Page 22 of Talk Birdie to Me

“Sorry, I didn’t have time to gather everything,” Cody said. “But he should be good for now.”

Geena pulled her attention from his date and let her gaze fall squarely on Cody. The wing sauce man who’d brought an unruly bird into her life. Instead of a wing-sauce-dripping date, she now had a poop-dripping roommate.

“Please clarify ‘good for now.’”

The corner of his mouth quirked up as if her annoyance amused him. Or maybe he was used to getting away with vague statements in his line of work and found her attention to detail humorous.

Neither possibility was acceptable.

“He has enough food and water in his dishes for tomorrow.”

As if to prove his point, Taylor returned from the kitchen with a full dish of water that she hooked into the cage with some complicated-looking screw-in device.

Geena’s breath caught in her throat as she realized there was no guarantee in his statement past the next day, and that she’d have to figure out that contraption herself.

“And then what?”

“And then I’ll swing by tomorrow evening with more supplies. It’ll be a Saturday, so I won’t be out of there until around 8,” he said. “If that’s okay with you?”

Geena looked at the bird. Gary had settled from the transport jostling and seemed to be intently absorbing their conversation now.

The poor bird hadn’t asked for any of this either. Geena felt a bit sorry for it.

“Who the hell are you?” Gary squawked.

There was a tone of indignation he had to have picked up from his owner. The guy must have been a real piece of work.

She looked back at Cody with a heavy sigh. “That’s fine.”

“Thanks for taking him in.” He scratched at his shaggy hair while he frowned at Gary. “I realize this is a huge ask, but I didn’t know what else to do with him.”

“Bet your ass,” Gary mumbled.

“So… rules.” Cody turned back to Geena. “Don’t stick your hand in the cage.”

“Not a problem.”

“Don’t let him out just yet,” Cody said. “You might not be able to get him back in.”

The last thing Geena wanted was close contact with this bird. “Again, not a problem.”

“Good. Like I said, he should be fine with everything he needs until I can get back here tomorrow evening to refill his supplies.”

“You never said why he couldn’t stay at the zoo.” That was the big piece of this puzzle Geena didn’t understand. Not that it mattered. She was stuck with him for now, no matter what the answer was. “I mean, I know why he can’t be in the aviary and needs a home, but why did he have to be evacuated in the middle of the night?”

Cody stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “How about we save that story for tomorrow evening?”

Geena didn’t like the sound of that. She felt as if she was missing something important. But it was well after midnight, and whatever the reason was, she could wait another day to hear about it.

His date returned from the bathroom with a confident strut as she tucked her arm around Cody’s. “Is the bird all settled in?”

There was that jealousy again. And it was definitely aimed at both ends of that move of hers.

Geena cleared her throat. “Looks like it, I guess.”

“Yeah, let’s get you home,” Cody said to his date before turning back to Geena. “Thanks again. I’ll text you when I’m on my way with the rest of his stuff.”

Right. Because he had her number from their date.

---