Chapter Six
Bam. Bam. Bam. Melisa’s head throbbed as she rubbed her eyes and woke with a start. She was lying on her couch in front of a blank screen with a pile of tissues. She hiccupped and removed the Time Traveler’s Wife DVD from her machine. What a sweet, sweet love story and a tragic ending. But at least Clare had a chance to see Henry again if he ever traveled to her time.
Bam. Bam. Bam. The door knocking intensified. What was wrong with Larry? Did he not get that she didn’t need protection every minute of her life? Having him as the janitor at her school was enough, but before the bird incident, she’d been able to keep him at arm’s length.
Melisa stormed to the door, her left hand throbbing. When was the last time she took her pain meds? Ugh. It wasn’t time yet.
She opened the door. Ella stood outside wringing her hands. “I lost Cassie.”
“What?” Melisa staggered and held onto the doorframe. Her heart tightened as if a giant fist closed around it. “Did she fly away? What happened?”
“No, she didn’t fly away, but Bree wanted to stay for the Christmas ornament raffle to get a special one for her grandmother, so we waited until the end, then we didn’t realize the birds were gone.”
“Wait, slow down. Birds were gone. What do you mean?”
“Someone took Cassie.” Ella flapped her hands. “I asked the attendant, the lady who was in charge of the birds, and she couldn’t remember who took her.”
“Did you get a list of the bird owners?” Melisa dragged Ella into her apartment. “We can send emails to them and ask if they saw her.”
“Actually, I did. It’s better if you send the email. I’m so sorry.” Ella reached for Melisa and hugged her. “I feel so bad, but I was distracted by this actor Bree has a crush on.”
“Wait, Bree has a crush on an actor?”
“Yes, Declan Reed. He played the Huntsman in the latest Little Red Riding Hood.” Ella produced the list. “He’s not one of the bird owners, but guess what?”
Her voice tilted in a suggestive lilt.
“I don’t have time for guessing games.” Melisa rushed to boot up her laptop. “Let’s get these emails sent. I’m hoping someone has her, and it’s not a case of Cassie being lost in that big old tree farm. I should never have let her go without me. All I did was watch movies and cry.”
“Here, look.” Ella spread the list. “Rob Reed’s one of the bird owners. Now you have an excuse to email him.”
“Rob has a bird? No wonder he was asking after Cassie and her ordeal.” Which was awfully sweet of him.
“His brother Declan’s pretty hot.” Ella flipped through her phone. “Look, we took some pictures together.”
“I bet you want to email Rob and get Declan’s address.” Melisa didn’t really care to look. Of course she knew about Declan and his womanizing ways. “What happened to Jaden, your boyfriend?”
“He’s having an identity crisis. Says he wants to go to Korea and play professional soccer after graduation.”
“What are you going to do?” She asked as she typed up a form letter to copy and paste to each bird owner. She had another note from that loser Lovebone from the Parrot forum, but she wasn’t going to reply. His message was an obvious come on.
“He wants me to go to Korea for graduate school.”
“Is that what you want to do?” Melisa copied and pasted the inquiry to each of the owners, saving Rob for last. Why did the thought of having Rob’s email excite her so much? The fact that he also had a bird was even yummier. Now they had something in common.
Strange, he hadn’t mentioned it in the ER, but that wouldn’t have been professional. He had to act as if he didn’t know her. Was that true or maybe he wanted to pretend he had no clue who she was?
He’d seemed ashamed to see her in the ER. Face it, girl. This twenty-four-and-a-half-year-old crush isn’t going anywhere. Time to get over it.
Except it was the only story that kept her going. In every romance novel she read, every romantic comedy, every drama, Rob was always the hero and she was the heroine. Why couldn’t real life be like a romance? Where men knew what they wanted and loved and cherished their women, yet trusted them to make their own decisions.
Melisa copied and pasted while Ella went over all the reasons why she should support her boyfriend on his search. “I could even do a master’s thesis on transracial adoptions and its effects on ethnic identity.”
