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That was all the time Hennifer needed to register the unfamiliar person, and she flew at Mollie.
“What the—Cain!”
“You said you wanted to figure it out.” I shrugged. “So figure it out.”
Mollie struggled for a bit as Hennifer tried to go for her eyes, but eventually, she grabbed the bird like a football. Her hair was mussed and her shirt ripped, but she was fine.
“You let that happen,” she said as she glared at me.
“I absolutely did. You could have let her rough you up for a few more minutes, though.”
“Scatter the feed, you dick.”
I did as I was told, and Mollie let Hennifer go when she tried to get away. As brave as she was, she would give up on her guard-dog duties the second fresh food was on the ground.
“Nice hold on the chicken.”
“I could have shown you that without getting attacked.” Shecrossed her arms, but watched as more birds came out of the coops.
Mollie said hello to the birds, watching them carefully. Hennifer made another go at her, but she ran out of the way.
“She’s a good chicken,” I said.
“She’s an evil chicken,” Mollie replied as she dodged another attack. I shook my head and went to collect my first round of eggs.
I heard her following me.
I didn’t want her to figure out how to run all of this. I may have been brave the previous day, but the last thing I wanted was for her to fire me. I’d poured my blood, sweat, and tears into this place. And she could take it all away.
“I’ve never seen so many eggs in my life,” she said. “Well, I’ve gotten close, but you’ve expanded the chicken farm.”
“It’s what I’m good at,” I replied. I made the walk back to the house to unload and get more. By the time I returned, Hennifer was still chasing her.
“That chicken hates me,” she muttered as I went to work on the cows.
“She doesn’t like strangers.”
“Then I’ll work on not being a stranger.” She smiled and jogged to catch up. The sun was now behind her, giving her an ethereal glow. “What’s next?”
“Milking the cows.”
“Lead the way.”
She was still pretty. Even more so with mussed-up hair and a torn shirt.
Dammit. I was hoping I’d forgotten about the fact that I found her annoyingly attractive on top of it all.
No such luck.
9
MOLLIE
Strawberry Springs Neighborhood Watch
Atticus Thompson
Anyone know why the power flickered last night?