by Kathi Daley
I supposed that all any parent could hope for was that their child found their own path in life and that the path they chose truly made them happy.
“So how have things been here since I’ve been away?” Zak asked, changing the subject.
“Good. Ellie and I went costume shopping today. Catherine is going to be a pirate.”
He raised a brow. “A pirate. Really? I was sure you’d pick out a fuzzy animal costume for her to wear.”
“I did pick out a fuzzy animal costume, but then she found out that Eli was going to be a pirate, and that was that.”
He grinned. “I bet she’ll be an adorable pirate.”
I grinned back. “She did look pretty cute in her costume when she tried it on. Ellie invited Catherine to go trick-or-treating with their family before the party on Halloween. I feel sad that we won’t be with her for her first time out, but it does make the most sense to have the party that night, and I’m sure once she finds out that Eli is going, she’ll want to go as well.”
“I feel bad about not taking her out too, but it does seem that Saturday is the best night for the party, and the older two are really looking forward to it. It would be easier to juggle all our commitments if Halloween wasn’t Saturday or Homecoming wasn’t Friday that same weekend.”
“I suppose we could ask Alex and Scooter to hold down the fort here at the house while we take Catherine out trick-or-treating. We wouldn’t need to be gone long. Ellie mentioned an hour.”
“I like that idea,” Zak said, picking up the wine bottle and topping off both our glasses. “Most of our friends have their own kids to take out, so I suspect the early arrivals will be limited to Alex and Scooter’s friends anyway.”
“Okay, let’s plan on doing that,” I said. “I’ll confirm our plans with Ellie. Since I volunteered to help at the Haunted Hamlet that day, she’s going to come over early to get the food ready. It’s going to be a busy Halloween between the final events of the Haunted Hamlet, our party, and trick-or-treating, but I’m sure we’ll find a way to fit it all in.”
“So, how are the plans for the Haunted Hamlet going?” Zak asked.
I took a sip of my wine and then set my glass aside. “We had our weekly meeting today, and it seems like everything is right on schedule, but I want to check out the progress myself tomorrow. The man who owns the two lots closest to Zoe’s Zoo is looking to sell, so I set up a meeting with him for midmorning tomorrow. Since you came home early, maybe you can work it out to come along.”
Zak nodded. “I have a meeting with Phyllis first thing in the morning, but I’m available after that.” Phyllis King was the principal at Zimmerman Academy. “You mentioned that you wanted to buy some property for eventual expansion, but when we spoke, I didn’t ask a lot of questions. Maybe you can fill me in on the details now that we have a few minutes.”
I turned slightly, so I was facing Zak directly. “The man who currently owns the property next to the Zoo is looking to sell and has agreed to give us the first option on the property for expansion should we want it. He’s looking for top dollar, but I suppose we can handle that, and it would be nice to have the additional land to expand on to. It seems that no matter how often we expand the facility, we just can’t keep up with the need for wild animal rehabilitation. I want to speak to the landowner in person before committing to anything, but I’m pretty convinced that buying the land would be a good move on our part.”
Zak nodded. “I think buying the land is a wonderful idea. We certainly need the room.”
“That’s what I thought. The meeting is set for ten. Will that work for you?”
“That will work fine. I’m meeting with Phyllis early, and then I’m free until the staff meeting in the afternoon.”
“That works for me. I didn’t know you’d be home, so I made plans to visit my mother tomorrow around lunchtime and then planned to stop by Ellie’s and drop off some of Catherine’s outgrown dresses for Alya.”
“What if we have another daughter down the road?” Zak asked.
I paused and then answered. “Then we can buy her new clothes. We can afford it, and I know that with Ellie not working, things are tight for the Denton family right now, so I like helping out without being obvious about it.”
Zak laced his fingers through mine, leaned his head back against his chair, and closed his eyes. He looked so tired. I didn’t know how he was able to make all these quick trips overseas. If I was flying back and forth across the ocean with very little downtime, I think I’d suffer from jetlag all the time. Of course, Zak had been doing just that for years, and he seemed to be used to the crazy schedule he often set for himself.
“I spoke to Ellie about us having additional children when we had lunch today,” I added, almost as an afterthought since this probably wasn’t the best time to have this discussion. “She and Levi have been discussing a third child, which sort of got us on the topic.”
“Oh. And how did that go?” Zak asked, opening his eyes and turning to look at me with a serious expression on his face.
“They’re on the fence, but I told her that I was pretty sure we wanted one or two more.” I hesitated. “Do we want one or two more?”
Zak turned toward me even more directly. “I do. Do you?”
I nodded. “I do. At least one more. Catherine will be three in December, which means even if we conceived right away, her brother or sister would be three years younger than her. That seems like an acceptable age gap to me, but I’m not sure they’ll really be friends if the gap is much larger than three years.”
Zak smiled, leaned forward, kissed me lightly on the lips, and then looked me in the eye. “So you’re ready to start now? Trying, I mean.”
