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“Good,” Meadow said.
“But only if you’re going for the right reasons,” her father said.
“You just said it’s time for me to fly. Surely that’s a right reason?” She had to go. Staying here meant she’d see Sawyer. She didn’t want to do that.
“Flying does not mean leaving, Birdie. It means letting go of what is holding us back and freeing ourselves.”
“She cares for Sawyer, Hamish.”
Birdie groaned. Her father nodded wisely.
“I thought as much. When he came with the school children, I talked to him,” her father said. “He’s difficult to communicate with because Sawyer Duke has walls in place. That boy has deep scars, Birdie. Something hurt him, and now he protects himself.”
Jolena hurt him. She knew that but not the reason. What had she done?
“He was a quiet boy, but he did not have the shadows in his eyes he has now,” her father said.
“I have offered to do a cleansing on him,” Meadow chirped from over Birdie’s shoulder. “He declined politely.”
“When I spoke about you, little bird, I saw instantly he thought highly of you. He wanted to know about you.”
She wouldn’t let those words give her hope because there was none. She’d known the rules, and if he’d wanted to break them, then he would have done so last night. But now, before she left Lyntacky, she had to talk to him because she needed to know if he paid her father’s medical bills.
“I talked of the weight you’ve always carried. The burdens of being the youngest and how timid you are.”
“Tell me you didn’t, Dad.”
He nodded. “Do you know what Sawyer told me, Birdie?”
She shook her head.
“That you were brave in your own way and strong. People just didn’t look deep enough to see it.”
“H-he never spoke to me like that,” Birdie whispered.
“Because he’s scared, sweetie,” Meadow said.
“Ouch! Mom, do we need to do the hair pulling part?”
Her mother’s hands softened, and she patted Birdie’s head.
“He’s not good at communicating what’s inside him like you are.”
Birdie noted, “I’m not good at that with him.”
“When our hearts are involved, we often struggle to say what must be said,” her father said.
“I have to go,” Birdie said.
“To Sawyer?” her father asked.
“I think so. I need to ask him something.”
“Now, sweetie. I know you were going with us to that dog show tomorrow to sell our vegan treats, but if you want to stay and be with Sawyer, that’s okay.”
“No, Mom. He doesn’t want me like that, but I still want to speak with him.”
“Very well, but hear him out, little bird, because I think you’re wrong and he cares,” her father said.
