Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: Palesa

# Chapter 3: Palesa

OKAY, so I lied. But I didn't want to tell him. Not after how rude he was in the WhatsApp message.

I knew it was him. Knew it the moment Gogo Mavis called from the front desk and said people were here to see Willow.

Who else would come to see her?

She was a wild bird, a juvenile black-shouldered kite.

Now I wished I had never seen him.

How could someone that hot be that damn grumpy?

And his daughter... holy cuteness alert.

I couldn't even swallow after my first glance of him, barely made it through them visiting Willow, and even after saying goodbye, I couldn't get him off my mind for the rest of the day.

Or the next day when they visited for a second time. Or the day after.

I basically stopped my other volunteer jobs just to be here and watch them with Willow. Yep, Nadia told me I was crazy. But I couldn't help it. Plus, I enjoyed being around the birds. I'd thought about fostering a few. On the third day they came in, we finally introduced ourselves, and I learned their names and the story of how they found Willow.

Watching him with his daughter slowly changed my mind. He wasn't a grump with her. He was kind and caring. The love he had for her radiated off him in waves.

So there was a kind heart under there after all.

Suddenly, I didn't care he was grumpy. I wanted to know him more. Wanted to crack his shell wide open.

But soon, Willow was leaving. Her leg healed nicely, and we planned on setting her free. I didn't look forward to breaking the news to them. Especially not to Puli.