Bear Vet by Zoe Chant

Chapter Ten

Waylon was wokenup by rain. It fell on his face in a gentle, lukewarm patter.

Still half-asleep, he thought, I could’ve sworn I went to sleep in my own bed last night. Why would I have turned into a bear and sacked out in the woods?

Then, only one-quarter asleep, he thought, I didn’t. The roof is leaking. Leaking like hell.

One hundred percent awake, he shot bolt upright. Raelynn leaped backward, still clutching the dripping sponge she’d been holding over his face. Bruiser jumped off the bed and began to bark wildly.

“Raelynn Frances Brody!” Waylon bellowed. “What have I told you about pouring water on my face when I’m asleep?”

Unrepentant, Rae said, “It was a last resort. I shook you and shook you first.”

Waylon suspected her of trying one gentle shake that his sleeping mind had mistaken for Bruiser bumping into him, but the utter glee on her face distracted him from further scolding. “What’s going on?”

“We have to visit Judy. Right now.”

“Why?”

Rae’s grin almost split her face. “Look at this.”

Twenty minutes later,they were knocking on the door of her room at the Welcome Inn. Waylon had insisted that they call up first, but it turned out that Judy had already been awake.

She opened the door, her puzzled gaze shifting between them. “What’s going on?”

“LOOK.” Rae thrust her phone at Judy. As she took it, both Rae and Waylon watched her face, waiting to see her reaction.

Judy looked down at the screen that Rae had shown him earlier. It was the Horse Hope Rescue GoFundMe. “I don’t…”

“Look at the money,” said Waylon.

Her eyes flicked to the side, and her jaw dropped. “What? That can’t be right!”

“IT IS,” said Rae.

Father and daughter were united in delight as they watched first disbelief, then joy come over Judy’s face. Waylon hadn’t realized quite how much stress she’d been under until he watched it fall away. Her eyes sparkled, her spine straightened, and brightness pervaded her entire being.

“That’s enough,” she marveled. “It’s more than enough. But how…?”

“You went viral,” said Rae.

“Rae did it,” Waylon said proudly. “I had nothing to do with it. She did it all herself, just like she said she would.”

“The Instagram campaign?” Judy asked.

“Yep!” Raelynn too was glowing with happiness. “Want to see?”

“Of course!”

Rae took back her phone and held it so both Judy and Waylon could see.

“She showed me the GoFundMe but not the Instagram,” Waylon explained. “She wanted it to be a surprise.”

“TA-DA!” Rae held up the phone and showed them the first photo.

Waylon and Judy were standing close together so they could both see the phone, and he felt as well as heard her sharp intake of breath. He too was astonished.

There on Instagram, for all the world to see, was a photograph of Black Flame.

After his first instant of shock, Waylon realized that there was no fire or sparks in the picture. To anyone who didn’t know Black Flame was a hellhorse, he would look like nothing more—or less—than a particularly beautiful black colt. His coat was midnight-black against a backdrop of blue sky, and his mane and tail blew in the wind. His ears were cocked forward, and his bright eyes gazed straight at the viewer.

“It’s a wonderful photo,” said Judy. “I had no idea you had such a good sense of composition.”

“I had a wonderful inspiration,” said Rae, soaking up Judy’s praise like a sponge soaks up water to drip on a sleeping dad’s face. “Now read the text!”

Judy read aloud, “This magnificent black colt, Black Flame, is a rescue horse located in La Puerta. Judy Rosenberg is making great progress taming him, but he needs other horses to socialize him. Click here to contribute to the GoFundMe to send her herd of rescue horses to join Black Flame. Be the one small flame that joins with many others to create a forest fire of generosity that will warm Black Flame’s lonely heart.”

For a moment all three of them stood in silence, looking at the photo of Black Flame. Waylon could see why it had gone viral. The colt had obviously been watching Rae as she photographed him, and the bond he had with her was visible in the picture. But more than that, so was the love Rae felt for the colt. You couldn’t look at the photo without loving Black Flame too.

“It’s great, Rae,” said Waylon. He was so moved that he could only repeat, “Really great.”

It wasn’t that Rae had saved Horse Hope Ranch; she had, but the work he and Judy had been doing in La Puerta would have done the job eventually, if more slowly and less spectacularly. It wasn’t even that Raelynn had revealed an unexpected talent.

It was that she had cared. She had tried. She had done her absolute best, for Black Flame and for Judy’s horses whom she’d never met and for Judy herself. And for Waylon, too, whom she knew loved Judy and wanted to make it possible for her to stay.

And Judy was sharing his emotions. He could feel it in the air, palpable as a summer breeze. They both loved Rae and were proud of her. Judy would never be Mom like Waylon was Dad, but she didn’t have to be. She loved Rae and Rae loved her, and that was exactly what all of them needed.

And then the three of them were caught up in a group hug, spinning each other around and laughing.

We’re a family,Waylon thought, half-dazed with joy. He knew they had a long way to go, but in the most important respect, they’d already arrived.