Page 6 of Love at First Flight

Dex found crows to be interesting animals and thought it would be great if other people could discover this too. He often wondered if it would ever be possible to have an animal wildlife rehabilitation and education center at the park, but felt ridiculous to even mention it to Jon, let alone his boss, Chris, since he still felt fairly new to the park. And also because, again, most people didn’t care about crows.

“And?” Jon said, prompting him with a hand gesture as though he should continue with the obvious direction of the conversation.

Unfortunately, the direction wasn’t obvious to Dex. It felt more like a trap. He narrowed his eyes at his fellow ranger, remembering this was supposed to be about his girlfriend, not Harper. “And what? I already said Ava was beautiful.”

Jon scoffed at what was obviously the wrong answer. “Of everything you said, you didn’t even mention love. Do you love her?”

Dex’s cheeks grew warm at his obvious oversight, but there was a perfectly reasonable explanation. Expressing lovey-dovey sentiment made him uncomfortable. He was an only child to two parents who didn’t seem to enjoy kids. He’d been treated more like a small adult rather than a child for most of his time growing up. His parents were fine, but he wasn’t close with them, mostly seeing them during the holidays.

His father was a marketing consultant in the automotive industry and was away a lot. His mother was a senior editor for a major home and style magazine, and their house looked the part. Impressions and appearances were very important in the Westerly household. He grew up homeschooled by someone his parents hired, owned a limited amount of aesthetically pleasing toys so as not to cause any clutter, and wasn’t allowed to touch the walls or mess with the pillows on the couch.

Dex thought all this was quite normal until his dad was laid off, and his mom kicked him from the house to go play outside and find a friend. It was then he realized how strange and out of touch he was. Luckily, he made friends with a neighbor kid, Lincoln, who took him to his own chaotic, loud home. Dex got a taste of something different, and it was wonderful. He ate junk food, played video games, and joined Lincoln’s family when they went camping in the great outdoors. It was a messy, wild world out there, and Dex found himself chasing that dream ever since, hoping he’d find something similar with Ava.

His head rested against his seat as he brought the bill of his baseball hat lower and crossed his arms. “Okay, well, obviously, I... love her. I wouldn’t be asking her to marry me if I didn’t love her.” See? He could talk about feelings. Progress.

“You two said that you love each other?” It was a skeptical question from a skeptical man.

Dex opened his mouth to reply before stopping. Jon had him there. “Maybe Ava and I are in a relationship where things just work and words aren’t necessary.” Or they didn’t have any words. They spent a lot of time together doing things rather than having long, deep conversations.

“So... she hasn’t told you she loved you?”

“No,” he answered grudgingly, becoming defensive on behalf of both him and his girlfriend. “Ava isn’t really like that. This is why we’re really good together. What are you? My therapist?” Dex was beginning to feel annoyed and he already had a therapist—Well, not really, but he did talk to Harper a lot. It kind of counted. “Besides, we’ve only been dating for a year.”

It was when Jon laughed did he realize the irony of his last statement.

“Just forget the whole thing. I don’t want to talk about it,” he replied grumpily. He had woken that morning feeling set in his decision and optimistic about the direction of his life, but now it was ruined. Dex had mistakenly thought Jon would be happy for him.

He knew not every relationship looked like Jon’s, one that was loving and affectionate. His parents were more like roommates, but it worked for them, and they’d been together for almost forty years. It had to be somewhat good for his parents to stick it out for so long, even if, from the outside, their relationship was like their perfectly designed house—it never looked entirely lived in.

“Have you told Ava you wanna get married?”

“No.”

“Don’t you think you should at least bring it up?”

While his brain told him Jon’s words were reasonable, he didn’t know how to go about it. Wouldn’t bringing up marriage sort of be a proposal in itself? “Ava says that I need to work on being more spontaneous. For once, I want to do something unexpected, take her by surprise. She likes things like that.” See? He knew her.

At one point, Dex had considered getting Harper involved with a big proposal, or maybe a part in the wedding itself, but he doubted his ability to train the independent bird. Also, Ava wouldn’t appreciate the effort as she hated Harper, and the feeling must have been mutual. She had never been the recipient of a valuable metal soda tab. Also, there was a high probability Harper would see a sparkling diamond ring, think Dex was finally returning the trinket favor, and fly off like a bandit to live like a queen among the other crows.

Besides, proposing with a crow didn’t seem like something a normal person would do, and Dex was striving to be normal. While he’d spent a good deal of his adulthood catching up on movies, TV, and general pop culture, there were days he still felt as if he was trying to fit in with the rest of his generation.

Ava was always eager to try a new club in Bend, go to concerts, eat at new restaurants. He tried for her sake, but there were some days he’d rather stay home with Harper, work on a jigsaw puzzle, or go on a hike to a pretty area. He worried this was all part of his old past creeping in on him and maybe he was destined to be as boring as his parents. It didn’t help when she’d scrutinize him and say,When did you turn into a sixty-year-old man, Dexy?

“Ava may love excitement, but this doesn’t mean she’s going to love a surprise marriage proposal,” Jon said, much to Dex’s dismay.

Except Dex had come up with a marriage proposal that would no doubt impress someone like Ava. “I booked us a hot-air balloon ride. That’s when I’m going to ask her. I think she’ll love it. Why are you being so weird about this? Is there a reason you think she’d say no?”

Jon had only interacted with her a handful of times, and Dex had never had the impression they didn’t get along. If his friend knew something about his girlfriend, he should tell him, right? Especially if he was going to marry her and live with her and have kids with her—Oh God, when he put it like that, it did feel like a lot. He sat up, raising the bill of his hat to ask more specific questions.

Before he could say anything more, Jon said, “Hey,” giving him a pat on his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“So, you think she’ll say yes?” The words were more hope than a question.

Jon teetered his head from side to side as though considering it before replying, “Well, if that’s what you want, then I hope she does.”

Dex tried to shift the doubts away. He’d already booked the flight, bought the ring, and made plans. Everything in his life was going well. There was no reason to believe Ava wouldn’t marry him. Why would she continue dating him if she didn’t see a future with him? This was the next logical step forward.

Besides, in Central Oregon, there was a good chance any day was going to be a sunny one.

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