Page 7 of Out on a Limb
The silence stretched out as I waited for her to respond.
Usually silence was fine with me, but right now the quiet probably meant I hadn’t fixed the situation.
“I’ll get them out of here.” I took a step closer to where she stood. “Everything will be back to normal soon.”
Collette’s hands slowly dropped to her sides. “I don’t think it’s ever going to be normal again.” She let out a long breath. “I think normal is gone.”
For me normal never was, so the loss was no big deal.
But most people loved normal. Lived in it. Basked in the acceptance it provided.
Collette included.
It was why I had to keep my distance from her. Resist the urge to find my way to wherever she was.
But being here right now wasn’t for me.
It was for her.
To offer something I wasn’t quite sure how to give.
“It can come back.” I risked a step closer.
She took in a shaky breath. “I don’t think so.” Her eyes held mine as one shoulder lifted and dropped. “But maybe normal is overrated anyway.”
It was a statement I wasn’t expecting. “Do you really think that?”
Collette let out another sigh as she looked around the space. “I’m not sure what I think anymore.” Her gaze came back to my face and held. “Do you really think we can catch all the chickens?”
I nodded. “I do.” There were ten of us out there between me, Julia, and the gardening team. It might take us all day to hunt them down, but one way or another we could get them all. “The only problem we’ll have is figuring out where to put them once we have them.”
“I have no idea how to store a hundred chickens.” Collette rubbed her palms down the sides of her shorts. She must be nervous. Possibly stressed out.
Only one of those made sense given the situation.
“What about an outdoor kennel?” I eased in a little closer. “If you find one I can assemble it and we can keep them in there until we come up with a better place to take them.”
Collette’s head slowly started to nod. “Okay.” She swiped at the front of her hair, flipping it from one side to the other as she repeated the plan. “I’ll find a kennel and we can put them in there for now.”
“I can make a few calls. See if there are any farms that will take them.” A feather caught my eye, pulling all my attention to the spot right next to her ear. Without thinking it through I reached out to snag it, gently working it free from the long blond strands.
It wasn’t until it was loose that I noticed Collette was standing very still.
“Sorry.” I dropped my eyes to the floor between us.
That was what happened when I didn’t think things through. When I didn’t process every aspect of a situation.
I did something weird.
Something not normal.
Like touch my coworker’s hair.
Because that’s all Collette was to me. A coworker.
And not just any coworker.
She was the owner’s granddaughter.
