Staring Into the Eyes of Chance (3 page)

Again, something about her beckoned him with a magnetic pull. As if she sensed his presence, she glanced toward the window. His head automatically snapped back, but not before he saw her lovely violet eyes. He closed his and her image clung, imbedded, every inch of her streamlined body and beautiful lavender eyes. His keen hearing honed in on her rushed steps, stopping at the window. He moved sideways and melted his backside against the house.

“Hey, where are you?”
Trevor slammed into his head.

“Kind of busy at the moment.”

“Well, I know it’s not with a woman, God forbid. So, you need some help. I can’t sleep and wanted a companion for a midnight run.”

“I need to sort a few things out, but wait for me. I’ll need a midnight run the way it’s going.”

“Ten-four.”

After seeing Ms. Bentley, all of Ms. Bentley, Chance might even take matters into his own hands. Running would definitely help wear him out, but not the curious building urge for this woman. He heard her rustle the curtains and walk away. Chance took another peek. She’d drawn the curtains completely, blocking any view.

Damn! What the hell am I thinking, spying on a nude woman from outside her window?

His jeans remained an uncomfortable barrier against the blazing heated rod beneath. Ms. Bentley’s bare-skinned pelt embraced his brain, only making matters worse. He scanned her yard and ambled slowly around the house, sticking near the walls. By now it was midnight and definitely time for a run with Trevor.

Chapter Three

Olivia rose at five, like every morning. Stretching her arms above her head, she bent over and touched her fingers on the floor, pleasantly surprised at the absence of pain from the knock-down she got by the huge black male wolf.
Her wolf
. There he was, in her head again. She’d fallen asleep thinking of him and he still imbued her mind this morning.

She pulled her pajama top over her head, flicked on her bedside lamp, and looked down. No marks, nothing marred her skin. She touched her breasts, no pain. It didn’t make any sense. Pain and bruises, like the two she wore last night, didn’t simply get up and leave.

The scene of her late night visit needed checking after daylight, if only to prove her incident actually happened. But first, she would see Lacey off and do morning rounds for her refuge residents. She dressed in her favorite black jeans, T-shirt, and grey hooded sweatshirt for the early morning chill. Olivia tapped on Lacey’s door.

“You up, sis?”

“Almost dressed and definitely ready for coffee,” Lacey confirmed.

Olivia listened through the closed door, hearing her sister packing and rummaging around the guest room. She hurried into the kitchen, started coffee brewing for Lacey, and heated water in a kettle for her own morning green tea. She warmed applesauce muffins from her pantry. Everything was ready before Lacey rolled her suitcases into the kitchen.

“Here, sis.” Olivia handed Lacey a steaming cup of coffee and set a warm muffin on the table. “Sit for a minute before you take off.”

“Yum, smells enticing in here.” Lacey sat down, cupping her hands around the coffee mug, flashy red painted nails clicking together. She held it close to her lips, blowing on the hot liquid and then taking a shallow sip, followed by a longer sip. “You make the best coffee.”

“It’s an organic blend and I’ve told you how you can order it for yourself.” Olivia stirred her tea and took the chair across from Lacey.

“I wish I could stay longer and make sure you hold up your end of the bargain.” Lacey stared over her mug at Olivia.

“I’ll hold my coerced promise and let you know how it all falls apart.” Olivia chuckled.

“Nice. No wonder you have no one knocking down your door. They’re rejected before they even get near the place.”

“Now you’re getting it. This is the last time, Lace.”

Lacey drained her coffee and set the empty mug in the sink. “I have a good feeling about this one.” She giggled and Olivia rolled her eyes. “Can I have a cup to go?”

Olivia poured her sister a travel cup and bagged a couple muffins.

“I’ll walk out with you.” Olivia held the door. Lacey wheeled her suitcase out, with another bag and her purse slung over one shoulder. She pointed and pressed her key-fob and the trunk popped open. She dumped the suitcase and bag inside, and then slammed it closed.

“I love you, sis,” Lacey said, giving Olivia a quick hug. She opened the driver side door of her bright red sports car and climbed in. She got comfy and then reached out. “Here, I’ll take those.” Olivia handed her the travel cup and muffins.

