It was cold the next morning. I’d spent the night on set, filming scenes well past midnight. The blankets production had sent over were given to Henry. He’d complained that they were scratchy but ultimately accepted them. Now Henry was posted outside the trailer and obviously needed the protection from the cold more than me. What I needed was hot coffee, but I was out of ground coffee beans. I needed to get moving.
I showered. The hot water helped, but as soon as I stepped out and toweled off, I was cold again. I dressed in leggings and an oversized sweater, wanting cozy comfort but unable to achieve it. Dave was still asleep on the bottom bunk. Jethro hadn’t broken his nose, thank goodness. The purple bruises were now green and yellow and finally disappearing.
He’d been snoring like a fiend earlier, so I sneak-attacked him and put some Vicks VapoRub around his nose.
I know I shouldn’t put medicine on people without their consent, but he wouldn’t listen to me. And he was keeping me up. My mother used Vicks for everything growing up—colds, flus, allergies, coughs—even bruises and sore joints. Prescribing for her patients always included a small screw-top container of Vicks.
VapoRub applied, Dave slept much better. I didn’t want to wake him now. So I decided to grab Henry and talk him into a doughnut/coffee run. I still hadn’t eaten a Daisy doughnut, hung up as I was on the idea of eating my first with Jethro. Perhaps it was time to take the plunge and move on.
I would also ask him to grab some blankets from Hank’s house on his way back.
Opening the door to the trailer, I peeked around it, finding Henry bundled and sitting on a folding chair. He was awake and had a hot cup of coffee in his hands.
I frowned at him because he was also eating a doughnut. It was a Daisy doughnut.
“Hey, Handsome Henry.”
He turned just his head toward me and lifted his chin, a happy smile on his face. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Where’d you get the coffee?”
“Your guy brought it.”
“My guy?”
“Yeah. The park ranger guy.”
My heart did a sad, deflating thing in my chest. I ignored it. Stupid heart.
“You mean Jethro?” His name felt weird to say, like it was covered in sand . . . and tears.
“Yeah. That’s the guy. Him and his brother.”
“Cletus?”
“Yeah. That’s the other guy. I like those guys.”
“Oh.” I stood in limbo outside my trailer. I couldn’t ask Henry to go on a coffee run, not when he already had coffee and had spent most the night awake on duty. That wasn’t nice.
Nor did I want to wake up Dave. It was Tim’s day off, so Dave had been on duty the other half of the night.
So I crossed my arms over my chest and glanced around the temporary structures, half-hoping, half-dreading I’d catch a glimpse of Jethro.
“What, uh, what were they doing here? Jethro and Cletus?”
“They were here last night, saw how late everyone was up, so they brought coffee this morning.”
I stood straighter, a shock of surprise running down my spine. “What? They were here? What?”
“Yeah. Cletus does the work on the tractors. He’s here every day. You haven’t noticed him?”
“No.” I shook my head, feeling oddly foolish. I stepped down from the trailer and closed the door behind me. Wanting to poke at the wound further, I asked, “What about Jethro? Is he here every day?”
“Not every day. Unless he’s helping Cletus or meeting with Tabitha.”
“He meets with Tabitha?”
“Every Monday and Wednesday.”
I thought for a second. “Today is Friday.”
“He was here last night helping Cletus. Tabitha asked them to stay. But, even when he’s not on the set, he’s in the Cove. He takes care of the bears.”
“The bears?” My voice squeaked.
“Yeah. He traps them then takes them someplace else so they don’t interfere with production. Dave and I went with him earlier this week on our day off, helped him move a giant male black bear. The thing was huge, and angry.” Henry stared forward as he remembered, adoration or reverence clouding his gaze. “But Jethro knew just what to do. He was so calm. He wasn’t at all scared. I think even Dave was scared.”
Henry chuckled at that then sipped more of his coffee, completely oblivious to my stunned gawking.
“He traps black bears?” I repeated, louder this time, my voice still squeaking.
“Yep. And other animals, too.” These words, arriving from someplace behind me, made my spine stiffen and my palms sweaty.
Gulping air, I looked over my shoulder, finding Jethro and Cletus standing some feet away. Cletus had his arms wrapped around several blankets and Jethro held two containers of what I assumed was coffee in his grip. One was a Styrofoam cup, the other was my Hello Kitty travel mug.