“I’m sure you’ll come to the right decision. Is Jaden important to you?” She pasted a picture of Cassie to each email so the bird owners would be able to identify her.
“Of course he is, but lately, he’s been pulling back. I guess he doesn’t want to put pressure on me to go to Korea.”
“He wants you to, right?”
“Yes, he does. Definitely, but he wants me to think it through. We’re actually taking a break right now.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Melisa dropped the mouse and reached for her friend. “I’ve been so wrapped up with the children and school. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s not your fault. Jaden’s one of those guys who doesn’t want to tell me what to do. This break’s supposed to help me figure out what I’d do even if I wasn’t with him, but you know men. They don’t realize that it’s not that simple.”
“Yep, it’s not like you’d even think about Korea without him.”
“Right. Now that I’m in love with him, I want to find out everything about him and his culture and help him trace his roots.” Ella sighed and bit her lips. “He thinks he’s making it easier by falling back.”
“He’s respecting you.” Melisa gave her friend’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze.
Bam. Bam. Bam. “Melisa, it’s Larry. You okay?”
“Speaking of guys who overstep their boundaries.” Melisa stood and walked to the door.
“Oh, hey, I brought pizza.” Larry barged in as soon as she opened the door. “And a vegetarian calzone. Are you still not eating red meat?”
“Uh, Larry. You didn’t have to bring anything. My mom and sister were here and loaded me up with food.” Melisa stepped back to avoid being run over.
“Oh, hi, Ella,” Larry said. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner, too.”
As if this were his place. Grrrr.
“Actually, I’m going now,” Ella chirped. “Sorry about Cassie.”
“Cassie? What happened to her?” Larry set the pizza box on the coffee table. “Is she okay from being rescued yesterday?”
“Yes, Larry, she’s fine, or she was fine.” Melisa didn’t want to get in a big discussion. “Ella took her to the Reed Tree Farm Toy Drive.”
“I was there driving a fire truck.” Larry stood taller like a little boy who’d hit a homerun.
“That’s good of you,” Melisa said. “As for Cassie, someone else took her home, but we have a list of all the bird owners and we’re emailing them.”
“Emailing?” Larry’s eyebrows drew down in a frown, and he grabbed the list from the table. “Why, I’d go to their houses and demand they return Cassie. Where are their addresses?”
“The attendant only gave us email addresses,” Ella said. “I don’t think we should disturb them. After all, once they realize they have an extra bird, I’m sure they’ll respond to the email.”
“Not unless they stole Cassie purposely.” Larry gripped Melisa around the shoulders. “Come on, let’s get in my truck. Some of these look easy to find. We’ll google their names in white pages.”
“Larry, stop.” Melisa pushed away from him. “I’m sure it was an honest mistake. Maybe they put Cassie in the wrong cage and covered it for the evening. No one’s trying to steal her.”
“I don’t like it.” He crossed his arms and flexed his biceps and pectorals. “Can I have a copy of this list?”
“No.” Melisa stomped her foot. “No. No. No. I’m not hungry for pizza or vegetarian calzone and I don’t need your help finding my bird.”
“Uh, Larry, let’s go.” Ella pro
dded his forearm. “I need a big, strong man to walk me to my car.”
“Here, take the food,” Melisa said.
“Wait, I’ll be back after walking Ella to her car. Don’t you need looking after? You know, your concussion?”
“I’m fine, Larry. The doctor said one night. I haven’t been dizzy or faint all day.”
“But … but … don’t you want to eat dinner with me? You don’t like pizza and calzone? That’s fine. Why don’t I take you out?”
“Larry, I’m tired. All I want is to be left alone.”
“Time to go.” Ella looped her hand around Larry’s elbow. She picked up the pizza box and handed it to him. “If you don’t mind, I’d like a taste of that calzone.”
A vein bulged on Larry’s forehead. “Melisa, you call me if you need anything. Any time. I mean it.”
“Yes, sure. I will.” Melisa opened the door and practically pushed him out.
