along, Gus. We need to get you cleaned up.”
“Nack,” Gus said, reaching out for Riggs and his magical pack of crackers once more.
Victor sighed as Gus settled back against Riggs. Luckily for Gus, Victor’s cell phone rang again. He answered it while glaring at Riggs. Gus looked up at him again and held out a cracker. “Bird.”
“I know, buddy. Better eat your crackers before he gets done. You’ll be eating broccoli if you’re not careful.”
Gus, being a very smart boy, shoved another cracker into his mouth. Riggs nuzzled his head, breathing in his scent. His mom used to say there was nothing sweeter than a cub’s scent. Riggs had never really understood that, especially with the whole stinky diaper thing, but he got it now. Gus leaned back against him, cuddling against Riggs’s chest as he continued eating his snack. The trust was overwhelming. This kid didn’t know him, but he knew he was safe and protected.
All of them were. Riggs hadn’t been on-site more than a couple of days, but he’d quickly decided to stay and help. This place was special. He couldn’t quite explain it; he didn’t know if anyone could. But what Nick and Jedrek had built here, were continuing to build for the orphans in their care, Riggs wanted to be part of it.
Victor snapped a couple of orders to some unfortunate schmuck on the other end of the line. Something about linens and glassware and how he wasn’t a barbarian. Riggs let out another breath and watched the pretty griffin work. Victor had a bug up his butt about something, that was for sure. Riggs wouldn’t want to be on the other end of that displeasure.
“Bird,” Gus said. “Juice.”
“Yeah, buddy. Don’t worry. He’s not really mad. He’s doing that thing my old bossman used to do. He’d bark at everybody to get us jumping, but he wasn’t really mad. If whoever’s on the other end of the line does good, I have no doubt our bird will reward them handsomely.”
Riggs grabbed the cup of juice off the desk and held it up to Gus’s lips. The little guy sucked down a few gulps, dribbled half of it down his chin, then looked up at Riggs with a crumb-filled grin.
“Bear.”
“This bear’s gotta get to work. You wanna come with me?”
Gus looked suspicious.
“Walk?” Riggs suggested.
“Peas,” Gus said.
“Man, that’s so cute.”
Riggs pushed to his feet and adjusted his hold on Gus. Victor stopped pacing the length of the small trailer and looked at them. “Hold on,” Victor said into the phone.
“We’re gonna go for a walk.”
Victor glanced at Gus, then back up to Riggs. “Okay. I’ll… finish up and join you.”
Riggs nodded. “We’ll be at the cottage.”
Victor nodded.
“Bird,” Gus said.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Victor said with a smile. He raised his eyes to Riggs’s, and the smile stayed. Riggs didn’t want to look away. His mouth watered and his heart skipped a beat. “What?”
“Nothing,” Riggs said. “Just… see you over there.”
“Bye bye,” Gus added.
Victor returned to his call after sending a puzzled frown their way. Riggs ignored it and grabbed the bag of Gus’s supplies off the desk before heading over to the cottage.
“Man, he’s intense,” Riggs mumbled. “But so damn pretty.”
“Bird,” Gus said wisely.
“Exactly, little man. What’s a guy to do when someone that out of his league is right there in front of him looking like that and smelling so good?”
“Nack?”
“Well, I mean, I don’t think a snack would work, but I’d be willing to give it a try if you think it’ll do the trick.”
“Bird,” Gus said.
“Yeah. Birds and bears don’t go together, do they?”
“Bear.”
“But that’s okay, ’cause at least I get to look even though I can’t touch.”
“Down?”
Riggs looked around and decided he’d better wait until they were inside the cottage. There were still a lot of building supplies scattered around. He hurried the rest of the way, and the moment they entered the cottage, Riggs squatted and put Gus on his feet.
The little guy immediately toddled away, exploring the house. Riggs took out his phone and followed behind, keeping an eye out for anything that needed to be touched up while making sure Gus didn’t get into something he shouldn’t. He’d figured out from Nick’s earlier announcement that Victor would probably be the one moving into the cottage, even though he clearly hadn’t known about it. Luckily, the previous foreman had gotten ahead on the first cottage, having it nearly ready before Riggs even arrived.
The crew had done a great job