Lovebird Café Box Set

by Dylann Crush

  “What they don’t know won’t hurt them. We don’t owe anyone anything, right?”

  “Riiiiiiiiiiight.” It couldn’t be that easy. But as she pressed against me, making my heart thump in time to hers, I wondered if it might be. Maybe I was making it too complicated. “So you don’t want to change anything?”

  “I do want to change the height of that wall over there.” She pointed to the taped off area we’d marked on the floor. “Not everyone is as tall as you. I think we need to lower it by a few inches.”

  And just like that she was back to business. We went over the plans, checking and double checking that I had things just how she wanted them. Despite my thoughts in the café, I had no doubt she’d succeed—she had that perfect combination of creative vision and realistic business sense. But I did have my doubts that I’d be able to keep my heart as shielded as I’d originally thought. And that might prove to be a problem.

  25

  Harmony

  I snagged a big box of cookies out of the back of Cassie’s van then shifted it on my hip to get a better grip on Petunia’s leash. For some reason I’d let Liam convince me that bringing the skunk to the annual last day of school carnival wasn’t a horrible idea. Cassie had made enough cookies to feed a crowd twice the size of the one they were expecting. I was just glad Liam actually wanted to go. That must have meant he was making friends. I tried to find him in the sea of kids and baseball caps as I made my way to the covered shelter at the park.

  Though I’d known about the carnival for a couple of weeks, he’d only asked me to come the day before. So here I was, cookies and skunk in hand. Petunia was eager to explore, pulling taut on her leash and sniffing at anything and everything she came across in the grass. She paused at an oversized clump of clover and I took that opportunity to pull out my phone and dial my son.

  He answered on the second ring. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Where are you? I’m at the park and there are kids everywhere.”

  “Oh, I’ll be back in a few minutes. I went with Dustin to get the drinks.”

  “What? Went with Dustin where?” I twirled around, half expecting to see my son materialize out of thin air.

  “Just to the store. He asked if I’d help haul back some water bottles.”

  “You’d better not be on the back of one of those bikes.” I’d told both Liam and Dustin that under no circumstances was Liam allowed on a motorcycle.

  “Chill, Mom. We’re in the truck. You can’t take cases of water on a bike.”

  I stumbled back a step, relieved. He was in the truck. That meant he was safe. “Fine. Get back here as soon as you can, though.”

  “We will.”

  Petunia lunged toward a morsel of something that fell to the ground in front of her. I went with her, catching myself before falling flat on my face. As I stood, Cassie waved to me over the crowd.

  “Hey, why don’t you set those down here?” She smoothed out the plastic tablecloth she’d taped down to the picnic table.

  “Thanks.” I set down the box of cookies, glad to be relieved of the burden of sniffing all of that sugar and frosting.

  “Who’s that?” Cassie straightened, her eyes on Petunia.

  “Meet Petunia, the skunk. The one Dustin and I found in the studio across the street from the diner.” Even saying his name out loud had me feeling all sorts of warm and tingly nonsense inside.

  Cassie knelt down to run her hand over Petunia’s back. “That’s right. Mrs. Glassard’s skunk. She’s a sweetie. Used to bring her into the café before she had to move into the nursing home.”

  “You let a skunk come into the restaurant?” My jaw dropped. I couldn’t imagine Cassie risking a health code violation for letting a skunk in the Lovebird.

  “I didn’t let her do anything. You should have met Mrs. Glassard. She never asked permission, just did as she pleased.”

  “No wonder she ended up being able to keep Petunia at the nursing home.”

  “I guess she had a pet hedgehog too.”

  My head jerked up. “What?”

  “Yeah.” Cassie continued to run her palm over Petunia’s stripe. “I’m not sure where he ended up. How are the raccoons, by the way?”

  “Getting big. I had to move them to the dog kennel outside. Pretty soon they should be able to go back into the wild.”

  “I bet you never thought you’d turn into a wildlife rehabilitator when you moved here.”

  “I never thought a lot of things that have happened would have when I moved here,” I mumbled, more to myself than to Cassie.

