“I haven’t really shouldered my part of the responsibility for Feathered Friends so far. I guess I was just so used to you being the boss who makes all the tough decisions and me just being the sidekick.”
“That’s okay. I don’t mind handling the tough decisions, as long as I know you have my back.”
Austen put her hand on Dee’s leg and rubbed it. She appreciated Dee’s attempt to protect her. “Thanks, but I mind. I want us to be partners. You were right. It’s not fair to put you in a position where you always have to be the bad cop. I can’t expect you to change your leadership style and still keep pushing all the ugly tasks on you, like your family did. So from now on, you get to be the one who brings them donuts, while I’ll be the one to take our employees to task when they mess up.”
Dee put her hand on top of Austen’s and looked at her with something like amazement. After a few seconds, she shook her head, smiled, and kissed her.
She tasted like chocolate and forgiveness, and Austen hummed against her lips.
When the kiss ended, Dee linked their fingers. “You know what? Let’s talk to Courtney together.”
“I’d like that. And then let’s head over to my place. We can call Kickstarter from there.” Austen stood and tugged her taller partner up with her. Hand in hand, they walked back to the office.
Austen tossed the little plastic ball once more. It bounced across her living room and rolled to a stop against a box of toy prototypes they had taken home for Toby to try out.
With an excited screech, her cockatoo rushed after the ball, picked it up with his beak by one of the small holes, and carried it back to Austen.
“Good boy.” Ball in hand, Austen paused.
Dee’s voice from the bedroom, where she was talking to the Kickstarter hotline, had fallen silent. Was she done with the call?
When the door opened and Dee stepped into the living room, Toby flapped one wing to say hello and imitated the ping of a microwave—his way of asking for a treat.
Dee gave a distracted smile and fished a peanut from her pocket.
For the last three months, Dee had been the one to feed him so he would bond with her, and slowly, their strategy was paying off.
Judging by Dee’s grim expression, her call to Kickstarter had been less successful. She dropped onto the couch next to Austen with a weary sigh.
Austen reached for her hand. “What did they say?”
“They can’t reinstate the campaign. The pledges were canceled automatically, so there’s nothing they can do for us.”
“Fuck,” Toby screeched.
“My sentiment exactly,” Dee muttered.
Austen let out a sigh. She had expected this kind of answer, but hearing it was still tough. “Okay, so Kickstarter is out. What about taking out another loan?”
“I’d rather not do that before we’ve paid off the first one. Looks like we’ll have to postpone the project until next year.” Dee slipped out of her shoes and kicked one of them across the room.
Toby immediately went after it and sank his beak into the expensive leather.
“Shit. Toby, no!” Dee jumped up to rescue her footwear.
Austen’s gaze trailed after her. She hated seeing Dee so dejected. If only they had some other way to finance the project, but they had both put all of their savings into Feathered Friends already, and she didn’t own anything of value to—
She paused midthought. Well, she did own one thing that might bring enough money to cover at least part of the project if she sold it, but she had never thought that she would ever consider parting with it. She barely even wore it out of fear of accidentally losing it.
“What’s wrong?” Dee crossed the room with long strides, dropped back onto the couch next to her, and wrapped one arm around her. “The last time I saw that expression on your face was when you were debating whether you should forgive me for not telling you I was Kudos’s second-in-command.”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just…” Austen bit her lip and leaned against Dee’s strong shoulder. “What if I…sell my mom’s sapphire ring? It won’t cover the full sum we need, but it should be good for at least—”
“No,” Dee said fiercely. Her arm around Austen tightened. “No. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I know what that ring means to you. Even if we have to postpone the Christmas tree project indefinitely, I’m