Page 65 of Talk Birdie to Me

“Pretty good,” Geena said. “We’re past the getting acquainted stage and growing more comfortable with each other and our routines. Isn’t that right, Gary?”

“Bet your ass!”

When Taylor giggled, Gary fell into a raucous cackle of laughter.

“And how’s the other guy in your life?”

“Who? Ricky?”

“Jeez, no.” Taylor made a gagging noise that Gary tried to mimic. “Cody. You said he was coming over to install something earlier this week, but I didn’t get to ask you about it yesterday.”

Taylor had been busy with a mild medical emergency involving a kitten in a foster home. Geena had only seen her in passing while she was taking photos, so Taylor hadn’t had time to grill her yet.

“He’s not a guy in my life.”

Taylor looked away from Gary and pointed a finger in the air. “Technically, he is a guy and in your life.”

“Fine. Technically. But you know what you meant by that.”

“Either way, how’d it go?”

“Fine.”

Taylor frowned. “More, please.”

“He installed a security camera on my door, so no one has to worry about me and Gary anymore.”

“Still gonna worry. You might be my older sister, but I’m gonna worry about you as much as you worry about me.”

“Fair,” Geena said. “But the camera works great, and I can see it from an app on my phone.”

Much more useful than that new running app her sister had installed. But Geena left that thought in her head for now. She’d promised a week, so she’d give it that much.

“Great. Now what about Cody?”

Beep beep boop beep.

“What about him?”

“Did he bring you more food? Any more perfect guesses of what you like? I still say that’s a gift you shouldn’t brush off.”

“No, he didn’t bring food.” Geena paused, but eventually decided Taylor would find out one way or another. “I bought him a burger at that place down the road. He wouldn’t let me pay for the security system, so I treated him to dinner.”

“So this was date number… four?”

“It wasn’t a date. It was a repayment of sorts.”

The more Geena thought about that evening, however, the more she wasn’t so sure about that. As always, their conversation flowed smoothly, and there was plenty of laughter. It felt like the stress-reliever Taylor promised running would be.

“Uh-huh. You could have bought him a gift card or something, but you chose to spend time with him. Again.”

“I don’t think it’s called a date when your soon-to-be ex-husband joins the party.”

“Ugh,” Taylor said, while Gary tried to mimic her gagging noises again. “For real?”

“Him and Monica. He was as charming as you might expect.”

“Did Cody punch him? Please say yes.”

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