  “What?”

  “Oh, nothing. Just the studio space and the mud…” I shook my head. “It’s been a whirlwind, that’s for sure.” Not to mention the self-contained whirlwind that was Dustin Jarrett. I’d never anticipated how he’d crash into my life. I thought I’d be able to handle it. But the more time we spent together, the more I doubted my ability to keep my heart safe and secure.

  “Well, I sure am glad you’re here. Oh, and look, here come Misty and Jake.” Cassie walked around the table to wrap her arms around a woman holding a baby in a carrier and a pulling two kids in a wagon. “You made it.”

  “Barely. I never thought I’d get out of the Cut ‘N Curl today. One of the regulars saw Dustin Jarrett tripping around town without a shirt on, and I thought the whole damn building was going to combust.”

  “Misty and Jake, meet Harmony.” Cassie put an arm around my shoulder and gave me a not-so-gentle nudge toward Misty.

  “What the hell is that?” She jumped back as Petunia walked around the wagon.

  “Petunia. Mrs. Glassard’s skunk,” Cassie said.

  “Well bless her heart, we wondered what became of her. Mrs. G used to bring her into the Cut ‘N Curl for her weekly appointments.”

  “The skunk had weekly appointments?” I asked.

  Misty looked at me, opened her mouth to speak, then turned back to Cassie. “Who’s she again?”

  Cassie groaned as Jake stepped forward. “This is Harmony, Robbie’s cousin. We met the other day at City Hall. Did Dustin tell you he stopped by to pick up your permits today?”

  “No, not yet.” I let out a sigh. “Thank goodness.”

  “Good. That means y’all can get started.” Cassie leaned toward me, dropping her voice a notch. “And Petunia didn’t have weekly appointments, Mrs. Glassard did.”

  “Oh.” That made so much more sense. Hanging around all of the wild animals was getting to me. “Well it’s nice to meet you, Misty.”

  She eyed me with a healthy share of skepticism. “Nice to meet you, too.”

  Before I embarrassed myself further, Dustin and Liam pulled in. They unloaded cases of bottled water into the coolers Scarlett had dropped off earlier. Liam gave me a quick half-hug, bent to pet Petunia then ran off with his friends. So much for us hanging out together at the carnival. I tried not to let my disappointment show.

  “You need any more help setting up?” I asked Cassie.

  “Nope. Misty and I are going to hang out here with the boys until the cookies are gone. Why don’t you walk around? Have a good time?”

  Dustin smiled at me. “What do you say, Harmony? Want me to win you a stuffed animal over at the midway?”

  “Midway? Just how big is this carnival?” I asked.

  “It’s just a couple of games,” Cassie said. “Probably take you all of ten minutes to walk the whole loop.”

  “May as well, as long as I’m here.” I switched Petunia’s leash to my other wrist and let Dustin lead me away from the park in the middle of the square.

  “So what’s your pleasure? We can do the cake walk or try our hand at the milk jug toss.” Dustin acted like he was about to take my hand, then must have thought better of it.

  “I’m not much for cakes. But I’d love to see you try your hand at throwing a ball. Think your shoulder can handle it?”

  He stretched his arm then rotated his shoulder forward. “It’s been feeling much better lately, thanks
to my personal massage therapist.”

  “Hey, I’m just rubbing your back because I like you. Don’t you dare go around telling people I’m your therapist. I told you, I don’t date clients.”

  He stopped, taking my hand in his. Petunia continued to walk forward, sniffing at the grass. “What are we doing here, Harmony?”

  “What? Taking a skunk on a walk? That’s not part of your typical day?”

  He managed a grin before his forehead furrowed. I wanted to smooth out the line between his brows with my finger. Or better yet, a kiss. “Seriously. I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “I think you know exactly what you’re doing. And you do it well. Why do we have to define it?” Every part of me ached to do just that. He’d carved out a spot in my heart—a heart I thought I’d shut off from being able to have feelings for a man again. And even though technically it was supposed to be a punishment, I could see the admiration Liam had for Dustin. And it was only going to get worse the more time they spent together. But what was the alternative? Tell him not to bother building out the space? Call things off between us?

