This is a sequel to my story, Girl Crush. Eddie did it! '86 was indeed his year! He graduated and now him and Dani are headed off on their grand adventure for the summer. They are heading west in his van and hitting all kinds of stops along the way...
Dani felt giddy with excitement as they walked into the St. Louis Zoo. It was the same feeling she had gotten every single time she went with her dad. It felt like it was Tuesday and she was ten years old, ready to say hi to all of her favorite animals again. It had been years since she'd been to any zoo and she couldn't wait.
"Are you excited?" Eddie asked, chuckling at how she was bouncing on her toes as they made their way into the children's petting zoo.
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"I am," Dani admitted. "I used to know the names of all of the animals at the Indianapolis Zoo because we went so much. I would talk to the zookeepers and I knew everything about the animals. The zookeepers and I were on a first name basis. They would smile when they saw me come running. I don't know if they were just humoring me or were genuinely happy to see me, but it didn't matter. It was my happy place." She flushed and looked down. "Sorry. I know I sound ridiculous."
"No, you don't," Eddie argued, shaking her hand in his. "You sound passionate. I think it's adorable how much you love the zoo and I have no doubt those zookeepers loved seeing you. They were probably excited to have someone around who was genuinely interested in what they did. I can't believe we haven't been to our zoo in so long. We will have to fix that once we get home."
"Well, that's probably my fault. I didn't want to go for a long time," she confessed, approaching a goat and kneeling down. "I didn't want to do anything that reminded me of my dad for a long time because I thought I could avoid the pain if I did." Dani gently stroked the goat's neck, instantly feeling the calming quality that animals brought to her. "It was kind of pointless because everything in our house reminded me of him. It was impossible to get away from. There was no avoiding it, but I tricked myself into thinking I could."
"Hmm..." Eddie contemplated, kneeling down next to her. A sheep slowly approached them and Eddie offered his hand. Dani saw the pleased and surprised look that crossed his face when the sheep placed its head against his hand, rubbing against it gently.
"You know, animals are good judges of character," Dani commented, nodding toward the sheep. "My dad always said if an animal avoids a person, you should too."
"I always said he was a smart man," Eddie replied, gently petting the sheep. "I must be an okay guy then because I can't get rid of the stray cats in the trailer park. They just keep coming around no matter how much Uncle Wayne had yelled at them to get."
Dani laughed, "No. They have always loved and adored you, much to Uncle Wayne's annoyance."
"Yeah. I think he's finally given up on telling me to stop feeding them though. He's realized it's a losing battle. A few months ago, I noticed a bag of cat food sitting in the kitchen and I didn't buy it."
"He likes to play the gruff and tough guy, but he's such a damn softie," Dani mused, rising to her feet. "Remember when we brought that injured squirrel to the trailer?" She took Eddie's hand as they headed out of the children's zoo and toward the elephants.
