Page 57 of Talk Birdie to Me

“Just let me know if you run into any technical snags,” he said. “I’m not great with this stuff, but Lauren is. She said she’s glad to help if we need.”

“Thanks again. What do I owe you for it?”

She reached for the receipt on the coffee table near the empty box and the cordless drill he’d brought. Cody snatched it away before she got her hands on it.

“No way,” he said. “You’re taking care of Gary.”

“Gary!” squawked the parrot from his perch on top of his cage.

“It’s the least we can do for putting you in the line of fire.”

Geena cringed. “Please don’t say, 'Line of fire.' It’s bad enough thinking about someone trying to break in. The last thing I want to think about is guns in the mix.”

Cody smiled, attempting to break the tension and soothe her fear. “Not a hunter then, huh?”

“Absolutely not. I said I’m not an animal person, but that doesn’t mean I want them dead.”

“I know. Just teasing,” he said. “I work at a zoo. Not exactly the hunting type myself.”

He’d grown up with cousins who would shoot anything they could in season. Deer, ducks, squirrels. Didn’t matter what.

He never had a taste for it, and it was one of many reasons he was glad his dad never paid much attention to him when he was a kid. No awkwardly trying to get out of any obligatory father-son hunting trips.

Beep beep boop beep

Geena tilted her head at Gary. “I’m actually growing fond of those noises.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am. I mean, not the squawking. But some of his little noises aren’t so bad.”

“Bet your ass!”

Cody laughed. “You sure about that?”

“Gary.” Geena put her hands on her hips and walked up to the bird. “We talked about this. That’s not very nice.”

Cody fought the urge to warn her about getting too close. She probably knew that bird and his tendencies better than he did by now.

In fact, she was holding his attention pretty well on her own. Gary ducked his head, like he was ashamed of his behavior.

She lowered her tone even more. “What do we say?”

Gary made the softest little cluck and mumbled, “Sorry.”

Cody stared at them both in shock and amazement. “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything,” Geena said. “Apparently he already knew that one.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I told him one day he wasn’t being nice, and he just said it.”

If Cody had known that, maybe Gary could have stayed at the zoo.

“Rat bastard!” The parrot rolled his head on his shoulders and cackled until he nearly stumbled off the cage.

“As you can see, he’s not actually sorry.”

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