Page 52 of Talk Birdie to Me

“Ha!” Sierra lost her focus, then resumed puppy wrangling. “I knew it. She likes him.”

“Leave her alone,” Liz said. “Remember how much you fought us on Marc until you were ready to admit you still had feelings for him?”

“She’s not wrong,” Sierra said with a shrug. “You can deny it all you want, but there’s no telling your heart to shut up. You think I’d choose to shack up with a sportswriter, of all things, if my heart wasn’t running the show?”

“My heart and what it wants are irrelevant.” She snapped a few photos of the puppy. Stalling, mostly. Trying her best to listen to her own logic and ignore her growing feelings. “He has no interest in a serious relationship, and I have no interest in someone who doesn’t want the same things as me. I don’t need another doomed relationship, especially when I’m neck-deep in divorce paperwork.”

She still couldn’t forgive herself for making that terrible decision. She wasn’t about to choose poorly again.

“Okay, but that was because Ricky’s a jerk,” Taylor said. “He never deserved you. Plus, you made the choice to be with him based on your head, not your heart. Didn’t you tell me it was a data decision? Maybe it’s time to let your heart run things.”

Darn her sister and her keen memory.

Ricky had been a data decision. They were a good match on paper, but their connection was always lacking. Even before he started cheating on her. He never seemed invested in her happiness or even their closeness as a couple. It was more like a failed business venture than a marriage.

Cody was the opposite. He was attentive to her feelings and cared about her safety, and Geena couldn’t deny there was some sort of connection there.

Taylor was right. Being with Cody would be a heart decision, not a data one.

But Geena wasn’t ready to make that leap. Especially if ignoring the data meant potential heartbreak when he inevitably left.

Liz shook her head and left with Potato Salad. “She’ll figure it out on her own time.”

Sierra raised her brow but kept quiet for once.

“There’s nothing to figure out,” Geena said. “I’m not interested in a doomed hypothetical relationship. With anyone, but especially with someone who’s made it clear he has no interest in any kind of commitment.”

“We’ll see.” Sierra took her puppy and followed Liz out of the room.

When they were both gone, Geena turned to her sister. “Can we drop this? I’m tired of defending my choices.”

“I don’t want to make you defensive,” Taylor said. “But will you just admit you have feelings for him?”

Geena decided to keep quiet on the fact that Cody had spent the night on her couch. Taylor would run with that and bug her about it every time they were in the same room.

“I will admit that maybe I initially misjudged him on some things,” Geena said. “But that’s all you’re getting from me on the subject. Again, liking him or not is irrelevant. Can we get this litter finished and move on?”

“Fine,” Taylor said. “I just have to add that based on everything you’ve told me so far, I think you two would be good for each other.”

Geena doubted that. People with vastly different personalities rarely worked out as couples. Being with an opposite seemed to be exciting for people in the beginning, but eventually, they realized there was too much friction to overcome.

She was beyond tired of trying to force a relationship. Even though her and Ricky’s lives had at first appeared to match up, their values turned out to be wildly different.

But maybe there was something to Taylor’s theory about thinking with her heart instead of her head. She’d spent so much time making head decisions. Maybe it was time to let her heart have the reins for a bit. If not with Cody, then with the rest of her life.

She wanted to have a different life than she’d been living with Ricky for the past few years. That marriage had narrowed her world so much. If she was reimagining her life now, why not let her heart lead the show? Not with another relationship, but maybe with other things.

Diving back into photography, and with animals no less, had been such a good decision. It made her feel creative, as if she was making a difference in a small way.

Maybe more decisions like that?

Not a Cody decision, of course.

“Noted,” Geena said.

Her phone buzzed with a text. Because the universe had ridiculous timing, it was from Cody.

“Is that him?” Taylor asked.

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