What was wrong with her? By any standards, Larry was the epitome of a macho man and a super hero. A guy who’d singlehandedly rescued five children in a raging house fire, despite tearing his knee and having to hobble and crawl to safety. He’d been burned over half his body and damaged his lungs, but he was still involved with the community, volunteering his time to teach fire safety as well as visiting burn victims.
One just couldn’t beat a hero like Larry Davison. Except where Larry was loud and boisterous, Rob was quietly saving lives just the same, one patient at a time.
Melisa went back to the email list and typed Rob’s address. Instead of copying and pasting the form letter, she typed him a personal one.
To: Dr. Reed
From: Melisa Hart
Subject: Lost Bird
Dear Dr. Reed, I’m sorry to bother you, because I’m sure you’re a busy man. I’m writing everyone who had a bird at the Reed Christmas Tree Farm Toy Drive this weekend. I wasn’t able to attend, so I had a friend bring Cassie, my lovebird. Unfortunately, she was misplaced and they don’t know who took her home.
If you’ve seen her, could you please let me know?
Thanks for seeing me at the ER. I promise you, next time I climb up on a table, I’ll be more careful.
I guess since you’re an ER doc, you don’t want to see me soon. [smiley face emoticon].
Melisa
Chapter Seven
“Baby Doll,” Melisa’s father huffed over the phone the next morning. “How’s your hand? Your head? Is Larry taking good care of you?”
“No, Dad.” She swallowed her dose of pain pills for the day.
“No, as in dereliction of duty?” Her father’s gruff voice growled through the speaker.
“No, as in I don’t need him.”
“Yes, you do. Since you can’t drive, Larry’s taking you to look for your bird today. Did you get any leads?”
“Uh, no. Most of the owners emailed me already, but there are still three I haven’t heard from. Besides, Mom and Cait brought my car back for me yesterday.”
Bam. The sound of her father slapping his walnut desk resounded in her eardrum.
“You can’t drive. As for the three who haven’t emailed you back, those are the ones we go after. Give me the names and I’ll run it through the database.”
“Dad? It’s Sunday morning. They might be sleeping in, or maybe they went to Mass or church.”
“Give me the names,” ex-Fire Chief Pete Hart insisted.
Melisa gave two of the names, both females. “Go easy on them, okay? You might scare them if you show up unannounced.”
“I’ll send your mother. Who’s the third one?”
Yikes. Her father never missed a thing.
“I’ll deal with him. He’s a doctor and he probably worked late. Hasn’t had time to check his email.”
“Who is he?” her father’s voice thundered. “You’re not going to visit a strange man unescorted.”
Sheesh. She hadn’t felt this overprotected since she came home from the hospital after her botched appendicitis surgery.
“Why don’t you check the other two leads first? I’ll call the woman at the tree farm and see if she remembers anything else.”
“I don’t like this one bit,” her father emphasized before hanging up.
Melisa stuck her tongue out at the phone. I don’t like this either. Why did the men in her life act like she was a child needing protection?
She checked her email again, but there was no answer from Rob. Had she been too forward with him? Or maybe he took her literally when she said he didn’t want to see her soon.
# # #
The shift had been a killer, but Rob had driven nonstop all night. He couldn’t wait to get away from the City. In the pale light of a snowy morning, his plan of accidentally bumping into Melisa at Golden Gate Park wasn’t going to work. She didn’t own a dog where she had to walk him outdoors. All she had was an indoor bird, who would never go outside the apartment except to visit her classroom. As for imitating Declan, that hadn’t worked either. He’d just have to suck it up and call her to remind her about her orthopedic appointment. A courtesy call, of course. That might work.
He pulled up in the driveway of his Lake Tahoe cabin. Declan’s SUV was already parked in the carport. Snow conditions were getting better with at least a base of packed powder.
Rob dragged his exhausted body from the car and slumped into the cabin.
Whoa. What happened here? A giant Christmas tree partially blocked the doorway. It was strewn with tinsel, hung with icicle lights, and decorated to the hilt with ornaments.
Wreaths and garlands hung on the walls and encircled the bannisters, and the scent of gingerbread and spice cake hovered in the air.
