Page 23 of Reaching Little Robyn

She managed not to roll her eyes or giggle as she told that voice to go away. The distraction was enough for her to decide the question of his role wasn’t one she was able to answer. At least not yet. Instead, she addressed what else had popped into her head.

“Who told you my last name is Byrd?”

“No one, why?”

“Then how did you know to call me that?”

“Can you grab the door and open it?” he asked instead of answering. Once she’d done so, he set her on the seat of his truck, then turned her legs to the front as carefully as her friends had handled the china cups that morning.

“I’m not gonna break, you know.”

“Then I’m doing my job correctly,” he said, drawing the seat belt across her chest and buckling it.

She was about to repeat her question after he’d slid behind the wheel when he answered it before she spoke. “I didn’t call you Ms. Bird, I called you little bird.”

“Why?”

He looked over, his brow furrowed. “Why?I guess because your name is Robyn, which is also a type of bird, but seems a bit formal for my Li… I mean for you. I won’t do it again if you don’t like the endearment.”

My Little…

Endearment…

For as long as she could remember, she had been teased about her name. This was the very first time she considered being referred to as a bird with anything other than disdain. And then there was the fact that though he hadn’t actually called her ‘his Little,’ she knew he’d been about to.

“No. I-I think I like it.”

His smile caused her heart to give a little jump.

“Me too. But if you decide you don’t, promise to let me know?”

Robyn nodded. He started the truck and began to pull out of the drive but paused before turning onto the street. “I will say that while I didn’t know your last name, I didn’t think it was Nest despite your sign.”

Her eyes went to the sign slightly swaying in the breeze. It had taken her a long time to decide on a name for her B&B. She’d purposefully avoided anything having to do with birds, but nomatter how many times she sketched a sign bearing other words, not a single one had felt right until she’d sighed and scrawled Robyn’s Nest just to get it out of her system. When she then sketched the letters into an arc over a nest of sticks and leaves, adding three brown-speckled blue eggs being watched over by a robin, she’d had to acknowledge it was the only name that would ever fit.

She turned to look across the seat. “That probably would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. I mean, can you imagine having to introduce yourself as Robyn Nest?”

“Personally, I think Robyn’s Nest is a cute name for a very cute B&B. I can’t imagine how it could be bad.”

This time she didn’t attempt to hide the roll of her eyes. “You can’t possibly have me believe that you don’t think Robyn Byrd is a bit ridiculous.”

“Bird, like a bird?”

“Exactly like that except spelled with a ‘y’ instead of the ‘i’. And before you start laughing, just know every one of my sisters is also named after a bird, including my twin Raven.”

“Wow, your parents must have loved you a lot,” he said.

“Are you nuts? How could you come to that conclusion?”

“Well, they obviously wanted to make sure their little chicks knew they were all part of one loving flock. Unless, they aren’t? Loving, I mean?”

“No, they are loving, but I also think they are a bit crazy. Seriously, how they expected a girl to go through life being teased for being an actual bird, I’ll never understand. I can’t tell you how many times I had people cawing at me and flapping their arms. My parents said it didn’t matter and would only make me stronger. Instead, it only–”

“Embarrassed you,” he offered.

“Yes. That’s why when you said…”

When she didn’t continue, Winston said, “When I said my name was Rooster, you knew you didn’t want to have anything to do with me or maybe felt like I was teasing you?”

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