Page 2 of Ruffled Feathers

“And so Dr. Harrison made a big hub ub about the fundraiser and now I have to take over everything. He basically pawned it off on me!”

I chuckle as Bird lands on my forearm and gently rubs against my hand.

“It’s okay, he’s all bark and no bite. He’s really not the best person to do stuff like that anyway so I get it.”

Reaching my hand out I tilt my chin, beckoning Bird to land there so I can more easily knuckle-rub his chest. Laney’s trained this bird like none I’ve seen before. We had a couple of love birds, the same type as Bird, when I was a kid so I’m at least familiar with avians. But I’ve got nothing on Laney, I didn’t think birds could respond to so many different commands.

Looking at my watch, I see I’ve spent too much time here yet again. I often get lost in helping Laney or talking to her “pets”.

”See you around Bird, I’ll stop byeveryday all week. Lucky you.” I jokingly blow him a kiss as I close the front door behind me.

Walking back to my house I peek at the apartment above Laney’s old garage in the back. Not one time have I seen the tenant. Laney says he’s a shy guy who doesn’t get out much but it still seems odd to me.

As I’m settling in with a ham sandwich and potato chips for dinner, I plop on the couch in front of the living room TV, and pull out my phone to call Marcus.

He picks up on the first ring. “Hey beautiful, didn’t hear much from you today.”

“Yeah, sorry. Got bogged down with a new fundraiser thing at work that ended up eating my entire lunch hour. No pun intended,” I say.

“Did Dr. Harrison even thank you for taking over?” There’s a hint of irritation in his voice.

“How’d you know it was because of him”—I hear a light curse in the background—“But yeah, he’s always a nice guy when it comes down to it.”

Marcus laughs while saying, “You must have said something about it before. Enough about him. Let’s talk about you. Other than a fantastic date with your boyfriend on Valentine's night and then one hell of a Friday evening planned, what’s new?”

He’s such a cheese ball.

I fucking love it.

“Laney asked me to check on Elvis every day this week. Sounds like the cafe owner and his beau are off doing naughty things for a few days. Even with the event happening there Wednesday.”

Marcus laughs. “Was Bird there today?”

“He was!” Marcus knows how much I adore the little green ball of feathers. “I swear he laughed at my corny joke today. He’s the most… sentient bird I’ve ever met, it’s like he knows what I’m saying or something.”

Marcus coughs on the other end of the phone. “Maybe he does. You never know. I gotta run, talk tomorrow?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“And text before you go to sleep. Love you,” he says before hanging up.

Love you?

Did he just say ‘love you’—on the phone, unprompted,andfor the first time—then hang up?

Chapter2

Marcus

Ican’t believe I just said that.

Yes, of course I love her. I’ve loved her since she started helping Laney out last year. But we’ve only beendatingfor a little over a month.

I’m gonna scare her away and ruin everything.

I’ve lived in Laney’s small apartment above the garage for right under two years. She doesn’t charge enough for rent so I keep her house and yard in good shape. The woman hasn’t had to make a house call the entire time I’ve been here. I love that she’s in my life now, but I hate the reasons why.

My adoptive parents died in a car crash two years ago, and with one phone call, my world shattered. I’d been living with them to take care of my dad, who had advanced ALS, but I couldn’t stay in the house after they passed—it was too damn much—so I sold it.

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