Page 71 of Say it Ain’t So

“Mmm hmm.”

She scoffed, slapping my shoulder as she rolled her eyes. “I was! She finally texted me today while I was at work, so I called her back just as soon as I could.”

“How’s she doing?”

Joss grimaced and dropped her hand to finger my collar. “She didn’t really say. She asked about me, and then Van interrupted, and she had to go.”

“Damn him.”

“I know, right?” She laughed again, but this time it didn’t feel so carefree.

“You’ll talk to her again soon, right?” I offered, wanting to get that smile back on her face. “Now that you have a number?”

She nodded, blinking rapidly as if to hold back tears.

I hated it when she cried. She’d opened up about missing her friend around Christmas, and I hated that there was nothing I could do to stop her tears as they fell. Finally having contact with her best friend, even if she didn’t get to have a full conversation, was a relief for me, and hopefully for her too.

“Hey.” I tipped her chin up so she’d look at me again. Only the tiniest smile curled her lips. “You have any peanuts?”

That brought her smile back, even as she shook her head. “They’re at home.”

“Well.” I shifted, edging her back a little so I could reach behind my seat. “How about we use these then?”

Joss squealed when she saw the can of unsalted peanuts I’d been keeping in my truck for just such an emergency. “You bought peanuts?”

“Of course, I did, gorgeous. How else am I supposed to convince Frank to be my friend?”

Without warning, Joss grabbed my face and kissed me, a hard press of her lips that left me aching in more ways than one. She pulled back just as quick, her beautiful eyes sparkling and her face glowing in the dying sunlight. It made me want to say to hell with Frank. Made me want to take her back to her apartment so I could kiss every inch of her skin. But the bird seemed to be watching from overhead. He let out a caw that had Joss grinning from ear to ear.

“I think he heard the peanuts.”

“I think he heard us come home,” I countered, and I watched as something flickered across Joss’s face.

She didn’t acknowledge whatever it was. Instead, she pulled back and grabbed her purse. “We better not keep him waiting.”

Excitement flowed through my veins, enough so that I didn’t stop her when she jumped out. I hopped out and met her on the sidewalk, offering her my arm before we set off, Frank cawing overhead as we headed toward the park.

Once there, Joss let go of me and took the can of nuts, giving it a little shake. Frank flew down and landed on the bench beside us, tilting his head as he begged for a peanut.

“Frank, go find me something shiny.” Joss gave the can another shake, and Frank took off into the air. It wasn’t more than three minutes before he was back again, landing at her feet and tossing the not-so-shiny pink mitten on the concrete near my boot.

“That’s not shiny,” I pointed out, trying to keep the laughter out of my voice. Frank didn’t like to be laughed out, or so I’d been told.

“Frank.” Joss put her hands on her hips and stared down at the corvid. “I said shiny. That’s not shiny and you know it.”

He cawed at her, tilting his head back and forth before snatching the mitten and tossing it at me again.

“Thank you, Frank.” I bent to take the mitten and the bird took flight, making a bunch of racket as he went.

“Find me something shiny, Frank!” Joss repeated as the bird flapped away. He returned a moment later, keeping far away from me as he dropped a pop can tab into her waiting palm. “Good boy!”

Joss shook a nut free from the can and held it out. The crow snatched it up before flying away. When he came back again, he dropped a matching pink mitten at my feet before settling himself on the back of the bench.

I reached for the second mitten, then peered up as Frank started cawing in a way I’d never heard before. It sounded like laughter.

“Mommy!” A little girl not more than six years old came racing around the playground equipment and pointed as she stopped. “Mommy! That man has my mittens!”

“Oh shit!”