Page 8 of Out on a Limb
“Don’t be sorry.” She reached out to take the feather from me, her hand brushing mine in a slow drag. “I would have looked like an idiot walking into the store with that in my hair.”
“I don’t think you could ever look like an idiot.” It was out of my mouth before I could filter it. Weigh the words. Make sure they were the right ones.
The ones that would keep her from realizing just how awkward I was. How bad I was at social interactions.
Hell, sometimes I wished I didn’t realize it myself. Life was much simpler then.
But Collette didn’t seem bothered at all by the accidental oddness. She smiled and the whole space was suddenly much brighter. “Thank you.”
I swallowed, clearing my throat. “You’re welcome.”
“These freaking things are shitting everywhere.” Julia’s voice cut into the quiet moment. “And one of the roosters is running around humping all the hens.”
Collette dug into the pocket of her shorts, pulling out a key. “Kennel.” She reached my way, the fingers of her hand stroking down my arm as she moved in a little closer, her smile softer. “Thank you again.”
“Anytime.” I watched her go, unable to look away as she walked out of the small building. It was much too long before I remembered Julia was still there.
By the time I noticed, she was watching me with a lifted eyebrow.
That was judgmental.
Or maybe questioning.
Her lips quirked. “What was that?”
Questioning. That was good. Better than judging.
“Collette didn’t think we could catch all the chickens. I told her we could as long as we had somewhere to put them.” It was a simple explanation. The basic breakdown of what just happened.
But I wasn’t sure it was all that just happened.
She’d touched me. Twice.
“So she’s going to get somewhere for us to put them?” Julia was one of the few people I’d met who seemed to understand me.
Who didn’t judge my inability to catch certain things right away.
“She’s going to get us a dog kennel.” I turned to look back at Mr. Johnson’s empty office. “Where do you think he’s at?”
“Ugh.” Julia rolled her eyes. “Hell if I know.” Her nose wrinkled. “Probably off showing some old lady his wiener again.”
I’d been working at Sweet Side Gardens for almost five years. Long enough to remember the time before Ruby Johnson died. Back then the garden was taken care of. The business was well-run.
Then about a year ago it all went off the rails.
Mr. Johnson went completely AWOL and started running around like he was fifty years younger than he was, chasing tail and shirking responsibilities, leaving Collette to fend for herself.
Julia frowned at the closed door to the office next to Mr. Johnson’s. “Where’s Alan?”
“I haven’t seen him.” I’d come in this morning looking for either of the men who pretended to call the shots around here, only to find Collette by herself.
Looking upset.
“Great.” Julia groaned as she turned back to the door. “This place is going to fall down around us if they’re not careful.”
She wasn’t wrong.
The building we were standing in was just one of many places where the neglect was showing. The floor inside was dirty and dusty, covered in the normal debris from the garden.
