A Perfect Love by Lori Copeland

Author:Lori Copeland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

The first thing you need to know about gliders,” Buddy read aloud the next morning, “is that they are susceptible to chills, which may lead to pneumonia, so you must keep them warm. The ideal temperature for young joeys is around ninety degrees Fahrenheit. At night, you may wish to put a heating pad into the cage, but keep it set on low. Make sure it doesn’t cover the entire floor, so your glider can escape the heat if the temperature gets too high. You don’t want to cook your new pet!”

Buddy glanced over at the cage. Just as Rozella had predicted, Roxy had crawled into the hanging pouch. Was she warm enough? He didn’t have a heating pad, and on Heavenly Daze it would be hard to heat any room to ninety degrees in January.

Dropping the book, Buddy glanced over at his woodstove. The remaining stumps of last night’s logs glowed softly through the tempered glass window, and he usually left the fire alone in the daytime. But if he was going to keep Roxy warm, he’d have to keep it blazing constantly. A constant fire would require more wood from the woodpile, and Dana would be sure to notice if he took much more than usual. She had bought two cords of wood back in October, figuring that amount would see them through the winter. She and Mike had a furnace in the big house, of course, but she liked to build a fire at night when they relaxed in their bedroom. The carriage house woodstove, however, was Buddy’s only source of heat . . . and now it was Roxy’s, as well.

Buddy chewed on the inside of his lip, thinking. He’d have to slip out and collect some driftwood to augment his stores. A log here and there would help, and maybe Dana wouldn’t notice that her firewood was disappearing at twice the usual rate. He’d look for bugs, too, but the cold weather of December had probably cleared the island of any creepy-crawlies a glider would enjoy.

“Hey, Roxy.” Leaning forward, he tapped the wire of the cage. “You awake in there?”

A soft chattering sound answered his call, and Buddy sat back in his chair, pleased. The little critter had learned to recognize his voice, and though she’d kept him awake half the night with her barking and chittering, they were bonding.

“I’m gonna go get some wood,” he said, pushing himself up. “You sleep tight in there, and I’ll soon have this room nice and toasty.”

The little pouch swung gently, and though he couldn’t see through the soft material, Buddy could almost imagine that Roxy had lifted a delicate paw and waved him out the door.

Dana dropped her copy of the morning newspaper as Mike entered the kitchen dressed in dark jeans, a flannel shirt, and his nicest down jacket. The outfit was some different from the tattered sweatshirt and sweatpants he usually wore to work at the computer.

She lifted a brow. “Going somewhere?”

Mike moved to the coffeepot without looking at her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.