She set down the suitcase, and Zach kissed her. He kissed her, held her close, and breathed her in. Her scent had changed subtly since she changed, taken on an earthier tinge, and he liked it. A lot.
He had to tear himself away, because it was time to go to work. “Unpack wherever,” he told her. “If you have anything you want from storage, we can go get that, too.”
But she said, “I don’t want anything else. I like your house, and your things. Most of that stuff is just crappy secondhand furniture from my old apartment. This,” she patted her suitcase, “is the stuff I really wanted.”
“Put it wherever makes you happiest, then,” Zach said. He hesitated, lingering at the door. He didn’t want to leave her for hours and hours. “I wish you could come with me to work.”
It slipped out—he hadn’t meant to say that. It was weird, wasn’t it, to want to be with someone every minute of the day?
But Teri nodded, making a face. “The end of the day seems like forever. Maybe...” She hesitated. “Maybe I could come meet you for lunch?”
Zach could feel his face light up. “Yes!” he said. “Although you don’t have a car...maybe I could come pick you up.”
Teri shook her head. “I’ll take the bus. It’s easy and that way we don’t lose out on time together when you’re driving both ways.”
That was fair. Zach took her hand and squeezed it. “Okay. See you at noon, then?”
She went up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “See you at noon. Have a good morning.”
“You too.”
It hurt to leave her, but the simple little domestic exchange sent a feeling of warmth through him. They could do this every day now. When he came home, Teri would be there, and when he woke up in the morning, she’d still be there.
It was everything h
e could ever want.
When he got to work, he checked in at headquarters and found a message from Cal to go meet him in his office.
What could it be? He didn’t think he’d done anything wrong. Maybe something to do with Joel’s disappearance the day before?
When he knocked on the open doorframe, Cal motioned him in. “Sit down, sit down,” he said.
“You wanted to see me about something?” Zach took a seat across from Cal’s desk.
“That’s right.” Cal set his pen down and leaned back in his chair. “You seem pretty satisfied with working the visitor’s center.”
Zach nodded immediately. “I like helping people appreciate the park. Kids, tourists, locals—it’s nice to give everyone an idea of what we have for them to see and how to get the most out of it without risking their safety or the environment’s.”
“Good. Then your rookie rotation is officially over—you’ll be working there full-time from now on.”
Zach smiled. “Thanks. I appreciate that.”
“No charge. And another thing. Amber quit today.”
Amber was one of the assistants at ranger headquarters. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Zach said. “I hope she’s okay.”
Cal waved a hand. “Moving away with some boyfriend. Last-minute decision, and now I’ve got to hire someone. I thought of your girl, Teri. I remember her volunteering here back when she was in high school—hard worker, really cares about the Park. Maybe she’d want the job.”
Zach listened with dawning amazement. “Sir, that would be—yes, I’m sure she would want the job. She loves the Park, and she’s been looking for work.”
Cal scowled. “Don’t call me sir.”
“Sorry. She’s meeting me for lunch today—do you want me to bring her by so you can discuss it with her?”
“Convenient,” Cal grunted. “Do that. I’ll see you at twelve-thirty.”
Zach nodded. “Thank you for this.”