Page 3 of Refurbished

Chapter two

EION

"Barnaby, scoot over, please. It’s time to get up.” The boxer raised his head and looked at me like I had offended him. It was five in the morning, and time to get started. As always, I had a full day ahead. The residents here wouldn’t feed themselves, so I sat up with my legs hanging off the side of the bed. Before I stood up, I put a pod in the coffee maker, one of the benefits of living in such a small space. It would be nice to have a second pair of hands around here, though, but the grants and donations wouldn’t cover it, so it was Barnaby and me.

Once I was halfway through my first cup of coffee, the world looked brighter, and I had to thank the universe for my life and these animals that I had been gifted to care for. “Let’s go, Barnaby. Our friends need their breakfast.” He followed me out the door. I knew he also wanted his breakfast. “We’ll have some eggs after everybody else eats.” When I started the sanctuary, he was a big reason I got up every day. As a trained PTSD dog, he was my best buddy and a necessary part of my life.

Currently, the wild animals we housed were a bears, some deer, raccoons, a giraffe, and foxes. We’d had a few other overnight or short-term guests, but we were only a tier two sanctuary; even though we had the land to be bigger, the infrastructure was still lacking. Some day we would grow, but for now, I had my hands full. There were also some more domesticated animals that would get adopted out quickly or live their lives peacefully here at the Sanctuary. Currently, a few alpacas lived here, but we’d had goats, pigs, and ostriches stay and then find new homes. Orlando the giraffe was the standout here. He had his own enclosure that was next to the acreage where the deer were. He was the king of the Sanctuary.

Two days ago, two motherless bear cubs arrived and were being hand-fed. I wouldn’t get everything I wanted done today, but there was always tomorrow. Other than feeding and cleaning, there were always things to fix or build. I wish there were more money and hours in a day. I had a lot of people who would volunteer their time, but the idea of people being in my space was… uncomfortable, and I didn’t trust anybody with the animals.

Bethany, an adult black bear, wouldn’t share an enclosure with the cubs, but they were close enough to smell each other, which would hopefully comfort them. When cubs were orphaned by fire, they were traumatized, and having another bear nearby helped. Both babies had burns all over. They had run for their lives, without their mother. Now they were orphans, and had a long way to go before they would be okay.

“Okay, little one, let’s get some food in you.” I picked up the male cub. I lifted the bottle, and he made a bunch of adorable noises before he started eating. He sucked down the milk, obviously hungry. His sister pawed and grabbed at the bottle, ready for her breakfast. This was one of the absolute pleasures of this job—everything was great, but this was special.

One of the doorbell cams at the front of the property chimed, notifying me that someone had come through the gate. Great, it was probably someone thinking this was some sort of zoo. On a few occasions, I’ve walked possible donors through the facility. Otherwise, it was a private animal sanctuary and rehabilitation center. It wasn’t someone I recognized, which meant it was probably someone wanting a tour or to meet the animals. He sat in a parking spot for a long time. I continued to watch the video feed as the male cub slurped the last of his milk.

Finally, the stranger got out of the car and pulled a box from the back seat. Unable to make out the words, I could hear him talking to whatever creature he had, which was a good sign that whatever was in the box was alive at least. Not knowing any better, people too often brought animals that were beyond help. The visitor stopped, opened the smaller gate, took a deep breath, and then walked toward the enclosures. “Hello?” He sounded almost timid, especially given his build. Without knowing him, it was clear that the T-shirt covered a very defined body, and his painted-on jeans didn’t hide his tight ass and thick thighs. I swallowed hard; my thoughts were not appropriate. I was always down to hook up with a gym bro.

Bethany walked over and sniffed toward the visitor. There was plenty of protection between them, but he still froze.

“You’re a bear.” Did he just tell her she was a bear? I couldn’t have heard that right. He set the box down, squatted, and slid the box behind him. It was as if he wanted to be between the bear and whatever he brought with him. “You really are a bear, and you are beautiful.” Very rarely did you see a person get eye level with a full-grown black bear; they weren’t as large as many of their counterparts, but they were still bears. Bethany got as close to him as she could, but he was at least two feet from the outer fencing, leaving about six feet between them. “You stay right there. I’m going to see if I can find someone to talk to.” He said, looking right at Bethany.

He turned around, then walked back and forth. I got the female cub arranged and started her bottle. I needed to get this over with. I wasn’t going to go out there and interact with the man, even though he was pretty to look at. “Did you want something?”

He spun around and looked at Bethany. “Was that you?”

Oh, sweet baby Jesus, he didn’t just ask the bear if she talked, did he? “Are you here to talk to someone or what?” My patience was already frayed. I didn’t like people on my property or near my animals. Barnaby scratched at the barn door, wanting to eat—or cuddle—whoever dared enter his domain.

This tank of a man looked around some more as he tried to figure out who had talked to him. “Well, yeah. I have some raccoon kits here that need care.”

“Okay. Leave them on top of that hay bale, and I’ll take care of them. Thanks for dropping them off.”

“Um. I can’t do that.”

“What?” I was sure I misheard him because I was pretty sure he told me he couldn’t do that, and that didn’t make sense. He had brought animals to a rehabilitation center for treatment, then said he wouldn’t leave them. Wasn’t that the whole point of his being here in my space?

“I can’t leave them like that. I’d like to introduce you. Maybe discuss what happens next.”

“You’re shittin’ me, right?”

“No. Could we maybe have this conversation face-to-face? The disembodied voice is weird.”

Fucking hell. I was a veterinarian, and he was going to discuss with me what would happen with raccoon kits. Who did this guy think he was? “I’m going to be busy for a while.” I could have gone out there now, but he annoyed me. So now I wanted to motivate him to leave the animals and go back to wherever he came from.

“That’s fine. I’ll wait here and talk to the bear.”

“Thank— What did you say?”

“I’ll wait. I don’t mind. I’ll talk to the bear.”

And that was exactly what he did. He sat on the ground, legs crossed, and put his box in his lap. While I continued to feed and clean things up, I’d check the feed, and he was still there. Every once in a while, I would be out in the open, and he would wave, but he never got up. This guy continued to wait. Several times, I saw him talking to or fussing with the babies in the box, but otherwise, he did as he had said he would.

I overheard some of the questions he asked Bethany while I worked.

“What’s it like being a bear?”

“Are all bears so pretty close up?”