Page 55 of Sandbar Sunrise
J.J. watched closely to be sure the female was swimming correctly. She appeared to be okay, no worse for the encounter. J.J., however, was suddenly shivering. She was standing in cold water, soaked from head to toe. She looked at her fingers, still wrapped tight around the box cutter. They were blue.
“Come on, get out of that water. You’re shaking!” Stone offered her a hand and hoisted her up on the dock. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“Like what?”
“You grabbed that bird, and just, I don’t know. Took charge. It was impressive. I mean, how in the world did you know what to do?”
“She was trapped. I had to get her out. Not too much of a pppp-uzzle there.”
Stone pulled her to him; he was warm, thank goodness.Warm.
“You must get inside, Sheena, Lord of the Lake.”
“I ddd-do.”
A short time later, after a hot shower, she’d thawed out. Her hair wasn’t quite as cute as she’d done it the first time, but it was dry. Now she had no choice but to wear a stupid dress. She found her black jersey dress from Amazon and a short jean jacket. This would have to do for the dockside opening. She reapplied the makeup, but this time, did add a little color to her cheeks.
“Two getting readies in one night is two too many,” she said to her own reflection as she grabbed her purse.
J.J. found Stone just standing at the water’s edge, waiting for her.
“What?”
“Look here.”
She looked down, and there it was, a little nest of cygnets. The mama swan was now sitting with her babies, keeping them warm. The male wasn’t in the vicinity at the moment.
“Where is the male, do you think, off getting food?” Stone asked J.J., like she was a swan expert. She was not.
“If they’re lucky. But he was injured. His feathers were bloody. Maybe it happened when he was trying to get her free?”
“Too bad, we could maybe get him help, too.”
She thought of the male swan; no way he’d let her get near enough to take him to a vet. She supposed she could call the Michigan DNR.
“It’s likely he’s out there and well…you know.” J.J. felt sad thinking of it.
“Well, they’re lucky, lucky you were here and knew what to do.”
“Thanks, yeah, I’m glad at least the mama is here with the babies.”
They just stood there for a while and watched the fluffy little babies with the mama.
J.J. felt like she needed to find food, too. She’d help the mama feed the babies.
Because, somehow, she knew the dad was gone for good. He’d figured out how to get Mama free, and she knew he’d died doing it.
ChapterNineteen
Stone
Stone had arrived early to J.J.’s the evening of the “Great Swan Liberation Caper” because he was excited to see her. There, he’d admitted it to himself. J.J. Tucker was becoming his favorite part of the day.
When he arrived, he did not expect to find her running around with a box cutter. But there it was. There were a lot of unexpected things happening to him these days.
There was something different about J.J. Tucker. She didn’t care about status or money. A lot of her people were the same. But while her circle of friends did have those things, money or prestige in their fields, they’d all decided that Irish Hills was where they wanted to be. They’d all come around to the life that J.J. Tucker had all along.
He wondered about how she’d felt, leaving it all behind when she ran last year. Working with her was endlessly interesting to him. And maybe someday she’d trust him enough to open up more about her grief.
