Talk Birdie to Me
(Bayou Rescue #3)
Geena wobbled and put a hand down so she wouldn’t fall from her squatting position. The giant tabby that had thrown her off balance continued to rub against her leg. Geena laughed as she lowered her camera and took a moment to scratch the cat around his head.
“Okay,” she said once the cat was satisfied with her attention and moved on to someone else. “Let’s try this again.”
She aimed the camera at a young couple sitting on a bench with a gorgeous Siamese mix on the woman’s lap. After snapping a few photos, she thanked the couple and stood, stretching her legs.
All the running with Taylor over the past month was building muscle in Geena’s legs, making it easier to get up and down from a squatting position to take candid photos during the fundraiser.
Feline Fourth had turned out to be a huge success for the shelter. They advertised it as an adults-only event, with free wine—donated by a local wine market—along with water, seltzer, and sodas. The event was free to the public, but donations were welcome, and the visitors arrived with armfuls of cash donations plus items from the shelter’s wishlist, which was mostly wet food for the growing kitten season babies.
It was also presented as a freedom event, to visit with the adult cats that were now free to roam in the front room. Austin, Marc, and Cody had worked together the last couple of weeks to screen-in the front porch, making a sort of safety lock for any door dashers roaming free.
But the star of the event wasn’t actually a feline.
“How’s it going?”
Sierra crossed the front room, her wavy bob bouncing with each step. She wore a loose orange tank top with the St. Martin Animal Sanctuary logo on it.
Since they’d planned the event for the evening, the air conditioner was keeping up. But it was still pretty warm, especially with the extra guests, so Geena was also wearing one of the shelter’s orange tanks, but hers had “Volunteer” across the back.
“Great,” Geena said. “I’ve got some really good shots for the thank-you-post.”
“Awesome.” Sierra nodded toward the hallway. “Just checked on Taylor. The kitten room’s doing good, too. Might want to grab a couple photos in there.”
Geena’s sister was stationed in a room filled with kittens in kennels. It was safer for them in there, and people could sit on the floor holding some kittens, while Taylor rotated out the ones that were peopled out and the ones ready to play and snuggle.
“That was my next stop,” Geena said.
The event really was fantastic. They couldn’t have asked for a better turnout. It was just one more reason Geena was so grateful for Taylor roping her into volunteering there.
That and it had brought her and Cody together.
Things were going so well for them that Geena could no longer imagine life without him. They’d spent most of their time together now, and despite them only dating for about a month, they were considering moving in together. Everything was happening so quickly, but Geena was following her heart instead of her head, and her heart was fully convinced this was the right path.
The only head decision left had been completing her divorce. The judge approved the settlement agreement, so they were only days away from the court processing and finalizing the divorce.
Geena couldn’t wait to be fully separated from Ricky. From what she heard, Deidre had already grown tired of him, just as Monica had, and Ricky had no new girlfriend to dangle in Geena’s face. Not that she cared about whoever he dated. She only felt satisfied that he was alone to stew in his mistakes.
Sierra’s attention switched to something across the room. Geena turned to see Liz talking to an attractive woman around their age.
Over the last few weeks, Geena had been absorbing her conversation—as well as many since—with Cody about her possibly being bisexual. The more she considered it and let the idea rest inside her, the more she realized the truth of it. Of her. The only thing she had to get used to was being vocal about it. That might take more time, but for now, she was content to understand herself a little more.
“I’ve gotta help Liz out,” Sierra said. “We’ve got a couple people looking to adopt adult cats. Holler if you need anything.”
With a nod and a smile, Geena said, “Will do.”
“Can you take a photo of us with Gary?”
“Sure,” Cody said, taking the phone the woman had outstretched. He took a couple of photos of her and her friend, then handed the phone back. “Here you go.”
The woman thanked him and left the small room with her friend, both laughing and chatting about what they’d just experienced.
Cody had finished a chat about Gary’s history along with some information about his species and parrots in general—their behavior in the wild and the care required in captivity. Gary occasionally inserted himself into the presentation, much to the delight of his guests.
Cody and Geena had brought Gary and his cage to the shelter that morning, and Cody was giving talks every half hour during the fundraiser. He’d had been glad to help, and Gary had been quite the selling point for the event.
“Pretty nice setup here.” Lauren leaned against the door frame once the last of that group left the room. “Whoever’s idea this was should get a free meal or something.”
Cody smiled at his friend. “Will she settle for free wine and a rain check on that dinner?”
“I’ll think about it,” Lauren said with a grin. “So I guess it’s going well?”
“Even better than we expected, from what I hear out there.”
“Speaking of out there. Do I get to tell you I told you so?”
“Since you’ve already been saying that almost a week, why not add once more to the pile?”
Lauren had been right all along about his feelings for Geena, as well as the satisfaction he could get from the zoo and everything about this town. He’d been worried he might waver on or second-guess his decision to stay, but if anything, his confidence in that decision grew every day.
Part of that had to do with his new responsibilities at the zoo, but most of it had to do with Geena. His feelings for her had only grown over the past month, and their talks about moving in together didn’t scare him at all. He was one hundred percent in on making a future with her. “Speaking of which,” he said, spotting Geena walking down the hallway. “I’ll catch you again in a few minutes.”
“No worries. I’m going to stay with our friend here and play bouncer. I’ll protect any curious fingers reaching for the cage until you get back.”
“Thanks.”
Cody exited the room and walked up behind Geena. He put his arms around.
“Hey,” she said, turning to face him. “How’s it going in there?”
“Great. How about out here?”
“Even better than expected,” she said. “I’ve got a bunch of photos, and Sierra and Liz are processing a couple of adoptions. I just checked on Taylor. She’s got a few kitten applications, too.”
“That’s great.” He nodded toward the table against the far wall. “Looks like donations are piling up.”
“Yeah. Liz and Sierra are thrilled with everything. How’s Gary? Behaving himself?”
“Not at all,” Cody said with a laugh. “He’s his sweary self, which is exactly what we wanted.”
Geena gave him a quick kiss and smiled. “He does love to perform. And how about you?”
“I’m in my element here. Just like my keeper talks at the zoo. Love it.”
Geena smiled at him, and Cody felt that rush of warmth at the sight of it. He was just as excited to see it as he had those first few days, and he couldn’t believe he would get to make her smile as often as he could for as long as she’d have him.
Hopefully forever.
As far as he was concerned, he was all in. Today, tomorrow, and every day after.
Geena slid her arms around his waist and looked up at him. “So, what do you want to do after we get this guy home tonight?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Cody grinned and said, “Pizza and TV on the couch?”
Geena smiled back at him. “You read my mind again.”