Page 97 of Talk Birdie to Me

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By Sunday morning, the clouds had finally parted. That meant a second day of respite from the rain and an opportunity for some floodwaters to drain and evaporate.

While the property remained surrounded by overflow from the bayou, the shelter itself was accessible once again. But things were still busy for the rescue, with kitten season hitting its peak.

Most of the people who had stepped up during the flood earlier that week continued fostering. They all agreed to take photos of the animals in their homes, so that only left some of the older kittens and puppies onsite that needed photos from Geena.

Liz returned to Geena’s portable studio corner with a squirmy teenaged calico kitten. The feisty feline was testing Liz’s ability to keep it contained.

“This is Pippi,” Liz said as she scruffed the older kitten just long enough to place it safely on the table.

Geena smiled and took some test shots, adjusting her camera to the kitten’s colors, while Liz tried to entertain it by dangling a wand toy with feathers.

“Like Longstocking?” Geena asked.

“That’s the one.” Liz shook and waved the wand in front of and over the kitten. “Not sure how long I can keep her up here.”

Geena snapped a few photos, checked the screen, then took a few more in rapid succession. “I can make these work.”

“Good.” Liz dropped the toy and picked up the kitten again. “I’ll put Pippi back and grab one of the others in there.”

On her way out of the room, Liz crossed paths with Sierra, who gave Pippi a quick scratch on the head. Sierra stood by one light and fanned herself, sweating through her tank top. The staff had all been working in high gear, getting the shelter back in shape from the flood, and the air conditioner was struggling to keep up with the early June heat.

“You sure you’re okay to be here?”

“Yeah, of course,” Geena said. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Sierra frowned at her. “Uh, maybe because you were kidnapped and held at gunpoint just a couple days ago?”

Two days. It had felt like a lifetime since James had taken her and Gary hostage.

He was currently being held in jail, after his fiancee, Chelsea, had refused to post bail. It didn’t matter, though. From what she understood, the evidence was so stacked against him that the prosecutor expected James to take a plea deal as soon as they could get the case in front of a judge.

“I’m fine,” Geena said. “Everything’s back to normal. And I like coming here. It’s a nice bookend for the week I had.”

Back to normal meant her regular Saturday visit to the shelter, along with another round of waiting for her divorce to be finalized. She’d sent the tax returns to the mediator, and she was fairly certain he had everything he needed now.

A meeting was scheduled the following week so all three of them could work out the details, but she didn’t plan on fighting Ricky over anything. He apparently had been taking money under the table from Anthony Montesano in addition to several other clients. A lot of money. Geena didn’t care about that either. She just wanted it to be over, and she could finally see the light on the other side.

Sierra shrugged. “If you say so.”

“If you say what?”

Taylor breezed in, wearing her teal scrubs as she looked back and forth between her sister and Sierra.

Sierra aimed a thumb at Geena. “This one here insists she’s all good with her trauma and all of that.”

Geena sighed. They wouldn’t let this go, would they?

“Does she now?” Taylor frowned at her sister. “Good thing tomorrow is our running day. You can process everything on the pavement. Nothing a little sweat and blood flow can’t fix.”

Geena had forgotten all about her promise to run during the week. Surely her sister would cut her some slack on that.

“We have dinner with Mom and Dad tomorrow.”

Dinner with her parents and Taylor and Austin and a couple of extra guests.

“Right. Dinner,” Taylor said. “You’ll have plenty of time to shower and get ready after our morning run.”

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