Leo's Chance by Mia Sheridan

Author:Mia Sheridan [Sheridan, Mia]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Published: 2013-06-16T04:00:00+00:00

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Watching Evie at the zoo is one of the most satisfying experiences of my life. I watch her more than I do any of the exhibits, a deep peace settling in my soul at being able to give this to her. I wish more than anything I could go back and erase the ugliness of her past and give her the fun, carefree childhood she deserved. I can’t. But I can give this to her now.

I watch her though and it occurs to me that maybe it’s for me too. All those years of feeling so damn helpless, so incapable of making her life better, maybe this is healing for me as well. Perhaps, it’s for me most of all. Because she always had a way of finding her own peace. That same pride that always fills me when I think of Evie’s strength overwhelms me now.

As we’re watching the elephants, Evie keeps her eyes on them as she says quietly, "Elephants grieve like we do. They shed tears and mourn their dead."

I look over at her. "Yeah? How do you know?"

"I read a book about them last year."

"You read a book about elephants?" I raise an eyebrow.

She looks over at me. "Don’t make fun. I try to learn about different things. You never know when the topic of pachyderms is going to come up. I wanna be able to hold my own should a conversation like that occur in a social situation." She grins teasingly over at me and then turns back to the elephants.

"Pachyderms?" I smile.

"Various nonruminant animals… like an elephant, or a rhinoceros, or a hippopotamus…"

"Nonruminant?"

"Animals who have single compartment stomachs." She turns to me now, still smiling.

"Why didn’t you tell me you were a walking animal encyclopedia? I would have had you leading this tour."

She laughs. "Not ‘animal,’ just ‘elephant.’ I haven’t made it through any more books in the "Living Creatures" section of the library." She grins at me and the beauty of that full smile turned to me hits me square in the heart.

She shrugs, turning back to watch the big, majestic, apparently sensitive pachyderms as I gaze at her, finding yet another reason why I want to spend a lifetime with this woman. I don’t know anyone else who would check a book out of the library on elephants just to learn something new.

I move around behind her, and pull her back against my front and wrap my arms around her as we watch the elephants for a few more minutes. "You hungry for lunch?" I finally say.

She nods, looking back around and up at me, smiling. "Will you buy me a hot dog?" she asks.

I laugh. "Yeah, Evie, I’ll buy you a hot dog."

The Cincinnati zoo isn’t as large as the San Diego zoo, but it’s still beautiful with nice walking paths and roaming peacocks. We hold hands as we walk. I can barely contain the smile that wants to stay permanently on my face.

As we eat lunch, one of the colorful,

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