Page 68 of The Grizzly Situation
The shuffling of feet, then a hearty, “Mr. Lockhart, good to hear from you, sir.”
“And it’s great to hear your voice,” I assured him. “How are things?”
He sighed. “I have to admit, the advice you gave Cait? It was spot on. The two of us fell in love again on this trip. We sat and talked about why the job meant so much to Cait, and after clearing the air, I feel as though I know her much better now. I can understand why it’s important, and I agree with her. And so we’re completely transparent? She’s not the one who wanted to come home. That’s me. While I love being out in the woods, we need to be home so Cait can get back to work.”
“That isn’t the point here. It’s what the two of you want together. Doyouwant to come home?”
He was quiet for a moment. “We had a great time, but Cait needs her job to give her part of the foundation she’s looking for. One of our first conversations was me asking why the job is so important to her. She told me she’d been working for you since before we met, and that’s what started her believing in herself. You did that for her. You helped her become the woman I fell in love with. She wants to give back to the sleuth, to show she appreciates them.”
I sighed. “I told her she’s invaluable to the sleuth as a whole. That doesn’t mean she can’t take time off.”
“No, and she—we—understand that. We’ve agreed that she won’t forego her accrued vacation days anymore. Every year the two of us will take the time to reconnect. To remind ourselves why we’re in love. This is a good thing, sir. And it wouldn’t have happened without you. Please, for our sake, let her come back to work.”
I wanted to argue, to say they needed the time away, but I couldn’t. I trusted my people, and if they said they were ready, I had to take it at face value.
“Fine. Keep in mind, though. If this doesn’t work out, I’m shipping you both off to our remotest branch where you’ll be forced to deal with a tiny house and nearly no amenities.”
They laughed. Uly chuckled. Little did they know, I wasn’t kidding.
“Thank you, sir,” Cait said solemnly.
“It’ll be good to have you back,” I told her.
“Because I’m the only one who knows how you like your coffee?”
“I know, right? These others keep trying to add these weird smelling syrups and that turns my stomach.”
“Well, I’ll be in, so you won’t need to worry about it anymore.”
“You know I’m kidding, right? Everyone has pulled together while you were gone, and that made things run better, but your steadying hand was sorely missed.”
She sighed. “Thank you for saying that.”
“I only speak the truth. We’ll be happy to have you back at the helm.”
“See you tomorrow, sir.”
“Looking forward to it.”
“And Uly? I can’t wait to meet you.”
He smiled brightly. “Same.”
I disconnected the call and regained control of the copter. “I think you’ll like Cait. She’s got a good head on her shoulders.”
“You were kidding about sending them somewhere remote, right?”
“Nope. The two of them need time to figure things out. If they were able to do it in a few short weeks, awesome. If not, then more time will be needed, so they’ll go to one of the places specially designed for that. They will have others around them, but they’ll also have to work together.”
“Your sleuth is kinda family oriented, huh?”
“We are,” I informed him. “Family means everything. Our birthrates are lower than many animals, so the people we do have are precious to us. Especially children. When Jenna discovered she was pregnant with twins, we were ecstatic. The sleuth all gathered around her, offering their help with anything she needed. And it wasn’t because she was the leader’s wife. They do the same for everyone.”
He leaned back in his seat, folded his arms over his stomach, and sighed.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m glad the boys fell asleep behind my legs. I was going to leave and not look back because I thought there was something wrong with me that I couldn’t stay.”
