Chapter thirteen. Carly was dismayed to find Pat Ryan's Jeep already at the site

Carly was dismayed to find Pat Ryan's Jeep already at the site. The sun was barely up and she assumed she would beat her there this morning. Her own Jeep was loaded with some of her things from her apartment. Elsa and Martin had convinced her to start moving into the apartment upstairs. She spent so much time driving back and forth the way it was, it made sense. And Martin was certain that the workers would be out of her hair in two weeks.

She unlocked the ranch house and flipped on the lights, surprised that they had started painting. She'd left early yesterday, shortly after the photographer had tried to drive her insane, and spent the afternoon in her apartment, answering email and putting together their mailing lists. She really needed a secretary, she knew, and hopefully Elsa would be able to assist her as soon as the network was up and running. They could only afford to hire possibly one other full-time staff this year. The rest of the help would be made up of volunteers and Rachel Yearwood had assured her that there were plenty of willing bodies right here in Rockport. Her main concern was the fall migration bird count. She had lined up a few professionals, contacts that she'd made while working for the state, that were going to lend a hand, free of charge. And the local birding club, headed by Mrs. Davenport, would supply the warm bodies. Or so Rachel had promised.

It made Carly a little nervous to think that she was trusting people she'd never met, especially when the outcome would determine the amount of next year's state grant.

" Good morning, " a soft voice said next to her ear.

Carly jumped, a hand going to her chest automatically.

" Jesus! Must you do that? "

" Do what? " Pat asked innocently.

" Sneak up on me all the time? Do I need to put bells on you? "

Pat arched one eyebrow and grinned. " That would be interesting, depending where you decided to attach them. But, kinda hard to sneak up on birds, don't you think? "

" Ever heard of knocking? "

" Knocking? I work here. I didn't think I'd have to knock everywhere I went."

" Are you always so difficult, Ms. Ryan? "

Pat paused, tilting her head and meeting Carly's sea-green eyes. " Yes."

" Wonderful, " she said dryly. " It'll make the next few months so enjoyable then."

Pat laughed. " You really don't like me, do you? "

Carly's eyes widened in mock surprise. " Whatever gave you that idea? "

Pat shrugged. " I guess my glowing personality is not rubbing off on you, huh? "

" Yes, it's rubbing off on me, alright, " Carly murmured.

Pat laughed again. " So, are you always this uptight? "

Carly turned, her green eyes flashing. " What exactly does that mean? "

" Uptight? I thought you were a doctor. You don't know what that means? "

Carly closed her eyes as the sudden vision of her flying across the room and attacking the photographer popped into her mind. Her hands were clinched and she wondered if a quick punch to the face would ensue jail time.

Instead, she silently counted to ten, no twenty, then opened her eyes, looking right into the blue ones of the woman standing next to her. Amused blue ones, she noted. In fact, they nearly danced and a ghost of a smile appeared on her own face. The woman was insufferable, but damn, those eyes...

" So, you need help unpacking? I noticed your Jeep was loaded down."

Carly was about to decline the offer, then realized it would take her several trips up and down the stairs alone.

" I'm not interrupting your work? " she asked, pointing to the camera hung around Pat's neck.

" No. I took some in the Visitor's Center already. I want to take some outside, once the workers show up. Oh, Dr. Cambridge, I noticed a road going back into the brush, behind the ranch house. Where does that go? "

" Behind this first line of oak motes, they'd cleared spots for grazing. There's an old barn and whatnot. There are actually several roads back there, snaking across the property. In the fall, they used to lease it out to day hunters. There were tree stands all over the place, " she said. And then, " You can call me Carly. Dr. Cambridge is so..."

" Stuffy sounding? " Pat supplied.

" I was going to say formal."

" Oh. I was going to say uptight."

Carly walked out towards her Jeep. " Why is it every time I'm around you, I just want to throttle you? "

" Throttle me? Well, you know, I haven't been throttled in quite a while now. Could be fun, " she teased.

Carly bit back a grin and shoved a box into Pat's arms. " Upstairs."

" Yes, ma'am."

Carly watched her walk off, not immune to the long tanned legs, silky dark hair and blue, blue eyes. She sighed. It would be so much easier to dislike her if she wasn't so damn attractive. And, Carly had to admit, her sense of humor, though somewhat demented, was engaging.

" Hey, there's like...an apartment up here, " Pat called.

" Good. Then they didn't lie to me, " Carly called back. With arms loaded, she climbed the stairs, finding Pat in the bedroom.

" Great view, " she said, pointing out the windows as they opened to the bay.

Carly followed her gaze and nodded. Actually, this was the first time she'd been in here. She'd only checked out her office, to her, the most important room. She could sleep anywhere.

" No bed? "

Carly turned around, seeing only the new dresser she'd found at an antique shop in Rockport.

" I have an apartment in town, " she said. " I'll probably move the furniture over the weekend."

" Well, need some help? " Pat offered.

" Oh, no, " Carly shook her head. " That's okay. Martin and Elsa will help. We should be able to manage."

" Really, I don't mind helping." Then, she flexed her right arm, showing off her well-defined biceps. She pointed at it and grinned. " Strong as an ox."

Carly couldn't help but laugh. " Stubborn as one, too, " she murmured as she walked back downstairs.

" I heard that, Doctor."

Together, it only took them three trips to unload the Jeep. And actually, it wouldn't take Carly long to move. She's only been in the apartment since January and she had not bothered to unpack everything. She knew she would be moving to the ranch eventually. And hopefully, in a year or so, they would be able to hire a full-time manager and Carly could get her life somewhat back to normal. And of course, then she could concentrate on environmental stuff, as Pat would say.

