Page 26 of Talk Birdie to Me

“I know, I know.” He put his hands up in defense. “I’ll tell her tonight and make sure she’s okay with everything. It was just really late, and I had to get Kayleigh home.”

“Who the heck is Kayleigh?”

Dang it.

He’d stepped right into that one, hadn’t he?

“My date last night.”

“You brought your date to your other date’s house to drop off a swearing parrot being hunted by some stranger. Do I have this right?”

“No. Geena wasn’t my date last night. It might have been awkward, but I didn’t do anything wrong. We’re not in a relationship. Of any kind, much less a monogamous one. We had one date. And I’m fairly certain she does not want a second.”

“Not after last night, I’m sure.”

Cody decided that was enough of a lecture for that afternoon. “I’d better finish my shift so I can get that stuff over to her at a reasonable hour. Let me know if you have any issues with these guys. You’re off tomorrow, right? Just leave a note or send me a text.”

“Will do,” she said. “Oh, I forgot to ask. Heard back on that job yet?”

Cody’s shoulders slumped. He’d forgotten all about that. “Yeah. Didn’t get it.”

“Sorry. I know you were hoping.”

He shrugged. “Not meant to be. I’ll find something else.”

“Or…” She dragged out the word with a half-smile. “You could accept that the universe maybe wants you to stay here?”

“Not a sign,” he said. “I’m leaving now.”

He gave her a smile before he turned to leave the aviary. It was nice to have people who wanted him around, but he’d been back in this part of the country long enough. Now it was time to move on and start a new adventure. He just had to wait for an opportunity to present itself again.

But first, he had to see how Geena and that foul-mouthed parrot were getting along.

8

The documentary Geena had picked for the evening followed the case of several art thieves working together. The tone was dry, but the details were interesting. Too interesting, since it was supposed to be background viewing while she processed what had recently landed in her inbox.

Geena paused the show and took a sip of wine as she reread the email from her attorney. She hadn’t expected a reply until Monday, but she was glad to have the weekend to look it over.

Gary beeped and booped.

It would take all weekend to process that email with all of Gary’s distracting noises.

Geena read the brief greeting and noted the woman’s quick dive into the meat of the situation. There was no point in small talk when there was business at hand, and Geena had always appreciated that about the woman.

They’d met at a Christmas party when Lisa was still a partner at Ricky’s firm. They’d hit it off, becoming comfortable acquaintances and chatting any time there was a work function. Geena got the impression Lisa didn’t like being the only female attorney there, but they were never that close to discuss those kinds of details.

Within the last year, Lisa left to start her own firm. Geena reached out to her to look over their divorce documents, even though she still planned to go the mediator route. She just wanted a pair of legal eyes to let her know if she was missing something.

Lisa insisted on doing so as a favor to Geena, which probably explained her fitting it in on the weekend. The woman’s specialty was corporations, not divorces. Still, Geena figured Lisa could cut through the legal speak, and her experience with businesses might lend a better look at the financial side, even if that was Geena’s specialty.

The email ended abruptly, with Lisa stating that she would call soon.

That couldn’t be good.

Soon apparently meant right away, because Geena’s phone rang as she closed the email. After a brief greeting, Lisa dove directly into the purpose of her call.

“Do you know an Anthony Montesano?”

---