Page 14 of Mother Clucker

Still, I hated to separate the two. They’d bonded so quickly. And it wasn’t like Rowdy had anyone else in his life. There was me, and Trixie, and now David—who was still a big question mark in my mind when it came to his qualifications to be a suitable animal companion.

“Do you think maybe we could set up a play date for Rowdy and Trixie one day?” I asked, addressing Anna who I was sure was the only one there who wouldn’t think the idea was crazy.

“That’d be great. I think Trixie would really like that.” Anna dug a business card out of her trouser pocket and handed it to me. “That has my cell on it. Just text me and we’ll work something out.”

“You going to be driving him to this play date of yours?” David asked.

“Yes.” I glared at him. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t expect you to. It’d probably take you two tanks of gas in that thing you drive.”

Shaking his head, he chuckled but didn’t comment. Instead he headed for Rowdy, both hands out. “Come on, Rowdy. Time to go.”

The bird did not take well to being separated from his new friend Trixie. He flopped wildly, screeching like he was being murdered the whole time he was in the hands of the dubiously proclaimed chicken expert.

I followed behind as David carried the bird to his truck by his feet as his wings flapped. “Please don’t hurt him!”

“I’m not hurting him. He’s hurting me,” he added. “Open the door while you’re standing there.”

I had to scramble to climb up onto the step and open the door of the truck’s cab. David tossed Rowdy inside, literally, and jumped into the driver’s seat fast, slamming the door before the disoriented bird could get out.

“Please don’t forget to text me the address,” I yelled.

He rolled down the window a few inches. “I won’t forget.”

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“He’s fine.” David glanced down. “He’s eating some potato chips he found on the floor.”

“Oh, that’s healthy.” I scowled.

He shot me a glare. “He’ll get real feed when we get to Drew’s place.”

“Make sure you text?—”

“Punching it in right now,” he said without looking at me.

My cell vibrating in my pocket told me he was telling the truth. I acknowledged it with a, “Thank you.”

Now he did meet my eyes and paused for a second, just looking at me, before he said, “You’re very welcome.”

Then he fired up that big engine. I took a step back from the sound alone, forget about the hot burst of exhaust and heat coming off the vehicle.

“See you soon,” he grinned. With a wave at Anna and Charlie, David put the truck in gear and headed down the road.

I watched until he was out of sight, hoping to catch another glimpse of Rowdy. But I was disappointed. I turned back to Anna. “How well do you know him?”

“Only met him today.”

“Really?” That I hadn’t known. I might not have let him take Rowdy if I had.

“He owns Strickland Feed Corporation. They’re pretty well known in the industry.”

Since I didn’t own a pet of any sort until this morning, Strickland wasn’t on my radar. But if nothing else, I was the queen of the internet search. If there was something to be found online about David Strickland or his company, I’d find it.

To do proper research, I had to get to my laptop, which thankfully I’d brought to the condo with me. But first, I had to thank my hosts here.

“Thank you so much for all your help.”

Anna smiled. “My pleasure. I’m glad it worked out.”

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