Page 6 of Crossing the Line
"They're adorable and they'll be super social."
"Social?" Why did he feel the weight of dread on his shoulders?
"You don't have to play with them."
"Won't they fly over the fence?"
Samantha rolled her eyes. "They'll stay where they know they can find food."
"And the noise?"
Samantha waved her hand at him. "You'll get used to it."
He groaned. "I already get up before dawn, so I doubt they'll wake me up."
"Oh, she's not getting a rooster, Bixby, just hens. You'll learn to love them."
"Uh," he drew in a breath, "remember, there's a wall-"
"And there's a line through the store, Bixby, but neither one stops the two of you from talking and seeing each other. Relax, Bixby, it'll be fun."
She quickly slipped into her van, and she was gone, leaving him outside wondering just how much these chickens were going to upset his world.
The door behind him opened up again and he heard Janice's voice.
"Bixby? You've got men frothing at the mouth in here for you to fire up that sausage machine and put that condom thing on it."
He swung around, his brow furrowed. "Condom thing?"
Janice made a gesture with her hands and made his brain go straight into the gutter.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "Sausage casing, Janice. It's a sausage casing."
She snorted a laugh. "That's what you say, Bixby. Now come on inside. I'm not your secretary."
The door closed and he agreed.
She wasn't his secretary.
She wasn't even his wife anymore.
The thought hit him in the chest and left him aching.
He just didn't know why.
Two
It was onlya couple of days later that the first contractor showed up at the market.
Janice was almost giddy with anticipation as she showed him the ideas she'd seen online, and a few she found at the library. She was also a little flustered.
She'd never had a pet in the time that she'd been with Bixby.
She'd wanted one all of her life, but her parents were 'no frills' kind of parents who did what was necessary, but not much else.
Not that she was complaining, but she'd wanted to enjoy the 'juvenile' things that her friends at school had in their lives, like pool parties and sleepovers.
So this plan to have chickens could be excused as a smart one because she did like to eat her share of eggs, but it was like Facebook had been listening in to her conversations.