“Drive safe, and, know your big sis loves you, too.” Olivia waved until Lacey’s car vanished around the bend in the drive. Her sister’s vibrant energy overwhelmed the peaceful balance Olivia craved. Even though she enjoyed hearing all about Lacey’s exciting life, Olivia was done participating in it, or almost done.

One more with a guy named, Chance…hmmm, what are the chances?

Early dawn light filtered through the trees, igniting bird calls and chirping chipmunks. Olivia breathed in the dewy morning air of nature and, with a smile growing steadily across her lips, strode into the largest barn. Usually her five goats were milked around six o’clock while still a little groggy, but today she ran them through about a half hour late. She poured their milk into containers and either froze or refrigerated it. Goat’s milk was an expensive, but much needed commodity. She appreciated her good supply for drinking and also using it for the four-legged baby wildlife brought into her refuge. Though no babies resided with her at present, only a few young goat kids fed by their mamas.

Olivia opened the side door leading to a pasture pen and herded her goats outside. She fed them hay and grain and then watered them.

“Rebel, I miss you, my friend,” Olivia whispered. Her Australian shepherd had herded the goats for her. He was great at it, a real knack at calming the troublemakers. She glanced at the two worst-tempered goats, and once satisfied they would behave, she wandered back inside for feeding and watering the hawk, raccoon, and ground hog.

Goat stalls got mucked out, milking stations swept and washed, and finally cages cleaned out. Like a ritual, her morning ran the same every day. When finished, she walked outside behind the barn.

Her body trembled and her senses heightened. She stood at the place where her collision occurred with her wolf. Olivia scanned the ground until spotting his paw prints. A match for the set on her breasts last night, only hers didn’t have claw marks at the tip of each toe pad like the ones indenting the dirt.

“Olivia, where are you?” Lindsey, her closest friend, called out.

“Backside of the barn, come here a minute.” Olivia opened her hand across one of the prints. It spanned almost two hands in height and width.

“What’s up? You get your sister out of here alright this morning?” Lindsey walked over, chuckling. Olivia was on her hands and knees. “Oh my God, what kind of animal made that? No dog is that large.”

“Not a dog. A wolf, the largest one I’ve ever seen.” Olivia stood up and brushed dirt off her knees. She looked over at the disturbed pebbles closer to the barn and a shiver quaked through her. Globs of her stomach contents from the night before marked the ground.

Lindsey touched Olivia’s shoulder. Olivia jumped.

“Are you alright?” Lindsey asked. “Do you think this beast killed Rebel?”

“It’s a good possibility some wolf did.” Olivia considered the creatures from last night. She knew deep in her heart and in her psyche, the visiting black wolf had not been involved in the death of her Australian Shepherd a week ago, but there was a good possibility the milky-eyed deformed wolf was. Olivia didn’t want that guy crossing paths with Lindsey.

Olivia recalled the aggressive howls scattered throughout her woods. She originally thought a bear mutilated her best four-legged friend. Rebel’s dead body lay near the road a distance from her house, which hadn’t made sense at the time. He never left the yard, never wandered near the road in the seven years of his short life.

“Olivia?” Lindsey shifted from one foot to the other, looking uncomfortable.

Olivia made a decision regarding her friend’s assistance.

“I don’t believe this creature killed Rebel. I had a close encounter with him last night.”

Lindsey gasped and her eyes popped wide. She scanned the ground around Olivia. “Is that what I think it is?” She pointed at the vomit. “Yours?”

“That happened after the visit. He didn’t hurt me, just knocked the wind out of me. He had opportunity enough to hurt me. At first, I thought he was calling in his pack for dinner. But…I sensed he was protecting me.” Olivia watched Lindsey’s eyes squint and her brows scrunch together. “I know, it sounds silly, but
you
know my animal sensitive ability. You know I can read their energy, emotions, or rather their feelings. I can practically wear it as my own.”

“Are you telling me you were here?” Lindsey pointed at the ground again. “With the wolf?”

“Yes, and do you know the damn power company acted up right then? It was black as Lacey’s coffee when the wolf visited me.”

“Visited?”

Olivia sighed. “I don’t expect you’ll understand my decision, but you aren’t going driving through the forest. No checking on the deer status or refilling their feeders. I’ll have you doing some work for the other animals. More things need done around the barns.”

