Ros fought to get her breath back, and it didn’t help that when she sat down, the first thing she wanted to do was giggle madly.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” she said. “It’s just that I didn’t expect to get danced at by a bird this weekend.”
She thought Teagan would laugh with her, but instead, he frowned.
“Danced at. How do you mean?”
“Well, it wasn’t like it broke out into a tap routine. You know. Like birds dance. I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Could you show me?”
“Er. Okay, I guess, if that’s your thing.”
That won her a slight smile at least.
“Not really. But if you could.”
Mystified, Ros stood up out of her chair and pictured how the bird had moved both times.
“Shifting from foot to foot like this, I guess? And its wings came out along the ground and–oh! The little crest on its head came up.”
She felt a little foolish shifting her weight from foot to foot and spreading her arms out, but instead of laughing, Teagan only winced.
“Aw, hell.”
Teagan stepped back to the sliding glass door and twirled the plastic rod to open the blinds. Right beyond the glass, like some kind of stalker from a horror movie, was one of the fire condors, and Ros would have bet good money it was the same one that had danced at her earlier.
“So yeah, he was definitely dancing at you. That’s a juvenile male.”
“Oh. Oh please, you’re not telling me–”
As they both watched, the fire condor tapped gently on the glass, craning his head from side to side as if to see her better.
“Yeah. Ros, I’m so sorry, but that bird has decided that you are the sexiest thing this side of the Great Lakes.”
Chapter Ten
∞∞∞
Around about that point, Teagan’s phone rang, and to give him a little privacy, Ros went back to the sliding glass door, feeling a little as if she was doing something she shouldn’t.
Fortunately, the male fire condor that had a crush on her wasn’t at the door any longer, and she could peek through the blinds at the flock, two of which were perched on the deck railing. The other four were sunning themselves placidly on the lawn beyond, and for the first time, Ros could really examine their unwelcome guests.
They really are gorgeous,she thought.If only they were where they were supposed to be and not on the deck.
It only took a little observation before she could start telling the differences between the birds. The two on the porch were the largest, and they were paler than the other four, a pale gold rather than a vivid flaming orange. There was something elegant and dignified about those two, peaceful in a way that made her calm as well. Ros told herself that was only going to last until they brought their latest meal back up to the deck, but suddenly it was sort of hard to get mad at them for that.
The birds below were daintier, more vivid in coloration, and she thought she recognized her suitor. He was smaller than the others, which meant he was younger, and as she watched, one of the birds sitting next to him reached out and gently preened his head and his back. This got the attention of the other two, and soon he was at the center of a flurry of wings and beaks, being groomed to within an inch of his life.
He put up with it for a few minutes, and then with a squawk, he rose up out of the group with an irritated flapping. He came to settle on the rail a healthy distance away from the two larger, paler birds, grooming himself with perfect offended teenage dignity.
“Poor kid,” she found herself saying. “Baby of the family, huh?”
“Yeah, he’s probably from last year’s brood,” said Teagan, coming up behind her. He put his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her head. Ros was at once startled that she fit so well, and not startled at all.
“The fire condors on the lawn were fussing over him. I guess he came up to the big guys to get some relief.”
Teagan shook his head.