Page 65 of Someone Exactly Like Me (Wounded Hearts 1)
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Destiny
My conversation with Candi replays in my head. I honestly don’t know how to feel. I don’t want to misinterpret something that’s not there, but I’m terrified for there to be something between us. Even if he does feel a little something for me, there’s no way, logistically, it would work.
Before going to bed, I settle on enjoying our last day together without letting my confused feelings interfere. Excited about seeing him tomorrow, I drift off to sleep with the memory of being wrapped around him in the ocean, our heads tucked into one another.
Nicco
She’s back safely and I get to see her today. Not only do I get to see her, but I also have to make sure she agrees to come to Ranch Inn with me. Today won’t be enough, I need to see her again before I leave.
As has become our meeting time, I get to her house at eleven o’clock. When she opens the door, the tension that’s been sitting in my chest the last few days releases. Today she’s cute and sexy melted together. Part of her hair is pulled into a small clip behind her head, she wears dark gray shorts, a V-neck lavender T-shirt, and a delicate gold necklace.
Leaning in, I touch her lightly on the arm and kiss each of her soft cheeks. Stepping back, I take her in again. She has no idea what she does to me with her long, creamy legs and the outline of her hardening nipples through her shirt. It’s so fucking hot how responsive she is to my touch. I have to focus intently on not getting hard.
The drive is about two hours to the San Diego Zoo and she tells me about her trip to Hawaii with Candi. Along the way, she continues to be diligent in her tour-guide duties, pointing out landmarks and things to do. We stop for a quick lunch before we get to the zoo.
“You’ll want to have your cigarette now because you can’t smoke on the zoo property at all.” Though she never judges, there’s always a disapproving sadness in her eyes when I stop whatever we’re doing to go have a cigarette.
Cutting my ritual short, I have my cigarette and return to her car where she’s waiting inside for me. As soon as I get in, she puts the windows down.
“I don’t want my car to smell like smoke.” Her words, still void of judgement, pinch at me.
I don’t apologize, I can’t. Though it’s an addiction, it’s also my choice, I know that. I hate feeling powerless to it.
“Does it ever bother you, the things you miss out on because you need to smoke?” She tilts her head slightly, her eyebrows raised as her lips press together.
Tension coils around the muscles in my neck. “A lot.” I know it would break my dad’s heart to know I’m smoking.
“My friend, Heidi, works with people to help them quit smoking. Obviously, there’s a big part that’s the addiction, but I also know how connected you feel to your dad when you smoke. She does things like matrix reimprinting and EFT tapping that could help you if you wanted to try quitting again. I confess, I don’t fully understand what’s involved or how it works, but I can give you her number if you wanted to ask her some questions about it.”
Her kindness and compassion continue to inspire me. “I do want to quit someday, for good. I want to be free from craving something I know is killing me.”
She gets her phone from her purse and messages me her friend’s contact information. “She’s helped so many people with the work she does. I believe she could help you if that’s what you really want.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” While I do appreciate her giving me her friend’s information, I don’t think I’ll call her.
When we arrive at the zoo, we’re just in time to catch a bird show. After the show, we weave our way down different paths to see the animals. Watching her behavior and interaction with them, I can see her love of animals. If there’s an opportunity to pet one, she’s right there with loving strokes and a gentle voice.
There’s a section in the elephant sanctuary where you can get close enough to feed them. As she steps toward the wall that separates us from them, a massive elephant approaches, one lethargic step after the other. It stands right in front her, shifting its head so its eye is looking directly at her. She affectionately gazes into its eye and smiles. They stay like this for a few seconds. Then the elephant reaches out its long trunk toward her. I almost pull her back, but she doesn’t look scared. Though people are nearby, sounds fade and the air is still as I watch them.
The elephant stretches its wrinkled, gray trunk a little longer, putting it close to her face, sniffing. She lifts her chin, still smiling at the majestic creature. It curls its trunk and she slowly reaches up, cradling the trunk in one hand and gently rubbing it with the other. Then she whispers. I’m not close enough to hear what she’s saying, but as she whispers, the elephant’s marble-like eye closes and opens slowly.
She lengthens her strokes, still whispering. Then she leans in. The elephant reaches as far as it can and tucks the end of its trunk into the crook of her neck. She rests her head on it and a tear falls from the elephant’s eye. I stand there, motionless, frozen, my eyes fixed on them. Raising her head, she takes the large gray trunk in her hands and kisses it, then releases it and steps back. Wiping tears from her cheeks, she steps back again. The elephant backs away from the wall, flaps it massive ears, and releases a loud, trumpeting sound.
Turning away from the wall, she walks toward me. I rub my chin with my hand, both confused and amazed by what I’d just witnessed. There’s still some moisture under her eye that I wipe with my thumb.
“What just happened there? Do you know this animal?”
Looking up at me, she smiles. “I do.”
“Are you some kind of elephant whisperer?”
She chuckles as she starts back down the path. “No. When I was in high school, I thought I wanted to be a zoologist. My aunt and uncle live out here and I’d visit them on weekends a lot during the summer. They know the people who own the zoo and they helped me get a part time job here. I was here the day Jo-Jo was born. As much as I was able to, I came to the zoo to take care of him and play with him. And now, I visit him when I can.”
“That was one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen.” My entire body is swarmed by a strange mixture of calm and exhilaration. “Was he angry that you were leaving just now?”
“No, that was a happy sound he made. He was happy to see me.”
