Love, Lucas (15 page)

“My dad works with Jo so he makes me help out now and then.” He shrugs.

“Oh.” We climb in Jo’s truck as another one pulls up by ours. Jo sticks her head out the window and talks to the man and before I know it, we’re following him down the street.

I sit next to Jo, who’s talking loudly on her cell, and Dillon plops down next to me. He’s wearing a really tight shirt and I can’t help but check him out. He’s ripped, that’s for sure. A six-pack and everything. Carson has one too but he’s not as tan. And his arms aren’t as . . . shiny.

Dillon sees me looking and smiles, showing off his straight white teeth. He leans close to my ear. “You can keep looking. I don’t mind.”

He’s super full of himself too.

I roll my eyes and look away.

“What?” he asks, laughing.

I’m thankful I don’t have to answer since Jo is slowing the truck down. She pulls onto the beach and drives down to the water. “There she is,” she says.

I look ahead and see a mass of brown lying on the sand with half its body in the water. The sea lion is barely moving and is making an awful noise. There’s a group of people surrounding it but no one goes too close.

Dillon jumps out of the truck with Jo. I stay where I am, my eyes glued to the animal struggling in the water. I watch as a few men jump out of the other truck with big nets and other equipment. The sea lion doesn’t move as they cover it.

I get out of the truck and walk over to where everyone is gathered, curious. I see Jo inject the animal with something in a really long needle, and Dillon strokes its head. But I don’t look at its head for long. I stare at a mass of fat and bone sticking out of three deep gashes in its side. There isn’t really any blood, just tissue and flesh. I shudder to think about what must have happened and what kind of pain the animal is in. It just lies there, its breathing shallow.

“Oakley,” Dillon says. “Why don’t you go back to the truck?”

I don’t answer, just stare. I can’t tear my gaze away from the wound and after a moment, Dillon puts his arm around my shoulder and attempts to turn me around. To shield the animal from my view, I’m sure. “No, I’m okay. I want to see this.” I turn back around, curious as to what they’re going to do with it.

He raises an eyebrow. “You’re sure?”

“Yes.” I keep my distance but watch as Jo and her team go to work. Jo’s obviously done this a million times. She’s amazingly gentle and calm. She talks to the sea lion like it’s a person as they load it into some kind of stretcher, petting its head and making sure it’s comfortable. My fingers itch to touch it as well. To comfort it somehow.

“Looks like she got hit by a boat,” Dillon says.

I glance at him for a moment. I’d forgotten he was even there. The sea lion makes another awful noise. It tugs at my heart. “What’s going to happen to her?”

Dillon frowns. “She’s in pretty bad shape. From what I’ve seen, and I’m not a vet or anything, but the injury is probably gonna do her in. I doubt she even makes it back to the rescue center.”

“How . . . sad.”

He shrugs. “There are plenty of sea lions around. Sad to see them go like this but that’s the circle of life, I guess.”

I crack a smile. “You’re not gonna start singing
The Lion King
are you?”

He grins. “You want me to?”

“Not really.”

He chuckles and is quiet for a minute. “So, you and Carson, huh?”

I glance at him, surprised. “What?”

“You’re a thing now?”

I look away. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Oh, come on. I talked to him this morning.” There’s tension in his voice and he looks away, suddenly examining something beyond us.

“We’re friends.”

He laughs. “Friends. Right.”

“You okay, Oakley?”

I look up, grateful to see Jo. Her clothes are soaking wet and she uses her arm to push a clump of hair out of her face. “I’m fine,” I say. “You’re amazing.”

She rolls her eyes. “Not really. And I’m sorry you had to see that. We don’t get a lot of sea lions that are still alive after an accident like this. This one’s a fighter. I don’t think she’s going to make it though. The wound is too severe.”

I nod, feeling my chest tighten. The poor animal. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugs. “It happens. Way too often for my liking though.” She slips her arm through mine. “Let’s get back to the rescue center and you can go do what you want. I feel bad I made you come with me. You shouldn’t have to see this.”

“It’s okay, Jo. I’m really glad I came. What you do for the animals is really awesome. I’d like to come again another time, if you don’t mind.”

