Page 89 of When Fences Fall
“Don’t talk to you about your hammer?” Her voice gives way at the end, and she hides her smile behind her hand.
With a loud groan, I put my seatbelt back on.
“Changed your mind about the nails?” Her teeth show up between her lips. “Got your own after all?”
My hand shoots up and lands on her thigh. “Don’t,” I growl, making her laugh at my misery. The witch knows exactly what she’s doing.
“Why?” she giggles now. “It’s so fun to see your neck turn red.”
Shooting her a glare, I start the engine and take off towardthe diner. Coming to her like that without a plan was a bad idea, and the diner is a safe place. People there will lighten my embarrassment by making some of their own. I’m sure someone will end up causing some sort of drama. And this time I hope it won’t be about me.
35
Jericho
We’re a block away from the diner when the rooster appears, strutting across the sidewalk like he’s the mayor of the town. He lets out a low, indignant crow and pecks at something on the curb.
I slow down the car. “What the hell—how did he get this far out? I thought he stuck to our backyards.”
Nora opens the window and pokes her head out. “Yeah. Me too. I’ve never seen him come this far. Roman said he saw him, but I thought he was messing with me. Maybe he’s finally given up on us.” I can almost swear her voice sounds regretful.
The rooster fluffs his feathers like he heard us and wants to challenge the accusation.
I frown, putting the car in park. “Does he walk himself into town, or is someone giving him a ride?”
Nora shrugs, but there’s something off in her voice whenshe says, “Guess he’s expanding his territory.” Her eyes flick toward the rooster again. “Damn traitor.”
“What?” I ask, not liking her sudden change of mood.
“Nothing,” she says way too fast.
We start walking toward her diner when she suddenly slows to almost a stop and looks at me. “You think he’s moving out?”
“Who?”
“The rooster.”
I blink. Then blink again. “Do I think that the rooster we’ve been trying to catch and send as far away from here as possible is moving out from our yard?”
“Yes.” She nods eagerly.
“Sure as fu—” I start but pause seeing her face. She looks… desperate. So I switch gears. “No,” I sigh. “I don’t think so.”
Her beautiful smile returns to her face. “Really?”
“Really,” I sigh louder.
“Good!” With a bubblier attitude, she almost skips ahead of me toward the diner but pauses before entering. “You coming?”
The bell over the diner door jingles as we step inside. It smells like syrup and hash browns and something fried. Karina is behind the counter, pressing something on the register as if it just stole her newborn.
“Thank God,” she cries out, throwing her hands in the air when she sees us. “This thing has given up on me bright and early, and everyone suddenly decided to pay with credit cards.”
Her eyes are a little crazed—or maybe a lot—hair is sticking to her neck. She looks like she’s been battling the machine for hours.
“Let me see.” Nora drops her jacket on the bar stool and walks behind the counter.
After pressing a few buttons, her face scrunches, and she presses a few more buttons. Then she starts pressing only one button. Then she starts doing it faster while Karina’s watching her finger like she’d rather push the offensive button herself. I watch them go at it intensely for a few moments before I get tired and look up to find Roman rolling his eyes, which gives me reassurance that this is a normal occurrence.
