“At least we didn’t ruin your data?” he tried. She’d sounded very upset about it.
She sighed. “No, we just ruin your lives.”
“It’s your first time coming here.”
“Okay, so my department’s been ruining your lives.”
He needed to cheer her up, so he skewered a marshmallow to make her another s’more. They went surprisingly well with the tomato soup. “What happened to the usual guy who comes here? Is he coming down tomorrow?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him,” she grumbled. “No, Professor Brown retired last year, which means he still visits the department far too often because he thinks we’re useless without his guidance.”
He offered her the s’more. “You don’t seem very useless, judging by how well you put up that net.”
“I know!” She gestured with the s’more before eating it. “He kept emailing and calling me with his suggestions! As if I wasn’t busy enough putting the whole thing together while trying to give lectures and check essays. I swear, if he has the nerve to come down here to make sure I’m doing it right…”
Hunt down her enemies. His hawk was ready to take flight, flexing his talons.
“If he does, I think he’ll mysteriously end up with a lot of bird shit in his beard. That’s the risk of doing bird-watching, you know.” He smiled with relief when she laughed. She sounded so frustrated with the professor and how busy her work was.
Take her back to our nest and feed her mice and rats!
Lasagna was close enough. For now, more beef jerky and s’mores had to do.
“You can’t take a dump on the professor.” She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “Oh God, in his beard. I’m picturing it.”
“Good. And I can. Hawks are known for their amazing sight and accuracy.”
“Yes, when catching small animals, not when dive-bombing some poor, unsuspecting human!” She eyed him. “Was that why you were out here? To take a dump on the new ornithologist?”
“No.” But he suspected she didn’t entirely believe him. “Honest. My goal was to find out where your campsite was so we’d know where your team was doing research this year. But you said you visit the same spot. Do you mean exactly the same spot? Year after year?”
“As much as possible, yeah,” she replied, still smiling. “I looked through the data and maps from previous trips so I could visit the same section of the woods. Why?”
“If we know in advance where you put up your nets and do your observations, that’d be great. Then we can avoid them and we won’t get in the way.” He knew they could make this work. The forest was big enough for shifters and scientists.
“True. And if you stay close to town while we’re here, it won’t affect the birds because they avoid your town anyway,” she mused.
Of course, she was also thinking of how it’d affect the actual birds. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re probably right.”
She finished her beer. “I don’t really like the sound of ‘probably right’, but it’s the best we can do for now.”
He smiled as he offered her another s’more. “Let me guess, you want to make sure by doing tests and fieldwork?”
Madison turned in her chair to take the s’more and ended up leaning against him as she ate. “Maybe.”
He pressed his arm against her. A warm glow settled in his stomach, not just from the soup and the s’mores, but because of her. Pure contentment and happiness at the thought of many more evenings like this.
“How can we make this happen?” Madison looked up at him with determination and nerves, and he just about remembered she wasn’t talking about more evenings under the stars.
“Right, your fieldwork!” He leaned back and looked at the stove instead. They’d finished the soup, but there was always room for s’mores. “We’ll have to talk to our mayor. She’ll discuss it with others, but in the end it’ll be up to her. The town is her responsibility.”
Her smile brightened. “Persuade bureaucrats our research is important? Oh, I can do that. Usually it involves PowerPoint presentations, but I can do without.”
He had no doubt that she could. “It’s not about convincing her your research is important, but that it has to be done here and that you can do it safely with no risk to us,” he clarified.
She nodded in thought. “Okay, so my usual spiel will need some tweaking, but nothing I haven’t done before. Is there any approach you think will work especially well? Or anything that’ll make her reject the idea immediately?”
He loved her confidence, and she was going to need it when dealing with Mayor McFadden. Kathleen wasn’t easily talked round. “Honesty is your best bet. She’ll have to put her trust in you. We’re taking an enormous risk here.”
“That’s good. Honesty I can do. Besides, if I’m coming here for fieldwork for years to come, I want to deal with someone reliable and trustworthy as well.”
“She’ll be very cautious,” he warned her. He didn’t want to discourage her, but it was only fair.
“She should be.” Madison eyed the camping stove. “D’you want more s’mores or—”
“Definitely. I can understand why they got the name.” He also wanted to spend more time with her. The longer they talked, the more the thought of flying back home to sleep alone gnawed at him. But he’d have to, eventually.
We can stay in her nest for one night. His hawk felt that Madison’s tent was perfectly cozy. Then welcome her