She looks surprised but nods anyway. “Of course I don’t mind. I’d love to have you around.” I smile at her and she pats me on the back before walking away.

I follow Dillon to the truck and we get inside.

“Your aunt’s pretty cool,” he says. “She’s rescued a lot of animals. Have you been to the rescue center yet?”

I shake my head. Dillon is back to his old self. The tension between us seems to be gone.

“You’ll have to come inside when we get there. It’s nice.” He stretches his arms behind his head and closes his eyes.

We wait until they load the animal in the truck and then we’re off. We reach the rehabilitation center quickly. Jo drives the truck up a long driveway, goes around the building, and parks near a back door.

A whole bunch of people come running out of the building and Jo and Dillon help them take the sea lion inside. I don’t know what to do so I sit in the truck until Jo returns. As she pokes her head out of the building, she asks, “You doin’ okay?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t you come inside? I’ll show you around. There are a lot of happier stories in here.”

I jump out and follow her through the doors. Just seeing this one part of the building, I know the rest is huge. Large cages with seals and sea lions are everywhere. Some swim happily in their pools, others relax on the sides. The pools look like normal swimming pools but I know they’re filled with salt water. And freezing cold, I’m sure.

I peek into the closest pen and see a sea lion lying on the side near the gate. It has a huge bite mark in its skin. It’s not as bad as the one I saw on the beach but it still looks awful. It looks up as we walk by and moves away to slide into the pool of water in its pen.

Jo stops at one particular gate and smiles. “This is Benny. I found him when he was just a pup. He was severely dehydrated and sick. We couldn’t locate his mother, so we brought him here. She probably died, since sea lions don’t usually leave their pups for very long.” She leans down and smiles at the sea lion. “He’s doing well enough now that we’re going to release him next week. It’s always bittersweet.” She gives him one last look and continues walking.

There are so many animals here. Seals, sea lions, a few dolphins. It’s amazing how much Jo and her team do for them.

“I need to check on that female we brought in earlier.” She studies me. “You can sit in my office if you want or you can come with me. It’s up to you.”

I shrug. “I’ll come with you.”

“You’re sure?”

I nod. I can’t explain why I want to see it again. The fact that it’s dying is sad, and it does bother me, but what if I could do something like this? What if I could save animals from the fate that this sea lion is going to suffer?

Jo walks through a hallway and past a few doors. She goes into a white room where a bunch of people surround the hurt animal. “How’s she doing?”

One of the vets, I assume, looks her in the eye. “We’re going to have to put her down. She’s not going to make it.”

Jo sighs and pats the guy on the back. “It’s been a bad few months, hasn’t it? I wish we could train the animals to stay away from boats, but alas.” She frowns. “Let’s not let her suffer anymore. And if it’s okay with you, I’m going to take my niece out of here.”

“I’m really—” I want to tell Jo I’m fine but she’s already pulling me out the door.

“I’ll take care of her,” he says. He gives me a sad smile and turns back around.

Jo looks past him at the sea lion on the table and lets out another sigh.

“Come on, Oakley. You don’t want to see this part.” She turns and grabs my hand, pulling me out of the room.

“She’s going to die then?”

She nods. “There’s too much trauma. She’s not responding and her heart rate is very low. It’s a miracle she made it this long.”

“Like you said earlier. She’s a fighter.” I look back at the closed door, wishing I could comfort the creature before she dies.

“Yes, she is. We’re able to rescue most of the animals we bring in but there are a few who don’t make it.” She runs a hand through her messy curls. “I wish boaters would pay closer attention to their surroundings. This happens way too often. Sometimes when the sea lions are under the water there’s no way you can see them, but all too often the driver just isn’t paying attention.”

I fold my arms across my chest as she leads me back the way we came. Dillon is waiting for us. “My dad called. He should be here in about ten minutes. They found a dolphin stranded on Newport Beach and he wants you to go with him.”

“Can you take Oakley home? This one will probably take a while.”

He looks at me and smiles. “Sure.”

“I’ll be home later, Oakley. I have my cell if you need me.”

“Okay.” I watch her pull out her cell and walk away quickly. I frown and look at Dillon. “Wait. Didn’t you ride with us this morning? How are we gonna get home?”

