Flipping Love You (Boys of the Bayou Gone Wild #3) - Erin Nicholas Page 0,5
shelter, medical care. It can also be used to house you, since you are essential for their well-being. If you need to build a new house or move to a new place, that money can certainly be used for that.”
Jill knew she was staring at him. He had just said the words sixteen million dollars to her. That definitely deserved a stare.
She turned back to the enclosure. She could now see six of the penguins. Correction, six of her penguins.
Suddenly her chest felt warm and she felt her eyes stinging again.
She now had eight penguins. Galápagos penguins.
Thanks to a sweet little old man who had come to the zoo one Thursday and had started up a simple conversation with the words, “Some scientists think that penguins sometimes jump for sheer joy.”
She’d instantly known that this man knew more about penguins than the average person. Penguins leapt from the water like dolphins, an act called porpoising, and it was true that some scientists thought it truly was out of happiness more than for any other reason.
Watching the penguins, she felt a little like jumping for joy herself. This was an amazing opportunity. And she suddenly understood why A.J. hadn’t told her about them.
He’d wanted this to be a surprise. He wanted to make her dream come true and he’d wanted to do it in a way that would give her joy even as she was sad and grieving losing him. It was his way of showing her that their bond would go on.
“How long has he had the penguins?” she asked.
“They started the program just over a year ago.”
She frowned. “And…when did he get his cancer diagnosis?”
“About fifteen months ago.”
Her breath caught in her chest. A.J. hadn’t gotten these penguins for himself. She was certain he’d been optimistic about beating the cancer at first. That was just A.J. But she also knew that he’d agreed to be a part of the program, even with cancer, because he knew he had her.
“He has all of the permissions, licensing, and paperwork in place. You can relocate the penguins as needed with a little help from me,” William said with a smile. “But you are officially the owner and caretaker of these penguins as far as the program and all the pertinent government entities are concerned.”
Jillian sucked in a huge long breath. “So I have eight penguins and sixteen million dollars. And I need to move them out of here in time for Christine to turn the house into a bed and breakfast.”
“You can keep them here, of course, until you have a plan,” Christine assured her.
She appreciated that, but knew that Christine didn’t mean that she could take a year or more to figure this out.
“So, I guess I need to try to make some plans,” Jill said.
“I’m happy to help with anything you need,” William said. “I have all the contacts that you might need. A.J.’s partners in the private sanctuary program are eager to talk with you.” William smiled again. “A.J. told them all about you. They’re excited to have your expertise.”
“They don’t have expertise?” she asked.
“They are mostly just people with money who want to help with wildlife conservation and really like penguins.”
Oh. So she really would be the expert of the group. Well…great. She was used to that, actually. Truly, in any group of humans, 99.8% of the time she would know more than anyone else about penguins.
Nothing else, of course, but penguins? Absolutely.
“Are there rules about where I take the penguins?”
She supposed she could stay here, but she wasn’t from Omaha. She’d come here specifically for the job with the zoo. But she didn’t really have a desire to go home to Kansas either.
“No, the location has nothing to do with the program. They just require the penguins’ environment be protected and controlled. They want it as natural as possible, with no other penguin types. They want to strictly limit the number of caregivers as well, in a quiet, non-disruptive environment, with plenty of food, of course, so that they feel secure to breed regularly and produce viable eggs.”
That made sense. Food availability was the primary factor that impacted the penguins’ breeding habits in the wild.
So where did she want to take the penguins? What made the most sense? With sixteen million dollars she could probably relocate the penguins anywhere she wanted.
But she was suddenly feeling a little alone.
She often felt alone. She liked being alone. She liked doing her own thing.