What was his playboy brother up to? Had he already found a playmate and they were shacked up in the master bedroom?
Rob trudged through the great room and up the stairs. Where had he put Casey?
Sure enough, the master bedroom door was shut tightly, probably locked from the inside. Across the hallway, the guest room was dark with the door partially open.
“Tweet, tweet.” Casey’s chirp greeted him. “Tweet, twitter, whistle. Kissee me.”
Kissee me? Casey was talking? He’d never said a word before.
Rob dropped his luggage on the floor and uncovered the birdcage.
Two lovebirds flapped their wings and sang, tweeting and chirping excitedly. One of them was the female who’d offered herself up to Casey.
“Whose bird are you?” Rob reached into the cage, and Casey hopped onto his finger while the other bird sidestepped away from him.
Casey fluffed himself and wagged his tail right before taking off around the room, darting high over the raised beam ceiling, around the overhead light and doing figure eights covering every corner.
“Showing off to your girlfriend, aren’t you?” Rob laughed. “Don’t need to ask if you had a good time last night.”
The girl bird had pulled herself to the door of the cage and was following Casey’s fantastic flight.
“Chirp. Cheep? Warble, warble, tweet.” She vocalized, seemingly encouraging him to turn even more tricks.
“Whose girl are you?” Rob offered a finger, but the bird shied away. “You like watching Casey fly?”
“Kissee,” the little lovebird said in that high pitched bird voice. “Kissee.”
“You’re already calling Casey by his name?” Rob chuckled. “Hey, Case, looks like you got yourself a girlfriend.”
He held up his finger and whistled. Casey made a quick change of direction in midair and landed on his finger, crowing at the top of his lungs.
“Okay, got it. You got laid last night. Stop bragging.” Rob put Casey on top of the cage. “Care to share your perch with the little lady?”
Casey called to his girlfriend as Rob stepped away from the cage. Sure enough, the shy little bird peeked over at Rob, then back at Casey. She took a step, gripping onto the wire of the cage. Using her beak as a third foot, she climbed her way to the top.
&nb
sp; Casey moved to the side as she struggled to hop onto the perch, using her stubby wings to jump. Finally, after trying for the third time, she barely hung on with her beak and got one foot onto the manzanita upright to help drag herself onto the perch.
Rob rummaged through Casey’s toy box and found a rope perch with bells. He attached it to a chain just above the cage within reach of the flightless female.
The two birds chirped and encouraged each other, scampering onto the rope. Casey used his wings to swing the rope while the girl kept saying, “A tweet. A tweet.” Or was it “A sweet, a sweet.”
“Enjoy her while she’s here,” Rob said to Casey. “I have to find her owner. Declan? You up?”
He walked down the hallway and knocked on the master bedroom door. As owner of this ski lodge, shouldn’t he get the master room instead of his younger brother who was always broke?
“Go away, Rob. I’m busy,” Declan said from within.
Yep. Declan had a woman in there. Rob picked up a discarded bra caught on a wreath and shook his head. He’d better call his cousin Brittney and see who was missing a bird. But first, a shower to get the grime of the ER off him, then a cup of coffee, and a walk in the snow before he felt human again.
Twenty minutes later, Rob was punching in Melisa Hart’s number. Brittney had given it to him, asking why he hadn’t return her email.
Because he wanted her phone number, of course.
As he waited for Melisa to pick up, he read and reread her email. Was she flirting with him? Talking about the next time she climbed a table? Or was she just reassuring him she’d be more careful. But oh, she didn’t want to see him again, at least not in the ER. Which meant she was open to meeting him somewhere else. Maybe not.
He fortified himself with coffee. Wait, not the smartest. Not with all the catecholamines running through his bloodstream. He licked his lips and paced back and forth, and back and forth in the small kitchen.
Calm down. It’s only about her bird. You’re not asking her on a date. She wants her bird back. That’s all she wants. Besides, she’s dating Larry the Brick. So what? Dating isn’t marrying. He should go for it.
“Hello?” Melisa answered, sounding groggy.
Christmas Lovebirds Page 4