He produces some car keys and dangles them in front of my face. “Dad always has an extra car here.”

“Oh. Well, that’s convenient.”

He smiles. “Shall we?” He leads me out the door and to the parking lot. I don’t know a lot about cars but his is super nice. Like, really nice. I’m sure Lucas would know what it is but all I know is its really shiny and black.

I’m quiet as Dillon drives. I feel weird around him. He always seems to bring up Carson and it’s not any of his business what I do in my free time.

“So, how long are you gonna be here again?” He looks over at me as he drives.

“Until April or May. My mom said we’d be leaving before summer starts.”

“Why are you here anyway?”

I sigh. “It’s a long story.”

“You were just looking to meet me, right?” He laughs at the expression I give him.

“That’s exactly it,” I say. Not really. I am, however, very glad I met Carson. I wonder if he’s off work yet.

I change the subject. “Do you always go with Jo when she has a rescue?”

He shakes his head. “Only sometimes. Carson goes more than me. He actually enjoys it. But he works at the surf shop a lot more than I do so he can’t go as often as he’d like. When he can’t go, I fill in. Sometimes we go together but usually Jo only wants one of us.”

“You don’t like to go?”

“It’s not that I don’t like it, I’d just rather be surfing. My dad’s a vet, so he’s trying to pass on his love of animals to me.” He shrugs. “Not in my world. I like animals well enough but that’s not what I’m going to do for the rest of my life. He’s cool with it. At least he says he is. Not like Carson’s old man. He’s pretty set on controlling Carson’s future. Been that way since we were in middle school.”

“Oh.” Poor Carson. “So, what do you want to do if you’re not going to be a vet then?”

He shrugs. “Not sure. I have all the time in the world to figure it out though. I’m hoping I can move to Hawaii. I have relatives over there.”

“I’ve never been.”

“Me neither. Yet.”

I think about what I want to do when I get back to Utah. Everything there seems like it’s so in the past. If I can get a little braver, working with Jo would be really awesome. She seems to love it. And I love animals. It would be hard to see some of the ones I’d have to rescue but if I can help them in any way, it might be worth it. I’ll have to talk to her and see how hard it is to go into her field. Maybe it will be easier if I know her. I’d sort of have an in.

Dillon pulls into my driveway and my eyes widen when I see Carson sitting on my front steps. He has a bunch of papers in his hands and looks up when he hears us. I swear he looks upset when he sees Dillon with me but he relaxes just as fast.

“Hey,” I say, stepping out of the car.

“Your old man let you out early today?” Dillon asks.

Carson nods and stands. “We were a little slow so he said he’d stay and close.”

“Good to know, bro.” Dillon claps Carson on the back. “We’ve been out saving sea lions today.”

He glances at me. “Jo took you to a rescue?”

I blush under his gaze. “Yes.”

He studies me for a second and the corner of his mouth turns up. “Did you see the facility?”

I nod. “It was really cool. I can see why you want to go into that field.”

Dillon laughs. “If you like that sort of thing. Anyway, we rescued a sea lion today. She was pretty messed up. Hit by a boat. They had to put her down.”

“That’s too bad,” Carson says. He’s still watching me, a strange expression on his face.

“Well, I’ve gotta get this car back or my dad will freak.”

“Thanks for the ride,” I say.

He winks, which freaks me out a little. “Anytime. We should do it again. Soon.” He climbs into his car and drives away.

I turn and face Carson, who’s still looking at me. “What?”

“Nothing.” He looks away and sits back down on the porch steps. “I was just looking through these college applications. I’m not sure what to put down for my major.”

He has college applications? I wonder if his dad knows. “When are they due?”

“The end of March, so I only have a couple weeks left to mail them in.”

“I thought you wanted to be a veterinarian?”

“I do.”

I frown. “Then why don’t you write it down?”

He sighs. “You know why.” He frowns. “If my dad sees anything but business or accounting or something on here, he’d flip.”

“But you don’t want to go into those things.”

He closes his eyes and shakes his head, rubbing at his temples. “My mom’s on board but he’s so stubborn. He’ll never change his mind about this.”

I sigh and put my hand on his arm. “He can’t control your life.”

He frowns. “You don’t know him like I do.”