Joe made a ton of noise, fanning his crest and stomping around like he couldn’t believe he was forced into the indignity of waiting.
“You’re a demanding little guy,” she said as she dove her hand into the bag of seed by the back door.
No longer afraid to feed the bird by hand, she walked onto the back deck and dropped onto the wicker chair, uncurling her palm. The day was pleasantly cool and a welcome reprieve from the persistent, beating sun that had been present since she arrived.
Joe immediately hopped up and started pecking at her palm as if he’d been left to starve…which she knew wasn’t true. But clearly the little guy had an appetite. “No need to be greedy.”
He squawked. “She’ll be right! Fair dinkum.”
“I don’t know what any of that means.” Cora laughed. They sat for a while in the quiet, Joe eating from her hand, the natural beauty of Liv’s garden spread out before them. When he was done, the bird hopped onto the arm of the wicker chair and climbed up next to Cora’s head. She wasn’t intimidated by his talons now that she knew he was gentle…for the most part.
“Have you come for a hug, sweet thing?” She stroked the bird’s downy chest and he made some happy-sounding bird noises. “Do you want some company as well as a meal?”
Joe seemed content to climb up and down the arm of the chair, trying to pull at the silk tie around her waist. Eventually he settled, seemingly happy to sit and soak up the atmosphere like she was. Cora reached for the romance novel she’d picked up at Maddy’s bookstore the day before. The colorful font and half-naked man on the cover made her feel almost…giddy. Indulgent. Her mother hated Cora reading too much in general, but she’d expressly forbidden romance novels, so reading one now felt gloriously defiant.
Something about this vacation was making her want to try new things. After the game of cricket, where she had sucked beyond belief, nothing bad had happened. Nobody had laughed at her. Nobody had teased her or excluded her.
In fact, at the pub afterward, they treated her like she’d been the best player on the team. They’d made her feel welcome, valued. One of them.
It had given her a spark of confidence that she hadn’t known she needed. A spark that she wouldn’t waste by doing the same old, same old.
Cora flipped the book over to read the back. According to the blurb, the heroine was a bookish woman on the hunt for a husband to appease her controlling family.
“Well, I’m not on the hunt for a husband, but I can totally understand the controlling family and bookworm bit,” she said. Joe looked at her with a cocked head. “Want me to read to you, bud? You might like this one.”
Joe bobbed up and down, and Cora took that as a good sign.
She cleared her throat. “‘Chapter One. Kylie Kirman needed a man, and not just any man. A man who was husband material and who was happy to hop, skip, and jump straight to matrimony. No dating, no trying before you buy, no thirty-day warranty.’”
Joe cocked his head as if to say: this is a recipe for disaster.
“Tell me about it,” she said to the bird. “Who jumps straight into marriage and expects it to work? Hell, I gave Alex five years. That’s half a decade. And what did I get?”
The bird stayed silent.
“Exactly, nothing. A big fat freaking rejection like I got with all the other guys I dated.” She sighed. “I could tell this Kylie chick a thing or two about what a big mess she’s going to make for herself.”
“Bloody oath!” Joe fanned his crest and bobbed up and down.
“See, even you know.” She laughed. “I bet you would have pulled the pin before I did.”
He gave a little wriggle that Cora could interpret only as his agreement. Great. Even the bird was judging her. Oh well, it was hardly like she deserved any better. She was the one who had stayed with Alex even though he hated her family, and sometimes he’d ask her not to come to important events because he didn’t want the media asking about her famous mother and father.
Alex said she stole the spotlight without trying. She’d tried to be a good partner, tried to fit in with his conservative, tailored life by wearing pearls and cardigans, by learning about all his interests and making nice with his