Page 65 of Rogue Wave

Cora:

I second the WTF?

Gale:

Again…you need a new intern.

My phone rang a few moments later, and I saw Gale’s name on the screen, which made me smile.

“Hey, girlie-pants, what are you up to?” I said into the phone when I answered.

“I’m fine, but I’m worried about your new intern,” she replied with concern in her voice.

That was Gale. She was an animal lover to the extreme, just like I was, though she fancied more of the land-dwelling animals than the aquatic ones.

Gale had had some of the roughest luck when it came to the foster system prior to being placed with the O’Haras, and she’d become kind of a hermit because of it.

She lived with Mom and Auntie on the farm, though she lived in the guesthouse, so there was at least a little bit of independence. She was able to do her job as a forensic meteorologist remotely, which allowed her to help out on the farm with all the animals. It suited her well.

“The intern is fine, and we’ve moved him to a place that I think suits him well—the enrichment program,” I told her, trying to appease her and not worry her.

“Good,” she grumbled. “How’s Bernie doing?”

I smiled, loving that she remembered all my animals’ names and how they were doing. “He’s settling in very well. He’s been a huge hit with our guests, and he seems to like the attention.”

“Good. I’m happy to hear that,” she said, sounding relieved.

“How are you doing?” I asked her, realizing I hadn’t chatted with her in a few weeks since all the chaos started with the beach drug discovery and then dating Hank.

“Good,” she replied, but she sounded anything but. “I found out my current case is going to trial, but my boss pushed for them to accept the video of my deposition, so I’m relieved.”

Gale was the dictionary definition of an introvert and struggled around large groups of people, especially when most of them were men.

That fear had stemmed from her time in the foster system. I didn’t know all the details, but I knew that once Gale arrived, Mom and Auntie stopped taking in foster boys and switched to only taking in girls to accommodate her.

I didn’t mind so much, because when Cora and I had moved in with them, I had been young enough that boys were still gross.

But as I got older, I realized things had been off. She never dated—literally never, in the roughly twenty years I’d been her sister. It was possible that she had but never told any of us, but in a small town like the one we’d grown up in, that wouldn’t have stayed a secret for long.

“I’m just nervous because I haven’t heard good things about this judge,” she added.

“Like the judge isn’t fair, or something else?” I asked.

“As in he usually prefers all experts testify in person, so I’m just worried he’s going to give me an extra hard time,” she explained with a sigh.

That explained her anxiety.

“Ahhh. Well, hopefully your boss works that all out and everything will be fine,” I told her.

“Yeah.” Her voice was quiet, as though she was trying to placate me with her answer rather than because she believed it.

Her deep inhale echoed over the line before she spoke again. “Have you heard about the big storm coming this weekend?”

I smiled at her change of topic. When she was done talking about something, she was done. Weather was an easy switch for her since so much of her life revolved around it—her job as well as taking care of the animals back home.

“Vaguely,” I replied. “When is it supposed to be bad?”

“There’s some light stuff Saturday, but the really strong winds and heaviest rains are on Sunday. They’re expecting power outages and downed trees to be a problem, so be careful, especially if you go down to the beach. The waves are supposed to be very rough.”