  The thought of ending things with Dustin, whatever it was we had going, seemed like a horrible alternative.

  “Harmony.” My name on his lips did things to my insides. Things that were best experienced in private, not in the middle of a makeshift midway with dozens of my son’s classmates looking on.

  “Let’s enjoy the carnival. We can talk later. Now’s not the time or the place.” I glanced around. Tonight was a night for celebrating. The joy and exhilaration of the last day of school was almost tangible. Laughter bounced around us, everyone we passed had a smile from ear to ear.

  “All right. But we have to talk about this later.”

  “Later,” I agreed. “For now, why don’t you show me how well your shoulder’s healing?”

  We’d stopped in front of the strength tester game. Liam’s science teacher, Mr. Ridley, held out a giant mallet. “Want to give this a shot?”

  Dustin glanced to me. “Come on,”—I nudged him with my elbow on his non-injured side—“Let’s see if you can ring the bell.”

  His expression changed, his eyes darkening to a deeper shade of green. He leaned close, whispering against my cheek. “I bet I can ring your bell.”

  I laughed, thankful no one else had heard him. “You ring this one and maybe I’ll let you take a shot at mine later.”

  He peeled a few dollars from his wallet and handed them over, then stepped back to size up the game. When he was ready, he took the mallet and gave it a couple of practice swings.

  “You get three tries.” Mr. Ridley moved to the side. “Make them count.”

  Dustin held the mallet up, hoisting it over his shoulder. His biceps flexed, and I felt like I might pass out right on the spot from the overabundance of male showmanship and testosterone on display. As he swung the mallet down, it struck the platform. His gaze went to the top of the tower where the metal bell clanged. I kept my eyes on him, my gaze running over the taut muscles of his neck and chest, imagining him putting in that same amount of effort in that promised attempt to ring my bell.

  “Congratulations.” Mr. Ridley reached for the mallet. “You’re welcome to take two more swings if you’d like.”

  Dustin rubbed a hand over his shoulder. “That’s okay. I’d hate to miss the next one.”

  “Well, since you got it on the first attempt, you get the big prize.”

  I looked around. This wasn’t a fancy set up like the state fair so there weren’t any prizes on display. “What’s the big prize?”

  Mr. Ridley stepped behind the tower and came back holding a cage. A birdcage.

  Dustin reached for it. “Here you go, Harmony.”

  “No, absolutely not. You’ve already been responsible for three raccoons, a skunk, and an emu.”

  “How do you figure? The raccoons climbed into your engine.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest. “And how did Petunia end up in my care? Should I jog your memory? You dropped her off for me to skunk-sit for a morning and never came back.”

  “Skunk-sit?” The edges of his mouth tipped up, threatening a grin.

  My eyebrows lifted. “You abandoned her. There’s no way I’m taking on a bird, too.”

  “Lovebirds,” Mr. Ridley said. “Not just one bird, it’s a pair of lovebirds. We thought it was appropriate seeing as how we’ve got the Lovebird Café in town and all.”

  Who was on that committee? What happened to tiny stuffed animals filled with Styrofoam beads?

  Dustin held onto the cage and peered inside. “Don’t you want to take a look? They’re super cute. Besides, you’ve already got an emu. What’s another bird or two?”

  “Fine.” I unwound Petunia’s leash from my legs and bent down to peek inside the cage. Two greenish-orangish birds looked back at me.

  “Lovebirds are special. They form a very strong bond with their mate.” Mr. Ridley handed Dustin a bag. “There are supplies in there. Make sure they have something to keep them busy. Oh, and you’ll probably want to get them a bigger cage as soon as you can.”

  “I’ll make sure she has everything they need.” Dustin grabbed the bag in one hand, the cage in the other. “Wow, where to next?”

  “You’re joking.” The birds were cute enough, but there was no way they were coming home with me. No. Freaking. Way.

