Her Wolf

Her nails broke the skin.

*****

Catherine and Ryan stood hand-in-hand at the entrance of the Snow Drift Park that was full of people from the Conservation, Catherine’s office and members of the tribe that had enabled Catherine to take over the land.

The moment of the reveal had come and Catherine’s stomach was flip flopping with nerves. It seemed like forever ago that Ryan made his first promise to give Catherine a monument that would honor her parents for as long as the park remained standing and finally the moment had arrived.

“Ladies and Gentleman, I want to thank you so much for being here with us today in this moment,” Ryan said into the microphone, garnering the attention of everyone who had come to celebrate the joyous occasion. “As you all know, Catherine Goldberry and I, along with the Colorado Conservation of Endangered and Rare Wildlife and Glacial Cosmetics have been working closely with one another to preserve the state of this beautiful piece of land. It wasn’t always easy, but we were able to complete our mission.”

Catherine squeezed Ryan’s hand reassuringly as he stopped to allow time for the round of applause to cease.

“Some of you may, or may not know this, but our biggest support and most of our financial backing came from Catherine Goldberry and much like myself, she has a personal tie to this park. Please give her a round of applause as she tells you her story.”

The crowd clapping for Catherine did nothing to heighten her nerves for the moment as her eyes drifted towards the covered piece standing a mere twenty feet away. It didn’t matter to her that so many people were there to listen to what she had to say, what truly mattered was that her parents were being honored in a way they never had been before. Their names would live on forever in everyone’s minds, not just their own.

Catherine cleared her throat as she stood on the pedestal, offering a smile to the growing crowd. “As Mr. Metcalfe said, thank you so much to everyone who was able to make it out here today. There are some of you here who may know that I lost my parents a few years ago. They found themselves lost deep on a Snow Drift path, and before they had a chance to be rescued, it was too late for them. The sole purpose of me standing here right now isn’t to tell you about the plaque that Mr. Metcalfe had created in my parents’ honor. It’s to tell you that if my parents could have anything right now, it would be the knowledge of knowing that what happened to them, wouldn’t happen to anyone else.”

Catherine offered a slight smile as she directed her attention towards Ryan who gave her a reassuring smile.

“With that being said, it’s my pleasure to tell you that placed randomly throughout the park we have had help buttons installed. If you find yourself too deep on a path and you’re lost, don’t head off of the trail, just keep going straight. You will find the help button and upon pressing it, there will always be someone there waiting to send help. We want everyone to be able to enjoy this beautiful land and it’s our honor to make it as safe as possible.”

The crowd continued clapping as Catherine pulled the microphone from its stand and walked towards the plaque that was a few feet away and covered by a gold colored cloth.

“Thank you so much to everyone who supported this project and both Mr. Metcalfe and myself look forward to helping our great state in whatever way we can.”

Catherine reached down to take Ryan’s hand in hers before she guided them to the corner of the gold cloth and pulled it free to display the plaque that kept true to Ryan’s initial promise.

“In Memorial of Sally and Ron Goldberry; may the paths in your heaven be as beautiful as you.”

Ryan turned on his side and wrapped his arms protectively around Catherine before he eased in to kiss her cheek and she smiled brilliantly.

“Thank you so much for this plaque, Ryan,” she said, cooing over the man she had fallen for. “I know that if they could see it, it would be everything that they ever wanted.”

“It’s the least I could do,” Ryan replied, kissing the top of Catherine’s head as she continued staring at her parents name.