setup.”
“Thanks.” It felt a lot cozier with him in it. At five-four, she didn’t take up much room, so the area had seemed plenty large enough. Now she wondered how she’d be able to move around without bumping into him.
“Aren’t you supposed to be recording stuff?”
Yes, she was, and his bare chest had distracted her from her duties. “Right.” She picked up her binoculars and handed them to him. “You can help. Do you see the nest?”
“Sure do. From up here it’s hard to miss.” He raised the binoculars. “Big old thing, isn’t it? Wow! There they are, two baby eagles getting lunch from Mom. That’s impressive.”
“See if you can keep track of whether one’s getting more than the other.” She sat down and turned on her laptop. “One of the nestlings is bigger and I suspect it’s getting more food.”
“That’s what it looks like.” Luke stood facing the clearing, booted feet spread. He looked like a captain at the helm of his ship as he studied the nest through the binoculars. “Look at that! Shoving the other one out of the way. Hey, you, you’re supposed to share!”
Naomi smiled. She’d had the same thoughts, but hearing them come out of Luke’s mouth made her realize how silly they were. Wildlife researchers couldn’t afford to anthropomorphize their subjects. Giving them human attributes might work for Disney, but not for science.
Speaking of science, she’d better start making notes instead of watching Luke watch the eagles.
“Here comes the dad.”
Yikes. She’d completely missed seeing the male eagle fly overhead. “If you’ll describe what’s happening, I’ll just take down what you dictate.”
“He came in with another fish, and that’s definitely a trout. I think we’re safe to say they’re having trout for lunch. Now Mom’s flown off and Dad’s feeding the kids. Damned if that bigger baby isn’t getting more of the second course, too.”
“It happens. I’ll bet you’ve seen it with puppies and kittens. They compete for the food. The most aggressive ones get the most food.”
“Yeah, but when that happened with a litter my dog had, I supplemented so the runt didn’t die.”
She gave him points for that, too. “But these are wild creatures. If you tried to interfere, the parents might abandon both of them. I wouldn’t worry too much. There are only two babies. I think they’ll both make it.”
“I hope so. How long before they can fly?”
“If all goes well, less than two months. They’ll be on their own by fall.”
“Then your job will be over?”
“It will, but this is only a stopgap until I get another full-time state job, or maybe something with the national parks.”
“It’s a pretty cool temp job, though. It would be exciting to see those little ones fly for the first time.”
“I hope to. If I don’t personally catch it with my still camera, I’m hoping the webcam will. Is the father still there?”
“Yep.” Luke shifted his weight and the platform creaked. “But I think he’s about done with the feeding routine. There he goes. Now the babies are huddling down.”
“Unless the mother comes back, there won’t be much to see for a while.”
“No sign of her.” Luke lowered the binoculars and crouched down next to the webcam. “So this is on 24/7?”
“Yes. Fortunately it has a zoom, so the pictures are pretty good, but quite a few researchers prefer to mount the camera on the tree where the nest is.”
He glanced over his shoulder at her. “How the hell would you do something like that without freaking out the eagles?”
“You have to mount it before they start nesting and then hope they come back to that same place.” She powered down the laptop to save her battery. “The professor who hired me hopes to get someone to monitor the nest next year and see if the pair returns. This year, by the time someone discovered the nest, the eggs were already laid, which meant this was the best we could do.”
He stood and turned back to her. “Are you hooked up to the internet so you can broadcast it? I’ve seen people do that.”
“So have I, but that wouldn’t work here because of the location.”
He glanced around. “Too remote?”
“No, too accessible. The professor doesn’t want the place overrun by tourists trying to see the eagles up close and personal, which could disturb them. The Chance family isn’t too eager to have that happen, either. Eventually, with proper supervision, the Chances might approve an ecotour back here, but it would be carefully planned.”
“Makes sense. So this is a strictly private study.”
“It is. The professor would be up here himself if he could manage it. He’s the only one who gets the webcam feed, and I send him written reports.”
“Am I breaking any rules by being up here?”
She smiled. “It’s not that hush-hush. Everybody on the ranch knows about the eagles, and quite a few people in town. Fortunately, we’re a protective bunch of folks around here, so the eagles should be safe.”
“I think you’re right about that. I’ve only lived here since the end of October, but I can tell it’s a close community. You take care of your own.”
So she was right—he was a fairly recent hire at the ranch. Getting one piece of the puzzle made her curious to find out more. “What brought you here?”
“More a who than a what. Nash Bledsoe. He was my boss when he co-owned a riding stable in Sacramento with Lindsay, his former wife. She wasn’t much fun to work for after he left. Actually, she wasn’t much fun to work for while he was there. I stayed because of him. Once he moved back here, I asked him to put in a good word at the Last Chance, and here I am.”
“And now Nash has his own place, the Triple G. Are you headed there next?”
He shook his head. “Wouldn’t be fair to Nash. I tend to move on after about a year, no matter where I am, so my time’s two-thirds gone. He needs a ranch hand who’ll stick around longer than a few months.”
“You leave after a year?” She’d never heard anything so ridiculous in her life, unless he was trying to escape a woman or the law. “Are you on the run?”
“Nope.” He smiled.
She looked into those smiling brown eyes. He didn’t seem to be hiding anything. “Then I don’t get it.”
“Most people don’t. It’s just the way I like it. New scenery, new people. Keeps things interesting.”
She should have known there’d be a fly in the ointment. He might be the sexiest man she’d met in ages, but if he avoided all