“So, who’s going out there?” Lindsey’s mouth pinched into her judging look.

“Me. I’ve done it for years, nothing stopping me from doing it again. Especially now, we don’t have many rehabilitating animals.”

Tires from several vehicles crunched over the dirt and gravel drive, both women looked up at the same time.

“Expecting anyone?”

“No.”

Lindsey walked back through the open barn door. Olivia listened for Rebel’s bark of greeting and an overwhelming sadness punched her heart. She stepped up her pace, following Lindsey out the other side of the building. Three trucks stopped between her house and the barn, creating a billow of dust.

Olivia’s sensitivity sky-rocketed, at least four animals came through her psyche, but she depicted none of them as injured. Maybe these people simply needed a spot for releasing healthy animals into a protected habitat.

“Hello. Ms. Bentley, I presume,” said a man with black hair, silver flecks glistening in the sunlight at his temples. He stood tall, almost military stature, trim build, and tight blue jeans. His green ranger-type uniform shirt stretched across his broad chest. Rolled sleeves ended at his elbows and an impressive muscular forearm dusted with shiny dark hair flexed as he reached toward Olivia with his right hand. She accepted it.

An instant sizzle of current warmed her skin, climbed her arm, and zipped through her body at the speed of light. It sparked her animal psyche. Surprise at the instant overload of sensitivity made her step back and break their connection. He looked as shocked by it as she felt. He stood staring at her, wide-eyed, his mouth open. She looked back at him and something familiar about his vibrant amber eyes startled her, something she should know, recognize.

What the hell?

Three men and a woman wearing similar shirts stared at Olivia in some kind of awe, like she was from another planet. Olivia’s overwhelmed animal sensitivities booked her entire brain, leaving her grasping for inner balance. Lindsey nudged her and then finally spoke for Olivia.

“Yes, this is Olivia Bentley, owner of Nature’s Friends Wildlife Refuge and Preserve. Do you have an injured animal or something?” Lindsey’s tone sounded a bit offensive. Olivia knew her friend well. Even through the foggy brain-stuff going on, Olivia recognized the beginning signs of Lindsey’s confrontation mode.

The man, who Olivia thought she sensed, regained his composure and spoke again. “I’m Chance Grayton, a forester with the U.P. National Parks and Forestry. I’d like to introduce my associates, Trevor Drakeland, and Dir and Jasmine Payton.” None of them reached for her hand. “We appreciate your kindness and green-eco-nature in caring for our wildlife. We came out today for an opportunity at canvassing and assessing your healthy productive habitat. Would it be all right if we took a hike through your wooded area?”

Olivia heard his name and related it to her sister’s conversation last night, and the next thing she heard was he wanted on her property. She recalled her sister talking about this man looking for knowledge of wolf sightings, and here he was the day after a wolf visited her. Coincidental? She didn’t believe it.

Olivia’s body tensed, anger setting in, coated with a stale feeling of being duped into some kind of coercion. She sensed his lie.

How? She’s never read a human before.

Chance stepped in front of the others, closer, and whispered, “Your sister also left a message on my cellphone.” He shuffled his feet and his lips trembled, almost like he was embarrassed, or maybe he recognized her disapproving attitude toward him. “I wonder…would you join me for a mid-afternoon lunch?”

“Did you just ask this fine woman to go out with you?” Trevor interrupted, perfectly timed for stopping Olivia’s negative response.

Jasmine kicked Trevor, and Dir told him, “Shut up.”

Chance faced them and witnessed it all. Olivia watched his body lose some of its proud posture, shoulders drooping and head tipping forward. Strange.

“Beware, he hasn’t dated in years. You might find yourself holding up a one-sided conversation,” Trevor said with a chuckle and winked at Lindsey. Chance whipped around toward Olivia, red-faced, eyes bulging, and she read him as terribly agitated.

Olivia decided her little battle with Chance over his lie could wait until there wasn’t an audience.

“I look forward to it,” she said. Olivia heard Lindsey gasp, followed by a nervous-catchy cough. “In fact, I insist on having lunch together before you go canvassing my property, as you call it.” She’d be damned if his intent was hunting down the visitor she had last night. Not happening on her watch. Her psyche believed the wolf she met last night was one of the good guys.