“That’s his favorite gag,” Alex says as Griffin bursts out laughing. “He pretends to be a human turned into a parrot.”
From the cool intelligence in Leonard’s eyes, it’s not outside the realm of possibility. “If you’re going to be stuck in a bird suit,” I tell him, “at least you got a nice one.”
He considers that. “Let’s screw.” Leonard enunciates the words so clearly that it’s hard not to take it personally.
“Uh—”
“That’s new.” Jaya looks embarrassed. “We were hanging up our cast iron skillets and deciding whether to use nails or hooks or—well, anyway. He picked up a new phrase.”
Griffin steps up beside me. “And I’m guessing someone laughed, so now he says it all the time.” He gives me a knowing look. “Sounds like a kid.”
I hate how my pulse ticks up at the shared intimacy. How sexy I find it that Griff is a competent and caring parent. I need to stop thinking about him and focus on the bird.
“Does he have any favorite foods?” I turn back to Jaya, eager to present myself as a responsible pet owner and not some strumpet who can’t stop ogling the father of her child’s playmate. “I was reading about things they can and can’t eat.”
“He loves peanuts,” Jaya says. “Squash and peppers, too. Oh, and pretzels.” She sounds embarrassed about that one. “We don’t normally give him salty foods, but sometimes he’ll imitate the doorbell when the kids have snacks.”
Alex frowns. “When someone gets up to answer, he’ll swoop in and steal food.”
I lean in closer, keeping my hands away from Leonard’s lethal-looking beak. “Is that true? Are you a naughty bird?”
“Naughty bird.” Leonard cocks his head. “Misjudged.”
I blink, pretty sure I’ve misheard. “What?”
Leonard stares and says nothing. Maybe I imagined that.
“Misjudged?” Griffin’s brow furrows. “Did he say misjudged?”
“I can’t imagine how he’d know that word.” Jaya frowns. “Jasmine’s music teacher is Miss Judd. Maybe that’s it?”
Leonard looks deep into my eyes, not blinking. “Is that true?” I ask. “Are you musical or misunderstood?”
He doesn’t reply. Alex moves to stand beside us. “Did Griffin tell you how he ended up with us?”
I turn so I can see both the bird and humans. “I don’t think so. You’ve had him a while?”
“Only a couple months,” Jaya says. “He was two when we got him.”
“We saw an ad on Craigslist from a woman going through a divorce and moving back to London,” Alex says. “She’d never really bonded with the bird.”
Jaya makes a face. “Personally, I think she blamed Leonard for breaking up her marriage.”
“What?” I look at the homewrecking parrot. “What did you do?”
Leonard’s not saying, which is okay, since Alex is happy to. “He started calling out, ‘Oh, Rita—you’re so hot.’ Or ‘Yeah, Rita—suck me hard.’”
Jaya looks embarrassed, but Leonard shows no such shame. “Ride me, Rita,” he squawks. “Hey Rita—smack my ass.”
It’s dawning on me why Leonard might not be a family-friendly pet. “I’m guessing the wife’s name wasn’t Rita?”
Alex nods. “You got it.”
I glance at Leonard with newfound respect. “Who named you Leonard?”
I’m not expecting him to answer, so it’s a shock when he starts singing. I take a moment to place the song, turning to see Griffin bobbing his head. “Is he singing ‘Free Bird’?”
“Yep.” He grins. “Lynyrd Skynyrd. One of my favorite bands.”
Leonard keeps singing, bobbing on his perch. I’m no longer certain about the spelling of his name, but I’m sure of one thing.
“I’ll take him.” I turn to Jaya and Alex. “That’s assuming you’re still looking to rehome him?”
“Absolutely.” Jaya wilts with relief. “Can you take him now?”
I wasn’t expecting to, but I also didn’t expect the desperation in her eyes. “Uh, sure.” I glance at Griffin. “I can run back and get my car to haul things.”
“My truck would be better,” he says. “I’m guessing a bird this size has lots of supplies.”
Jaya is already throwing things in a box, moving fast like she thinks I might change my mind. “He doesn’t spend tons of time in his cage, but it’s good for traveling,” she says. “And enormous.”
As Griffin leaves to grab his truck, I help Jaya pile bird supplies in boxes. “Bless you for doing this,” she says. “He really is a great bird. Just not a good fit for our family.”
“No judgment here.”
I think about what Leonard said earlier. Misjudged. I know I’m anthropomorphizing, giving human characteristics to an animal. But there’s something about the way he looked right into my eyes when he said it.
As I lug a heavy box to the front room, Griffin’s truck eases up in front of the cabin. He bounds up the steps as I open the door. “Got it.” He pulls the box from my arms before I can object, so I return to the Cox family living room with my fingers tingling where his brushed mine.
We’re loaded up in minutes, waving goodbye to Alex and Jaya. “They’re looking at you like you just saved their marriage,” Griffin murmurs as he eases onto the road that leads toward the next bank of cabins. “I suppose you’re used to that, though.”
I swallow back the lump in my throat, ordering myself to stop wondering if I could have saved his. “I don’t do a lot of couples’ counseling.”
If he hears the stilted note in my voice, he doesn’t react. “You feeling good about this?”
“I am.” I turn to face him, then wish I hadn’t. My belly turns cartwheels, and I hate this silly schoolgirl crush feeling, so I peer into the truck bed where Leonard’s riding in his cage. “I hope he’s okay back there.”
“It’s warm and we don’t have far to go,” Griffin says. “Soph’s going to freak out when she hears you adopted him.”
I smile to myself, happy there’s something new to draw the girl to me. Not because I want her father—of course that’s not it. I recognize the difficulty of being a pre-teen girl in a new town. She needs adult support, and between crochet lessons and Leonard, I’ve got opportunities to lend it.
“You’re home, Leonard.” Griffin parks in front of my cabin and slings himself out of the cab. I open my door and find him waiting to help me down. “Watch your step.”
“Thank you.” Once more, my hand starts tingling and doesn’t stop until we’ve got everything unloaded into my office at the end of the hall. It’s quiet there so Leonard has space to adjust.
I return to my living room to find Griffin in the center of it, surveying the furniture. “Same floor plan as mine,” he muses. “The kitchen’s on the opposite side and your deck’s a little smaller, but they look almost identical.”