Page 11 of Animal Tamer
I gesture at the lion. “He likes having you near him.”
Rowe glances over, his eyes softening just a smidge.
“Yeah,” he says. “He chose me.”
Caesar yawns, displaying every tooth, and resettles in the straw.
The last stop is the bear. Rowe said his name is Brutus. I'm starting to see a pattern.
He's also enormous and brown and has positioned himself in the exact center of his enclosure with his back to the entrance.
“He's sulking,” Rowe says.
“About what?”
“Missouri.”
I furrow my brow. “Was Missouri offensive?”
“Apparently,” Rowe replies deadpan.
I laugh, surprised at myself, and Brutus swivels his head to find the source of the noise. He huffs. Turns his head a fraction more. Pretends he hasn't seen us.
Rowe leans on the railing the way he leaned on Rome's. “He'll come over.”
I'm skeptical. “Will he?”
“He always does. He just makes me work for it.”
We wait. The light slants lower. A breeze moves through the canvas of the Big Top in the distance, making it sigh. A carnival worker is whistling a tune and butchering it.
After maybe a full minute, Brutus heaves himself onto all fours with a long-suffering groan and shuffles a few feet closer. Then a few more. Then he flops down again, this time with his enormous shoulder pressed against the inside of the rail where Rowe is standing.
Rowe slides his hand through the safety gap and scratches behind a round ear.
The bear closes his eyes.
I lean both elbows on the railing without meaning to, aware of how close my shoulder is to Rowe's.
“I owe you an apology,” I say, eyes on Brutus.
Beside me, Rowe goes still. “For what?”
“For walking in there assuming the worst.”
“You usually see the worst.”
“Maybe.” I turn the kit strap between my fingers. “I'm a vet, not a prosecutor. Still, I should know better than to make a case before I've examined the witness.”
He's quiet for a beat.
“I made it harder for you,” he says quietly.
“You didn't?—”
“I did.” His thumb moves against the bear's ear. “The flinch. That was—it's hard to make sense of that on the spot, I know. I'm sorry.”
I turn to look at him, unable to resist any longer.
