Page 38 of Liam

She had it the moment she walked into the room.

I remove my headphones and spin in my desk chair, facing the girl who’s crept into my thoughts far too many times while I was gone.

I left for the farm the day after our diner date. Notdatedate. Just… whatever. Anyway, we haven’t seen each other since. When I came in late this morning, she was already working, so I didn’t want to disturb her. Or, maybe, I didn’t exactly know what to say. “Hello” is as good as I get with small talk.

“I don’t know how to tell you this,” she starts. She’s in a dress today, olive green, tight at the top and loose at the bottom, and I don’t know why that’s important. “There’s a giant pig in your yard.”

An ungodly—and incredibly embarrassing—sound forms in my throat, and I stand quickly, head for the door. “Chicken!”

“No, apig!” she calls out, following me as I make my way outside.

“Where?”

She must’ve seen Chicken from the window in the back room, because she points to the rear of the house. I hear Chicken before I see her and practically drop to my knees when I get close enough. Hands cupped around her snout, I rub her fat face with the tips of fingers. “Where the hell have you been?” I ask. “We were all worried sick! Thought you became someone’s breakfast.” The pig rubs her snout on my arm, and I can’t help but smile.

“Liam?”

I glance up at Adelaide, standing frozen a few feet away.

“Um… what is happening?”

“This is Chicken,” I tell her. “She won’t bite.” I motion for her to come closer, and she does. One step. Two.

“You have a pig called Chicken?”

“Long story.” It’s really not, but how we got her isn’t important. “She has free roam of the property, but we haven’t seen her in, like, two weeks. We thought a hunter might have…” I trail off at the thought. “Poor Chicken…” I sniff the air. “You stink.” Then I look up at Adelaide, still standing, still unsure. “You can pet her.” My nose scrunches at the stench. “Maybe after we wash her.”

“We?”

“Have you seen her?” I jerk my chin toward the pig. “It’s a two-man job.”

A slight giggle pours out of her as she shakes her head. “Ihave work to do.”

“AndIhave an in with your boss.” I stand. “Come on.”

As far as small talk goes, pressuring Adelaide to wash a 350-pound pig probably wasn’t the best. But the fact that she’s actually doing it… I’ll take it as a win. Even if I lied about the whole two-man job thing—a lie made obvious since she’s currently sitting on the porch steps watching me wash Chicken all on my own. And while I may suck at small talk, Adelaide seems to have it covered enough for the both of us. “I haven’t seen you in a few days.”

“Yeah.”

“It wasn’t something I did, was it?”

I pause spraying down Chicken and face her. “No. Why would you think that?”

“I thought maybe…” she trails off, shaking her head. “Never mind.”

I trigger the hose again, continue with my task, then think better of it. Stop spraying. “I’ve been away.”

“Away?”

I nod. “My sister-in-law has a farm a few hours south of here. I like to go there once a month, just for a change of scenery.”

“Right.”

“That reminds me…” I reach into my pocket, pull out the baseball fidget clicker. “I forgot to give this back to you.”

“What reminded you?”

“Huh?”

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