TREVOR LOOKED OUT OVER THE POOL, TRYING TO GET his emotions under control.
It had been stupid to walk out on Haven like that. She’d made a simple suggestion. She didn’t know about him, so he could have just nodded and said maybe and left it at that.
Instead, the old insecurities had rushed to the surface. The impatience, the frustration at all the things he couldn’t do—would never be able to do—had gotten a stranglehold on him and had taken over, blotting out all his common sense.
He closed his eyes and focused on the things he could do well.
Like play baseball and football.
He was going to have to be very careful in this interview. Haven had a knack for opening him up, bringing out the past, making him answer questions about things he hadn’t thought about in a long time. Like hopes and ambitions he thought he’d buried deep.
She was good at her job, probably better than she gave herself credit for. Or maybe it was because the two of them had a natural ability to get into each other’s heads. He enjoyed talking to her about anything, and not just himself and his career. He wanted to know what she thought about a lot of things. He wanted to get to know her better. She was so smart.
The exact opposite of him.
He shook his head and stared into the water of the pool, sucking in a deep breath.
Forget it. Let it go.
He heard the back door open and straightened, forcing those thoughts out of his head. It was time to put the mask on again, so Haven wouldn’t see, wouldn’t know what he was thinking about.
She came up beside him and laid her hand on his arm. “Something I said upset you.”
He turned to face her, planting a smile on his face. “No, you didn’t. I’m sorry I got up and left. I just needed a break.”
He knew from the look on her face that she didn’t believe him, but she nodded.
“Okay.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling closed in spending the day at the house. Let’s take a trip out.”
“Sure. Where would you like to go?”
“I’ll take you around St. Louis. Show you some of my favorite places.”
“That sounds like a plan. I’ll bring my camera and we can take some stills.”
“Okay.”
Their first stop was at the zoo. When they went inside, Haven grinned. “I haven’t been to a zoo in years.”
“You’re missing out. I love the zoo. Though I don’t like that the animals are caged.” As they walked along, he said, “I took a trip to Africa a few years ago, went on safari. Seeing animals free like that, living in their natural habitats, was amazing.”
“I can only imagine how spectacular that must have been,” she said as they stopped at the elephant area.
“The zoo here has excellent conservation programs, though. But there’s nothing like seeing a herd of elephants in the wild.”
She loved listening to him talk, and wished the camera crew were on board today to film the excitement on his face. She took a few still photos, and she’d make some notes later about their discussion, but the joy on his face as he discussed his trip to Africa was something that couldn’t be repeated. She made a mental note to bring it up again during the on-camera interview.
“I had no idea you had such an interest in wildlife conservation.”
“Yeah, it’s a big deal to me. So many species are endangered. Rhinos are on the brink of extinction because poachers kill them for their horns. Elephants are the same. Humans need to do a better job of protecting animals in the wild. We think zoos are cruel, but in many instances, we’re protecting a lot of endangered species that are being threatened. It’d be great if all animals could live free. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.”
His knowledge of many animal species was fascinating. As they walked along, he talked to her about reptiles and amphibians. She didn’t think she’d ever enjoyed a trip to the zoo as much as she had today.
After the zoo, they went over to the Science Center. She really got to geek out there, since they had everything a science nerd would love, from exhibits on math to the human body, fossils, and mummies. She enjoyed the life science exhibits, examining every ecosystem imaginable. She loved that Trevor took his time exploring and seemed to have as much fun as she did. He pored over all the exhibits, the two of them like kids as they stopped and played with everything that was hands-on.
It was wonderful.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said as, after several hours, they finally left and headed toward the car.