Free The Dragon Keeper by Mindy Mejía Page A

tossing the sandwiches a suspicious look.
    “Don’t worry, yours is a veggie burger.”
    It had taken him two dinners that week to remember she was a vegetarian, but after that he’d been pretty accommodating. Sales guys were good at that.
    “Thanks.”
    “Don’t thank me until you try it.” He bit into his hamburger and made a face. “It’s kind of like being back in Ireland already.”
    They ate and watched the birds fly over the river.
    “I couldn’t believe you today, Meg.”
    She mopped up some ketchup with a handful of fries and shoveled them into her mouth. “Abou wha?”
    “The feeding. It was amazing.” He stopped eating and just stared at her now.
    Tuesday had rolled around again, so she’d done Jata’s weekly feeding for the public a few hours ago. She hadn’t seen her father’s face in the crowd, but he must have been in there somewhere. She’d chosen turkey again today, since Jata had weighed in a little porkier than Meg wanted at her recent physical. It wasn’t surprising, since most zoological specimens were fat and lazy next to their wild cousins, but Jata shouldn’t get too overweight too young. She could have twenty years left in her.
    Meg shrugged off her father’s comment and slurped on her shake. “She trusts me, that’s all.”
    “Don’t Komodos kill people?”
    “Not half as much as we kill them. They don’t consider us a primary food source.” She flipped off the shake’s lid and started dipping her fries into the chocolate.
    “And I wouldn’t consider that a primary food source.” He tracked the French fries from the shake to her mouth and cringed.
    She laughed with her mouth full just as a white lab coat appeared next to their booth. Following it upward, she met Antonio’s amused face.
    “Yancy, I didn’t know you could laugh.”
    She swallowed and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’m on my lunch break.”
    “I figured that out. Big brain and all.” He tapped his temple.
    “What do you want?”
    He turned to her father. “See, this is the Yancy I know. All business. No wasted syllables.”
    “My girl’s efficient. She’s a dragon tamer, you know.” Her father smiled broadly across the table.
    “Dragon keeper,” Meg corrected. “Jata’s not tame.”
    “That’s my point.” Her father toasted her with his shake. “You can’t tame something that’s already tame. You tame wild creatures.”
    “True,” Antonio said, but he was looking at her. He blinked and turned to her father, extending a hand. “I’m Antonio Rodríguez, head veterinarian.”
    “Jim Yancy, Meg’s father.”
    “I didn’t realize Meg”—he faltered—“had parents.”
    “Antonio missed the biology part of veterinary school,” Meg said. “He was too busy trying to nail the prep squad.”
    Antonio cocked his head to one side. “It’s hard to picture you as a little girl, Yancy. Did you have pigtails? Maybe a couple turtles in a bucket?”
    “Whippets,” her father said, spitting it out like a cuss. He shook his head and flashed Meg a long, guilty look across the table. “Her mother bred show dogs and dragged Meg across the country with grooming brushes shoved in her little hands. I was too busy with work to save her from that circus.”
    “Dad.” She tried to shut him up, but he waved her off with a hand.
    “It’s true.” He glanced up at Antonio. “Meg was never too fond of people after putting up with those trophy-hungry freaks her entire childhood. Hard to blame her, believe me. You ever met any of those people?”
    “No.” Antonio was still watching her; she could feel his stare as she sucked the last drops of her shake and stared blindly out into the river valley.
    “They’ll drive you bat-shit crazy. I should know; I was married to one for fifteen years.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” Antonio said. “Well, I don’t want to interrupt your lunch any further. It was a pleasure to meet you, Jim.”
    They shook hands again.
    “Meg, come