The Edge of Yesterday by CJ Birch

Author:CJ Birch [Birch, CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781636790268
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2021-11-01T19:27:41+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Tess couldn’t take her eyes off Easton the entire time they spent at Gary’s. She’d been filled with a childlike wonder at seeing all the animals. It was clear she hadn’t grown up around them. She knew the basics, but Tess was pretty sure she’d never even held a kitten. Tess’s heart melted a little as she watched Easton hold a fluffy, newborn barn kitten. She’d never heard the term mouser before and had to have it explained that those cats were bred for a job—to kill mice and rats. The only hiccup was when Gus—Gary’s Berkshire pig—had bumped up against Easton’s leg, scaring her. She recovered well but seemed unsettled by Gus’s size, which, even by a Berkshire’s standard, was large.

The whole experience left Tess intrigued. More. It was the one word that kept repeating in her head. Easton was so private she hadn’t learned much about her, only that she wanted to know more.

The other hitch in the day was that Gary had suckered her into looking after another animal—this time a giant Burmese black mountain tortoise named Giblet. Gary explained he wasn’t the one who had named him. Giblet was likely bought in an exotic pet shop as a baby. They’re a popular species since they make good pets. They’re friendly and don’t dig holes like some. And they’re the most cold-tolerant of tortoise species. To say Tess was not a fan of exotic pet shops was an extreme understatement. A lot of them operated for profit and rarely educated their customers about the realities of looking after an exotic animal from another country. In the case of Giblet, at maturity, he could easily reach a hundred pounds and be the size of a medium dog. The real reality check was their age. If someone bought a Burmese mountain tortoise as an adult, it would outlive them. They generally lived sixty years in the wild and a lot longer in captivity.

Gary had come by Giblet ambling across one of the back country roads, and they guesstimated he was fifteen to twenty years old. Tess assumed his owner had died, and his family, unwilling to look after him, let him loose in the wild. He was lucky he’d survived. Giblet was a tropical animal and needed humidity, something lacking in Smokey River in the late fall.

So now she had this giant-ass tortoise roaming the first floor of her house, currently wandering across her living room. Gary didn’t have the space. He had too many animals in his house, and the barn would be too cold.

Tess turned to Lou, who was lounging on the couch next to her, scratching behind his ear. “Why do I always say yes?” She took a sip of her wine and watched Giblet meander over to a plate of mushed bananas and leafy greens. Lou looked up at her with sympathetic eyes. “You’re right. Because I can’t say no.”

Geoff was in the corner bobbing his head as if he were dancing to music only he could hear.

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.