Bird After Bird Read Free Page B

She had another swig of beer. “What the hell are you even doing here, Wren? What the fuck do you want ?”
    “I just came out here for the bathroom,” I said, “And I’ll be leaving now. Have a nice night, Cindy.” I did my best to keep my voice even as I turned and walked away. The last thing I needed was Cindy to come after me. She was obviously so drunk, I didn’t put it past her to beat me up.
    I jogged away past the port-a-john resolved to hop in my car and hang out in the next town where there were hotels and restaurants accustomed to highway travelers. No one would know me there and there was little chance I’d offend anyone with my mere existence. As soon as I heard back from the realtor regarding whether an offer was made on the house, I could hit the road back to Chicago.
    My mind was filled with my new agenda, and I only saw a flash of the buff leather boots and denim jeans before I crashed face-first into the guy with the soft voice and pretty eyes.
    “Just came to check on ya,” he said. “They told me inside the port-a-john was sinking.” He glanced around the corner and laughed. “Damn. I sent you to a fate worse than the Beer & Bait ladies room.”
    He was so cute, I couldn’t help but smile. “It’s okay,” I said. “I can head into Jasper or something.”
    “Or something,” he said. He cocked his head, sizing me up. “You know, I don’t normally do this, but…I don’t live very far from here. You want to freshen up at my place?”
     
     
     

Chapter Four
    Wren

    A single egret on the edge of the lake caught my eye, just as the guy with the friendly face was saying something.
    “Life’s too short for egrets,” Dad used to say. I smiled at the memory of it, despite the unpleasantness of Cindy’s rude ‘tude ringing in my mind.
    I was exhausted, and the last thing I wanted to do was leave with a guy from the Beer & Bait crowd. I didn’t mean to be rude, but the voice of my father in my head was so loud, I lingered on the memory for a moment too long. The guy looked at his boots and then lifted his face, squinting out at the rapidly darkening lake. I realized I was ignoring him. “I’m sorry, I missed what you said.”
    He turned and gazed for a moment until his eyes found the bird.
    “Never mind,” he said. “You like birds? Let’s go for a walk. Tons of birds here.”
    I laughed. “I know. That’s a Great Egret. In a few months the lake will be full of them. And I really need to go, sorry.” I turned to leave.
    “I reckon life’s full of egrets,” he said, his words eerily close to my father’s, stopping me in my tracks. “And I can understand if you’ve got someplace to be. But if you don’t mind me saying, most people end up at the Beer & Bait for one of two reasons: either they’re on their way to a fishing spot, or they don’t have anyplace better to go. And, lady, you don’t look like you came here to fish.”
    I didn’t owe him an answer, but he had rescued me from the bathroom and he seemed like a nice guy. A cute, nice guy. I liked his accent—the same country accent I’d worked hard to shed was so pleasing coming out of his mouth. It really suited him.
    And it’s not like every guy at the Beer & Bait was a jerk. Jeremiah was proof of that.
    And I liked the square of his jaw and the shape of his shoulders underneath that blue shirt. It was his eyes that got me, though. I could have driven off and availed myself of all the comforts the International House of Waffles has to offer, but for some reason I couldn’t say no to him. I wanted to know this man better.
    I wanted to look into those eyes of his a bit longer, only I wanted to be pretty first! I didn’t want him to stare back and find me an unholy mess.
    I turned and sized him up. There was no question, a guy his size could put a hurt on a girl like me. It wasn’t smart to meet strangers in bars and just go home with them. I knew that. For all I knew, he could have been one of Cindy’s