Tempting Faith. Susan Mallery

good home, and fast.” She rose and started out of the room.

      “How long will that take?” Cort asked, hobbling behind her.

      “It depends. It’s not that easy to hand them over to a zoo or a breeding center. Tigers are expensive to keep and cubs are demanding. Most facilities don’t have the room, the personnel or the funds. Jeff wants to make sure he gets it right the first time. That’s why they’re with me. I can hold them longer than most places.”

      They entered her office. Photos of big cats lined the walls. Her scarred, thrift-store desk took up a good portion of the space. File cabinets and a couple of chairs filled the rest. Faith waved him into the seat in front of her desk. Cort settled into the chair and placed the crutches on the floor.

      “How’s the leg?” she asked as she pulled open a file cabinet drawer and withdrew several forms.

      “Not bad. I should be walking without help in a day or so.”

      “Good.” She turned around and looked at him.

      In his jeans and long-sleeved cotton shirt, he looked like any local. Most of the men living on the mountain did physical work for a living, so his broad shoulders and defined muscles wouldn’t set him apart. It had to be something else that made her heart flutter foolishly. Maybe it was the shape of him—lean and graceful with a concealed power. Even with the bandaged leg and crutches, he reminded her of her cats, moving carefully, deliberately, the wary instincts of a predator never far below the surface.

      “These are the forms I use to keep track of the cubs’ care.” She handed him several papers. “I don’t think you’ll have any trouble with them.”

      He glanced at the sheets and nodded. “Looks simple enough.”

      “When we feed them, I’ll go over the amounts of formula each needs.” She closed the file cabinet and sat in the old rickety wooden chair behind her desk. “They usually just scarf down whatever we give them. These are not picky eaters.”

      “Good.” He read on. “Playtime?”

      She nodded. “They need a certain amount of social interaction. You’ll probably want to wear gloves.”

      The flecks in his eyes seemed to glint with amusement. He smiled. “Gloves?”

      “You’ve seen their claws.”

      “Felt them, too.” He rubbed his shoulder. “Could be worse, I suppose. You could be asking me to wrestle Sparky.”

      She smiled. “Not until you’re feeling better.”

      “Great.” He leaned forward and placed the papers on her desk. He bumped several other sheets, and they fluttered to the ground. “Got ’em,” he said, reaching down and grabbing them.

      “Thanks.” She took the offered forms and grimaced. “Government paperwork.”

      “Aren’t you used to it?”

      “No. We’re privately funded. I’m helping Jeff with the cubs as a favor, but for the most part, I don’t work with government agencies.” She stared at the papers stacked on her desk. “Most of these files are for a new project I’m thinking of starting. I counted. There are one hundred and eighty-seven forms there. Who knows how many agencies and bureaucrats for me to deal with.”

      “What for?”

      She tossed the sheets on the desk and leaned forward, lacing her hands together. “I want to breed snow leopards.”

      She half expected him to laugh. She’d mentioned the project to one of the way station’s contributors, and he’d patted her on the head and told her not to bite off more than she could chew.

      “Why?” Cort asked.

      “They’re almost extinct. I bought some land a few years ago in North Dakota. It’s away from everything. The climate is good for the leopards. If I could get a few breeding pairs and mate them in captivity, in a couple of generations there would be enough to release several back into the wild. They would help not only with the numbers, but by increasing the gene pool. That’s the problem when a species becomes endangered. There aren’t enough genes to create a healthy population.” She stopped suddenly, aware of how she was going on.

      But Cort seemed interested. He adjusted his injured leg, then rested his hands on the arms of the chair. “What’s all the paperwork for?”

      “I have to get permission from federal, state and local governments. I have to have the approval of all the neighbors. There are zoning permits, financial qualifications. I’ve seen an attorney, and she gave me some direction, but I’m a little overwhelmed by the whole issue.”