“This feels wrong,” I told her as she gobbled a scrambled egg. Who knew chickens were cannibals?
There was a knock at my back door, and I startled a little but then relaxed when I saw Seth through the glass window at the top. I was wearing black sweatpants and an oversized shirt, and my hair was in a messy topknot, but I couldn’t be bothered to care.
After walking to the door, I opened it.
“Hey, Seth,” I greeted him.
Every morning, there was a freshly chopped a pile of wood with a little note on top, usually a joke. The Bible verses had stopped after I flipped out on him, but as I eyed the note on there today, I wondered what it would say.
He held a package in his hands. “Hey, this came to my house with your name on it. Post-man mix-up. Seemedrealurgent from chicken diapers dot com.”
I yanked the package out of his hands, and he raised an eyebrow.
“Thank you. Don’t judge me,” I told him in a joking tone.
He grinned and my stomach flipped over a little. He was very handsome.
He pointed at something over my shoulder. “Is that…a chicken in a diaper?”
I followed his finger to see Honey pecking madly at the crust of my toast that was left on the plate. Her black tail was shooting up and out of her printed diaper.
“Yes, it is.” I crossed my arms and dared him to question why I had a chicken as a house pet.
He backed down after that, nodding. “Looks cute,” he added, but I knew he was just being kind and likely judging my sanity. “Maggie says she’s excited to see you tonight, and don’t forget to bring a dish to share. Six o’clock.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. “I told her I’d think about it.”
His smile was back. “That’s Maggie. If you don’t show up, it will get worse. She’ll invite you to church on Sunday, prayer meeting on Monday, and probably even bridge club.”
I mock gasped. “Notbridge club.”
Seth reached up and grabbed the brim of his hat. “Good day, Ella.”
“Yeah, you too.” I gave him a small smile, feeling my old self slowly returning. I loved joking and witty banter. Being mean or nasty wasn’t my style.
I lugged the firewood in and stared at Honey. “Guess we better cook up a dish for this thing.”
The last thing I needed was Maggie inviting me to church stuff all week long and making me feel guilty for not going. I’d go this one time and be done with it.
Later that night, I put on a nice ankle-length floral-patterned dress and curled my hair. When women got together like this, they tended to look their best, and I didn’t want to be the scraggly one who looked like she’d just lost her husband and was unkempt. Even if that was true.
I’d made a Crock-Pot of my grandma’s spicy chili and loaded up the fire for Honey before locking her inside. That little booger would follow me everywhere if I weren’t careful. The weather was crisp but not too cold with my jacket and my boots on. I loved being outside, so I decided to walk. I hefted the Crock-Pot in my hands, wrapped a towel around it, and headed over. As I crested the hill, Buster sounded the alarm.
There was a line of ten cars outside, and Seth was talking to a group of men that I assumed were his ranch hands. They all wore cowboy hats and work gloves and nodded when he spoke.
Buster jumped up on me, nostrils flaring, and Seth left the conversation with his men and yanked the dog down.
“We don’t jump on nice ladies,” he told the dog, and I smiled.
“You only teach him to jump on the mean ones?” I asked, and that caused Seth to grin.
He pointed to the Crock-Pot. “Chili?”
I nodded. “You have a good nose.”
“Maggie lets me come up at the very end and make a plate. Make sure and save me some.” He winked.
“Will do,” I told him, and then he walked me over to the hay barn with a staircase on the side. “Maggie’s apartment is up there,” he gestured.
