I elbow him and shoot him a grumpy glare. “This isn’t a joke.”
He sighs heavily. “I know. I’m just trying to get you to talk about it.”
After taking another bite, I chew slowly, making him wait. Finally, I let him have it, telling him about “the date,” the handholding, the sudden sickness after seeing the breeders, and then the horrible scene I witnessed on Spangle Stage.
“You really like her,” Monroe says around a mouthful of food. “I never thought I’d see the day. You’re such a lone wolf.”
“Still am, I guess.”
“Have you spoken to her?”
I shove my empty plate away and shake my head. “Nope. She’s probably halfway to New York by now.”
Monroe is quiet for a beat and then says, “I’m going to take my best friend hat off for a second. Ready for Dad Mode?”
“Not really.”
“Too bad.”
I move off the stool to grab a couple of Dr. Peppers from the fridge for each of us. After setting his down, I crack mine open and gulp down half of it.
“You’re acting like a child.”
I nearly choke on my next swallow. “Me?!”
“Yeah, you. You didn’t even give her a chance to explain or to hear out her answer.”
“People said she said yes!” I bark out, irritated at my friend’s third degree.
“People. Not Nora. You didn’t stick around to find out what happened.”
Guilt claws at me, but it’s too late to do anything about it now. He’s supposed to be cheering me up, not making me feel worse.
“You’re going to need to talk to her,” Monroe says with a shrug. “It’s time to grow a pair.”
I know he’s right, but I don’t have to like it. Maybe I did panic a little bit. But it caught me off guard.
“What if I’m right, though?” I ask, voice small and lacking confidence. “What if she rides off into the sunset with Denver?”
“I’ll pull them over until you can get there,” he jokes. “Seriously, though? If she’s truly going to accept his proposal, then you can move on. But you have to find out if that’s even happened.”
We make quick work of cleaning up our mess and then Monroe drops me back off at my house. I’m still not in the best mood, but I’m fed and that’s something.
Once inside, I’m aware of the stillness. The emptiness. It was the same way it felt when I came home after Goldie passed away in the hospital.
I rub at my chest as I stride toward Nora’s room. Clo chirps happily when he sees me. Rushing over to him, I pull him out ofhis cage and bring my feathered friend to my beard so I can feel his little heart beating. It makes me feel not so alone.
“Will she insist on taking you?” I ask him in a shaky voice. “Is that what Goldie would want for you?”
I close my eyes as I stroke the feathers on top of Clo’s head. If she takes Clo to New York, I can admit that it’ll crush me. I’ve grown quite fond of this little guy.
“Come on,” I say as I reopen my eyes. “Let’s go check on the newbies. I got about fifteen of them.”
Clo fluffs his feathers at me.
“I’m not exaggerating.”
He cocks his head to the side, looking at me with one of his eyes as if to search for the truth. When he deems my words as legit, he flutters over to my shoulder, ready for our adventure.
