year-old woman to have a crush in the first place. But that was the point. Crushes weren’t really real.
Donovan Foster had become very real to her.
And that was definitely complicated.
She took another long draw of her coffee. It really was good. And the caffeine was starting to kick in. Which probably should’ve made her thoughts more clear.
He looked over at her when she didn’t reply. “I’ve tried to resist getting interested in you. I have. But it’s not working.”
She knew delving into all of this was probably a bad idea, but Naomi still felt her heart flip in her chest.
“You try to not get interested in people on purpose?”
Maybe she could turn the tables here. Maybe she could get him talking about himself and he would forget to talk about her.
And, in spite of her best efforts, she was interested in him. She’d sensed from the beginning that he didn’t know what to do with big groups of people who were interested in him and his life. Or maybe just big groups of people in general.
Because of her stupid thirteen-year-old-girl-esque crush, she always paid a lot of attention to Donovan when he was around. The Landrys and LeClaires could be a lot, especially when all put together, and he always seemed a little befuddled by the big group of people. Even more so when they automatically included him in things and paid attention to details like that he preferred the extra spicy hot sauce and his coffee extra strong.
She was sure he’d expected to blend into the crowd. That’s probably what most people expected. Then, he’d seemed a little uncomfortable with the attention he was getting.
At first, that had struck her as odd. He was, without question, an attention whore. But it was a different kind of attention that he seemed to crave. He loved the camera. He loved the action. He loved showing people the great outdoors and wildlife. He liked being a minor celebrity.
When people wanted to know how he was—not how the gray wolf he was rehabilitating was or how the release of the owl had gone—he seemed to get awkward. As if he wasn’t used to people asking, or caring, about him. Only what he did.