I nodded. “Yes, I think I am.”
He pulled me across the table between us and into his lap. “Then it sounds to me, Mrs. Zimmerman, that perhaps, for the sake of our daughter and her sibling, we might want to do a bit less talking and a bit more baby-making.”
I grinned. “I didn’t necessarily mean right now when I said now. Aren’t you exhausted after your trip?”
“Not anymore.”
Chapter 3
“Alex is going to drop you at preschool on her way to school, so you need to finish up your breakfast,” I said to Catherine the following morning.
“But I want pancakes.”
“Daddy isn’t here, so he couldn’t make pancakes, but I made eggs.”
She pushed them to the side. “I don’t like eggs. I like pancakes.”
I paused and looked at my stubborn daughter. “Since when don’t you like eggs? You love eggs. I even scrambled them with cheese just the way you like them.”
“Eli says eggs are gross. He likes pancakes. I like pancakes.”
I could see this was an argument I was never going to win. If Eli deemed something as so, then as far as Catherine was concerned, it was the gospel truth. “Can you at least eat your toast and fruit? Alex needs to leave in five minutes.”
Catherine popped a piece of cantaloupe into her mouth.
“Have you seen my cleats?” Scooter asked, dropping his backpack on the counter and opening the refrigerator.
“In the laundry room. Do you have practice after school?”
“Every day this week.”
“Did you finish your science project?”
He grabbed an apple from the bowl. “Alex helped me with it. Don’t forget parent conferences are tomorrow night. I get extra credit in my history class if a parent attends.”
“Zak and I both plan to attend. Did you remember to ask your math teacher about extra credit to make up for the work you missed when you were sick?”
Scooter flung his backpack over his shoulder and headed toward the door leading out to the drive. “I forgot, but I will.” With that, he slammed the door behind him.
I heard Scooter start the engine on the car Zak and I had bought him for his sixteenth birthday. Alex and Scooter both had their own cars now, which made things both easier an
d harder.
“Are you ready, little munchkin?” Alex asked Catherine after she wandered into the kitchen, car keys in one hand and backpack in the other.
“Daddy didn’t make pancakes.”
Alex smiled. “I can see that. But eggs are good for you. Fruit too. I’m going to load the car, and when I get back, we’re out of here, so if you are going to eat your breakfast, it had better be now. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait for lunch.”
I couldn’t help but notice that Catherine ate her eggs after Alex told her to. Catherine always did what Alex said. I was really going to miss having her big sister in the house after she went off to college.
“Have you seen Marlow today?” Alex asked as she picked Catherine up and was about to head out the door.
I paused to think about it. “No. I don’t think so.”
“I had some tuna left after making a snack before Scooter’s game yesterday, so I decided to give it to the cats. I looked and looked for Marlow, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. I thought maybe he got locked in Zak’s office after you were in there yesterday morning, but then Zak came home and went into the office to put his stuff away, and the cat wasn’t there. I was going to mention it to you last night, but it was late when we got home, and I forgot.”
I was going to point out to Alex that I hadn’t been in Zak’s office since before he left for his trip, but it didn’t really matter, so I decided to assure her instead. “I’m sure he’ll show up. Maybe he’s sleeping in one of the guest rooms.”
Alex looked doubtful. “Maybe, but in all the years I’ve lived here, I’ve never known Marlow not to come running at the sound of the electric can opener.”
Alex had a point. Marlow was the cat most likely to forge a river if food was involved. If he hadn’t shown up by the time I returned from my errands, I’d look around and see if I could find him.
After all three kids left, I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. As he’d planned to do, Zak left for Zimmerman Academy early but had promised to be home in time for our meeting with the man selling the property that bordered the shelter. The more I thought about the possibilities provided to us should we be able to purchase the land, the more excited I became. Initially, the wild animal section of the shelter was a small area compared to the area dedicated to domestic animals, but as time passed and Zoe’s Zoo became known in the area for our success with the rehabilitation of wild animals, more animals came our way. Currently, we couldn’t really keep up with the demand, especially during the spring and summer. If we were able to purchase the land bordering the current facility, our ability to house orphaned and injured wildlife would increase exponentially.
Thinking of the Zoo made me remember the unopened mail I’d brought home the previous day, so I grabbed my bag and emptied the envelopes out on the table. There were inquiries for information about our adoption protocols, ads soliciting dog food and other pet supplies, a flier for a pet adoption clinic in the valley, and most interesting, a sheet of paper with a photocopy of a rectangle with markings on it. I had no idea who’d sent me the photocopy or what it was supposed to mean. The markings were various geometric shapes that meant nothing to me.
I set the piece of paper aside, figuring I’d ask Zak or Alex about it later. If the shapes had a meaning of some sort, the two geniuses in the family should be able to figure out exactly what the shapes meant.
