Page 8 of Talk Birdie to Me

She felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. Partly because he was right. She’d made an incorrect assumption.

But she was more embarrassed that she hadn’t asked more about him.

Even if she’d known from the start that there wouldn’t be a second date for them, she didn’t have to be rude. She should have asked more questions. At least appeared interested.

She was way more out of practice with dating than she’d anticipated. This whole mess of a divorce was sapping the manners right out of her. Even if she wasn’t the one who’d been dripping wing sauce all night.

“Sorry.” She decided it was better to steer the conversation away from their date and back to the reason she was there. “We don’t want to keep you all from your work. Is this the parrot?”

She and Taylor approached the cage together, while Cody stood beside her. He smelled like earth and sunshine. Not a hint of body wash or cologne, which she imagined the animals might have a problem with if he loaded himself up with those.

But contrary to his suspicion earlier in this conversation, it wasn’t an unpleasant smell. He just smelled like… nature.

She kind of liked it.

And Taylor and Liz had been right. He was attractive. Especially in those zookeeper shorts. She’d never been particularly attracted to men’s legs, but he did have really nice calves.

Didn’t matter.

She maintained her stance that appearances don’t matter to the success of a relationship.

Her ex was conventionally attractive. Look where that had gotten her.

She didn’t plan on making that mistake again.

“This is Gary the Grey.”

Gary bobbed his head up and down at the mention of his name.

Geena smiled at the title. It made him sound like royalty.

Taylor leaned closer to get a better look at the bird. She tilted her head, this way and that, as she assessed him. Gary mimicked her movements in silence.

Geena wasn’t sure what her sister was looking for. It just looked like a bird to her. Taylor had always been the animal lover in the family, while Geena never had much use for them. Too much clean-up and too much responsibility. So she avoided getting emotionally attached to whatever creatures Taylor brought into their house when they were growing up.

“He looks healthy to me,” Taylor said. “But I’m no bird expert. I know enough about their anatomy, but experience-wise, I’ve dealt almost exclusively with mammals.”

Cody nodded. “No worries. I’ve been monitoring the birds here for a couple of years, and he looked really good coming in. His owner apparently took good care of him. Plus, we had him in quarantine for two weeks, and nothing came up. So he should be good to go once you find a foster.”

That was going to be the tough part, from what Geena understood. The rescue was just beginning to build its foster program, and no one so far had any experience with or desire to care for birds. They’d put out the word, though, and Geena’s photos today would be used for a social media call for help.

Geena set her bags on a nearby table and began pulling out camera gear. She took a few random shots to test the lighting in the room, which was somehow worse than the lighting back at the shelter. This room didn’t have any windows at all, so she’d have to make do. She hadn’t even brought her portable lamps in from the car because she didn’t think she’d have space to set them up. And she’d been right about that.

“We can let him out so he can relax, and you won’t have to aim through the bars..” Cody scooted in front of her. “Lauren, lock the door so no one comes through while he’s out.”

The other zookeeper walked to the door and locked it, while Cody put a hand on the cage.

“Hang on just a sec.” Geena took a couple more test shots, this time of the bird on his perch. His coloring really was gorgeous, all that gray and white with a pop of bright red, but the lighting in this room did nothing for him. “I’m assuming there isn’t anywhere we can take him that has better natural lighting.”

Cody scratched at the back of his neck. “I mean, the aviary. But he’s not allowed in there anymore. Kind of the whole reason we need your help.”

“Not allowed?” Geena lowered the camera to see if Cody was joking.

He was not.

Taylor laughed beside them. “Does he not play nice on the playground?” Then her expression turned sour. “Is he aggressive? Because we’ll have to be even more careful with choosing a foster and an adopter if he is.”

“Let’s just say he’s got a bit of a potty mouth,” Cody said. “And he likes to share his vocabulary with his friends.”

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