Page 67 of Mother Clucker

We said goodbye and I hung up the phone. “So now I’m being evicted,” I said aloud for Lucy’s benefit.

She rolled her chair back from her desk so fast I was afraid she’d tip over and crash to the floor. “What? From your apartment?”

I snorted. I might not be upset if that happened. My place was like a closet. “No. The beach house.”

“That’s okay. I’ll like you living closer to me again. It’s easier for us to get together to drown our sorrows.”

Our sorrows. Sweet that she’d adopted my misery as her own.

I’d finally admitted to her that I’d called David. And of course, that story wouldn’t be complete without telling her about the woman who’d answered his phone.

She’d taken the cell out of my hand at that point—well, after pressing my thumb to the home button to unlock it—then she had blocked his number.

I’d protested at first, but she was right. Better to cut ties now. Rip off the bandage. One clean tear. It would hurt like hell, but I’d recover. Eventually.

“Yeah. You’re right.” I drew in a deep breath.

The beach house held nothing but memories of David. I needed to get home. Back to my normal life. My life B.D.—Before David.

“It had been nice being so close to the shelter though.”

Lucy waved away my concern. “You have to be there one more time. Tomorrow. For the adopt-a-thon. Then you never have to go there again.”

“I kind of liked going there.” I’d planned on doing a few more shifts before my time in Hermosa Beach was up. Especially since sitting around the condo at night alone after work was extra depressing now.

Although going to the shelter wasn’t really an escape. Almost every time I’d been there so far, so had David. There were memories of him there I couldn’t escape.

The man had even managed to ruin puppies and kittens for me. And roosters too. I couldn’t forget Rowdy.

To heck with David. I was still going to visit Rowdy. This wasn’t a joint custody agreement. Rowdy was mine and Drew was kind enough to house him. And that was that.

Funny what things took on importance in your life.

A month ago if someone had told me I’d be lamenting over being separated from my rooster I would have asked them how many pot gummies they’d eaten.

Now, I actually missed the little guy. I even worried if he missed Trixie since I’d been too busy to arrange another play date.

Then I remembered who’d arranged the last play date for Rowdy and Trixie.

David.

And there was that tightness in my chest that made it hard to breathe. And that twisting in my gut that made me not want to eat more than a bite before I pushed my food away.

The good news was, I was down a couple of pounds. The bad news was I also wasn’t really sleeping great so I looked horrid.

In the words of my boss, you can’t have everything.

So true.

The day of the adopt-a-thon dawned bright and beautiful. As if Mother Nature was making my last morning here at the beach the best one yet.

I glanced around the condo. I’d done my final check. No toiletries left in the bathroom. No chargers in the wall outlets. No shoes or socks hiding under the bed.

I was leaving with everything I’d come with, except the piece of my heart he’d taken a slice of. Right before he’d done the Two-Step on it with his cowboy boots.

Shaking myself out of those depressing thoughts I left the thank you note for the owners on the counter, checked the lights were all off, and closed the door behind me for the final time ever.

Thank goodness today was going to be a busy day. I needed the distraction. As I pulled my car up to the shelter, it was obvious I was going to get it.

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