" Thank you for helping, " Carly said.

" No problem. I'm just hanging around until the activity starts up."

Pat leaned against the doorframe and fidgeted with her camera. She watched Carly as she stood on the porch, hands shoved into the pockets of her shorts and surveyed the ranch. She eyes moved from the bay to the Visitor's Center, then finally to Pat. Without thinking, Pat raised the camera and captured Carly just as she turned questioning eyes to her.

" I'm not part of the wildlife, " Carly murmured.

" No? " Pat lowered the camera and grinned. " Sorry. The light was perfect. Couldn't resist. Besides, surely we'll want one of you in the brochures? "

" Absolutely not."

" Why not? Don't you think donors will want to know who is going to spend their money? "

" I think they would rather see what it will be spent on than by whom, " Carly stated.

Pat shrugged. " You're the boss."

" And speaking of the brochure, when do you think you'll have enough pictures to start? I'd like to begin the initial mailing as soon as possible."

" Why don't you explain to me the different mailing cycles that you're going to do, " Pat suggested.

" Sure. Why don't we walk down to the bay while we talk."

Pat fell in line next to Carly as they made their way down the dirt road. The sun was already creeping higher in the sky and out of habit, Pat scanned the horizon, looking for movement.

" We've secured mailing lists from most of the environmental and conservation groups. These potential donors will be the ones that'll send in ten or twenty bucks here and there. These are the ones we'll send the smaller brochures to and where we'll start. The large, multi-page brochure that we're going to do will be sent to known donors across the nation who are more likely to send in hundreds of dollars. That'll be our second wave. By the end of the year, I hope to have a booklet put together that we can send to local business owners and some of the larger corporations in the area. And I want posters, " she said. " We'll put those in shop windows around Rockport and Port Aransas. I want to get those up before tourist season, which gives us about a month."

" Wow. That sounds like a lot."

" Yes. Time consuming and definitely a big expense. But as the old saying goes, you have to spend money to make money."

" So tell me, what kinds of photos do you want in this first brochure? The construction? Birds? "

" Both. I want them to see what we've accomplished so far, mainly the Visitor's Center. Right now, there aren't a lot of birds, wetland birds anyway, making this their home. That's unfortunate, because it would be nice to have a pond with ducks on it, something to show what we're trying to protect."

" I've got lots of prints laying around of birds. Do they have to be taken here? "

" Isn't that the idea? "

" Well, we could put some shots in of pelicans, egrets, herons, etc. Something to show what will make this their home once the wetlands are back."

Pat paused, thinking. She had hundreds of discarded photos that weren't marketable that would be suitable for this project.

" Right now, I've only got cardinals, " Pat said. " I mean, I can hang out here on the bay and get gulls and terns, pelicans. Maybe some shorebirds. But that's not really going to be the focus of this preserve, right? The wetlands are the focus. And you don't have wetlands."

" Okay. Sad, but okay. Listen, I'm really out of my league with this, anyway. I wrote the verbiage. That was the easy part. In fact, I've got the first two brochures ready to go, other than the pictures. The booklet, I'm really doing that as we go. That's where I'll want the sequence of breaking ground to the completed Visitor's Center and the building of the marshes."

" But I don't have any shots of you breaking ground, " Pat reminded her.

" Well, I managed to take a few. I haven't even developed them yet so I have no idea if the quality will even be good enough, but hiring a photographer was not top on my list at the time."

" Did you say hiring? "

Carly laughed. " I'm sorry. How about finding a willing volunteer? "

" Better, " Pat nodded. " Okay, how about I bring over what I shot yesterday and I'll get today's developed and we can go through them. I'll also get together some others that I've taken. We may want to stick some of them in there."

" I know this is asking a lot, but do you think you could find the time to go with me to the printer? I've met with them before and they know what I want, but I'd feel more comfortable if you were there to present the pictures and help pick out which ones are best. We've got the layout, as I've said, and left blanks where we want photos to go."

" Do you have a copy? "

" On my computer."

" Why don't you let me read it. That'll help. But yes, I'll go with you, " Pat agreed. She didn't wonder as to why. She was going to be busting her ass as it were to meet her deadline on the nesting shorebirds.

" Can you come in the morning? "

" Actually, I have another assignment I'm working on. A paying one, " Pat said with a smile. " Nesting shorebirds, " she said at Carly's silent question. " Ten nests. I have initial shots on all ten, but I'm not nearly finished."

" Okay. Well, we'll be moving over the weekend so my computer will be here on Monday. I'll print out the brochure for you then."

" I'll get it over the weekend. I'm helping, remember? "

" Listen, you don't really have to do that."

" I don't mind, really. I'll probably be out here anyway, " Pat said.

" Okay, " Carly finally agreed. She didn't know why, but she really didn't want to spend any more time with the woman than was necessary. She didn't want to like her.

They walked back towards the ranch house where the workers had already started. For all Pat Ryan was doing for this project, Carly felt she owed her some sort of apology. After all, today was the only day she'd even been half-way civil to the woman.

" Pat, I want to thank you, " Carly started. " I know you were roped into this project by your aunt, but I sincerely appreciate it. We...got off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry."

Pat glance at her, conscious of the fact that this was the first time Carly had called her by her first name.

" Oh, hell, doctor, was that an apology? Don't be doing that, " Pat drawled. " Then I'll have to start being nice to you."

Carly smiled. " You'd rather we argue? I doubt an apology will stop us. I still find your views to be incomprehensible."

" Good. Because I still find you to be opinionated and damn near an environmental wacko."

Carly laughed. " Well, that's original."