  “Lovebirds, Harmony. What should we name them?” His grin told me he was enjoying this way too much.

  “I think your mom would love some company. You should give them to her.”

  “Mom’s allergic to birds.” He bit his lip like he was barely even trying to suppress a smile. “Yeah, as I recall, she breaks out in hives.”

  “What’s your end goal here? To saddle me with one of each species before you leave town?” I’d been kind of kidding but the mention of him leaving town wiped the smile off his face.

  “If you don’t want the birds, I’ll give them to someone else.” He glanced around, like he was willing to pass them off to the next person who walked by.

  “Hey, Mom.” Liam approached from out of nowhere. “Can I have ten bucks to buy a snack?”

  Not exactly thankful for the interruption, I turned to face my son. “I gave you twenty this morning.”

  “I know. I spent it already.”

  “On what?”

  “Here.” Dustin held the bird cage out to Liam. “Hold onto this for a sec, and I’ll give you an advance on your wages.”

  “Cool. Where did these come from?” Liam put his face close to the cage.

  “I won them for your mom, but I don’t think she wants them.” Dustin handed Liam a twenty-dollar bill as I looked on, my jaw clenched.

  “They’re cool. We should keep them.” He passed the cage back to Dustin.

  “What are you doing paying him? That wasn’t part of the agreement.” Now I wasn’t sure who to be more irritated with, my son or Dustin.

  “Can’t expect him to work for free.” Dustin took the cage back and clapped a hand on Liam’s shoulder. “Have fun.”

  “Thanks, Dustin.” Liam broke out in a grin before he took off again.

  It was nice seeing him excited to be at the carnival instead of moping around, but still… Dustin had no right to give him money. No right to decide he’d pay the boys for helping out.

  “So who’s supposed to be paying for labor? I can’t believe you didn’t talk to me about this. I’ve barely got enough to cover the supplies for the build out. I can’t afford to pay Liam and Rodney to work, too.”

  “Hey, calm down. I’m covering it.” He set the cage down on the ground and put a hand out.

  I avoided his grip. “What about consequences? They’re supposed to be working as punishment. Don’t you get it?”

  He gave me a blank look, proving we obviously weren’t on the same wavelength. “I’m trying to help here, Harmony. What do you want me to do?”

  What did I want him to do? Stop meddling in my relationship
with my son. Stop trying to fix everything. Stop being so nice? The more involved he got in Liam’s and my life, the more it would hurt when he would inevitably leave. Yes, it pissed me off that he’d inserted himself into the conversation and made a decision about paying the boys without consulting me. But what scared me the most, what had me the most rattled, was that I was letting him. I let him get involved. I let him make decisions. Despite my reservations, I’d let him in.

  And sooner or later, even though I’d gone into this with my eyes wide open and my heart closed tight, I was going to be the one left reeling.

  26

  Dustin

  I left Harmony at the fair, along with the birds. She’d gotten a wild hair up her ass about me saying I’d pay the boys. Maybe I was minimizing the fact that they were supposed to be doing penance for past transgressions. But I was trying to help. If someone had come along and offered me a decent job when I’d been their age, maybe I wouldn’t have been so damn self-destructive before I finally found a way out of town.

  The muscles in my shoulder pinched as I got behind the wheel. Damn if I hadn’t come to rely on Harmony’s healing touch to keep the pain bearable. And relying on someone was exactly what I’d been avoiding in the first place. But she was right, I’d overstepped when it came to her son. I didn’t want to interfere or make things worse between them. I knew Liam had a thing for bikes. It was a shame she wouldn’t let me teach him how to ride. But she was in charge where Liam was concerned. All I could do was respect that if I wanted to stay a part of their lives.

  That right there was the billion dollar question. Did I want to stay a part of their lives? I’d been running so hard and so fast from anything that looked like a commitment to anyone beyond myself. Was I ready to change that?

  As I walked into the house, I heard scuffling in the kitchen. Mom stood at the kitchen sink. When she saw me she put a hand to her forehead.

  “You okay?” I moved closer, not sure if she was about to pass out.