Zak was home by the time I’d cleaned up the kitchen, showered, and dressed. Zak unloaded some file boxes he’d brought home from the academy from his truck and put them in his office. I suspected whatever was in the boxes would keep him occupied over the next few days. Zak was a busy guy who juggled a lot of roles. It helped that he had an office and a state of the art dust and heat controlled computer room right here in our home.
“So, how did your meeting with Phyllis go?” I asked after we’d piled into his truck and were driving toward the shelter.
“It was productive,” Zak answered. “You know we’re looking to expand so we can accept younger kids into the program.”
“Yes, we’ve discussed the idea.”
“I really want to have something in place by the time Catherine is ready for school, but it feels like that date is creeping up on us,” Zak continued. “The main problem with trying to offer K-12 education is the fact that there are a limited number of children in Ashton Falls who, given our current charter, would qualify.”
“We knew that when we established the school, which is why we decided to offer the boarding option,” I pointed out.
“That’s true, and it seems to work out for the older kids, but Phyllis and I have discussed the fact that there might not be a lot of parents willing to allow their elementary-aged child to attend boarding school.”
“So, what’s the solution?” I asked.
“Phyllis and I discussed relaxing our entrance requirements, so the pool of students we have to choose from is larger.”
“So, you’re thinking that you might try to recruit local kids?”
“It is an idea we’re considering.”
I thought about the conversation I’d had with Levi. “I understand what you’re trying to do, but even if you relaxed the entrance requirements to attract additional students, I’m not sure the kids from town would want to attend the academy.”
Zak looked surprised. “I guess you’re thinking about the tuition. Phyllis and I have discussed that. We plan to offer scholarships to those students in need of financial assistance.”
“Actually, I wasn’t thinking about tuition. I was thinking of the natural rivalry that seems to have popped up between academy kids and kids from town.”
“Rivalry?” Zak asked.
“Were you aware that the kids from the academy call the kids who attend the local high school townies?”
He nodded. “I guess I’ve heard the term used by the academy kids. I don’t think it’s meant to be a derogatory statement.”
“I think the kids from town see things differently. I think they look at the rich, smart kids who attend the academy as being elitists.”
Zak frowned but didn’t comment.
“And then there’s the lack of a sports program at Zimmerman Academy,” I continued. “We didn’t send Scooter to the academy because he wanted to play high school sports, and we didn’t offer them. I know we tried having our students play for the high school football team early on, but that never really worked out. From the beginning, our focus has been on academics and sports have always taken a backseat. I know that not opening the academy to local kids who don’t otherwise qualify will make it tougher to expand the facility to include younger children, but I’m not sure straying from our original purpose is the best idea either.”
Zak blew out a breath. “I guess you make a good point. I considered offering a scholarship to Levi and Ellie, but then I realized that Levi would want his kids to go to the high school where he works even if the entrance requirements were relaxed and the tuition waved. I can think of a handful of other local parents I know who will feel the same way. I know we should take it slow and continue to grow what is working, but I want to be able to offer Catherine the very best schooling possible, and I want her to have friends.”
“I agree. And we will do what we need to do for our daughter.” I paused and then continued. “I know it seems like there might not be a lot of interest in offering a boarding option for the younger students, but a lot of children do board, even very young children. Scooter and Alex both boarded before they moved in with us. It’s not an option I’d choose for Catherine, but I do think that if we want to expand and we are willing to offer boarding for the younger students, we will have interest from across the country.”
“I suppose you might be right,” Zak said. “Maybe I should have had you attend the meeting this morning.”
“You know I’m always willing to help out; you just need to ask.”
By the time we arrived at the property we were looking to buy, the man who
owned it was already waiting. We didn’t really need a tour since the land was directly next to the zoo, but we allowed him to give us one anyway. He seemed to have a set price in his mind, so Zak didn’t try to talk him down, we just agreed to his terms, signed the paperwork, and assured him we would arrange for a bank transfer of funds within a few days. Once we were finished, Zak dropped me at home so I could get my own car while he headed back to the academy for his staff meeting. As I’d planned to, I picked up some takeout and then headed to my parents’ house for a visit with my mother.
“How’s the leg?” I asked after setting the food I’d brought out on her kitchen table.
She groaned. “It’s better at least in terms of pain, but it itches, and I’m going crazy sitting around all day. It’s not helping that Dad is working at the store while his manager is on vacation. It’s only for a few weeks, but his not being here all day really puts me at loose ends.”
“Can I do something? Get something for you?”
“No,” Mom said. “I’m fine, really. Like I said, I’m just bored. I know I need to power through until the cast comes off in two weeks, and I can get back to my life, or at least I can get back to an altered version of my life. The doctor said that due to the severity of the break, it would be weeks before I’ll be able to walk without a cane and a limp. Once the cast is off, I’ll start physical therapy right away, so I’m hoping to be back to my old self in time for the Christmas festivities.”