Shay pressed her knuckles to her mouth and choked down a laugh which triggered a laugh in me. I had to turn away, clear my throat, and mentally flip through this month’s expenditures to pull it back in.
When I shifted back, Gennie was on the other side of the run, trying to coax an ancient basset hound from inside the kennel. Unless she had a pork chop in one of those pockets, I knew that dog wasn’t going anywhere.
Then again, it wasn’t completely impossible that Gennie didn’t have a pork chop on hand.
“What don’t you do?” Shay asked. “When do you sleep?”
“Infrequently.” I nodded toward Gennie. “Less since she came along.”
“I’ll bet,” Shay murmured.
Another silent moment settled between us as we watched Gennie playing with the dogs and it frustrated me to no end that Shay could still go quiet and watch the world. It would’ve made my fucking day for her to experience an ounce of my awkwardness. After all this time, I felt like I deserved that much. I couldn’t be the only one struggling to string words together here. Couldn’t be the only one with flashes of heat climbing up my neck and around the tips of my ears. It couldn’t just be me suffering.
“This really is amazing, Noah,” she said.
I nodded and called to Gennie. “It’s getting late. You still have chores to do.”
“With the stupid chickens,” she muttered to the basset.
“I heard that,” I said.
“But I didn’t say dumborbitches,” she replied.
Shay smothered a laugh, saying, “She’s a firecracker. Oh my god.”
I pushed away from the fence and stepped toward the path leading up to the house. “Those trucks should be gone by now,” I said. “Sorry about the inconvenience.”
“Oh. Thank you.” She lifted a hand to her face, toyed with one of her earrings. “It makes so much sense now—and thank you for helping with that. I should’ve known there would be a good explanation. After that drive, and I ate too many Cheez-Its, and I just—the name on the trucks was unfamiliar and—”
“Yeah, I get it. Things change and you haven’t been around in a while.”
Shay took a step backward, grabbed the pendant at the base of her neck again. She zipped it back and forth as she peered at me. “I’m shocked you’re here at all. This place wasn’t kind to you and—”
“Come on!” Gennie ran up and saved me from having to survive the rest of that comment on my own. She took hold of Shay’s hand, saying, “The chicken house is a mini version of our house. It has a mailbox too but it’s only big enough to hold one egg.”
“Only one egg?” Shay asked. The disbelief in her words made Gennie’s eyes sparkle, the girl’s answering nod coming as a whole-body quiver. “You have to show me that.”
Again, I followed them because what the fuck else was I going to do? Pink backpack high on my shoulder, I climbed the gentle hill while Gennie regaled Shay with stories of the chickens’ misdeeds.
When they reached the coop, Gennie went right to work collecting eggs. As was her habit, she insulted the chickens as she opened each box. “Don’t peck me, you nasty old wench!”
Shay turned to me, her eyes wide. I realized she looked tired, the type of tired that edged into weariness. She hid it well. All those bright smiles and the boundless enthusiasm she had for Gennie. You’d have to really look to see it. “Just wait. It gets more colorful.”
“Get away from me,” Gennie grumbled. “Stupid asshat.”
I motioned to the henhouse. “Like that.”
“Gimme the egg, shithead.”
I nodded while Shay clapped a hand over her mouth. “And that.”
“Fucking chores. Hate this dumb shit.”
I rocked back on my heels. “Mmm. That one too.”
“Noah,” Shay whispered. “What is going on right now?”
Gennie emerged, the basket full of fresh eggs and her expression murderous as usual. “Here,” she said, setting the basket down halfway between us. That was her way of making it clear how much she hated coop patrol. “I’m going to find my kitties.”
