Page 1 of Crossing the Line (Small Town Love #7)

One

"Janice!"

Janice Landy turned toward the front door with a big grin on her face. She'd know the sound of that voice anywhere! "Samantha! Good to see you!"

Samantha waved her hand between them. "You're acting like we didn't see each other a couple of days ago!"

Janice's smile turned into a full grin. "Can I help it if seeing you makes me happy?"

Samantha rolled her eyes and made her way straight to the counter.

"How are things going here on your side of the universe?

" With that, she flicked a glance at what had been a very prominent white line between the half of what had been Landy's Market when they started it nearly two decades before.

"Has Bixby been a good boy on his side of the line. "

The teasing words were common. Over the years, their divorce had become part of the story of their market.

Some tourists even came into the building to take pictures with the white line. Some, if they were a couple on either side of the line. Some, if they were single, straddling the line. And some, picking a side and taking a selfie on one side of the line.

"He's busy on his side. He got some kind of sausage machine and he's over there making 'custom' sausage links."

Samantha's eyes widened. "Is that driving business in his direction? Is it becoming a depraved sausage party over there? Men playing with their meat in little sausage casings?"

Janice lifted her hands and covered her cheeks. Samantha's comments were silly, but she had heard a lot of talk about sausages over there.

"What if we try some fat back and lamb together?"

"Ohh... I've got an idea for a game heavy sausage!"

Janice leaned in and whispered to her friend. "It's been getting a little... raw on that side."

Samantha winced like she'd just bitten into a fruit that had soured. "That can't be fun."

"Nope." Janice sighed. "The less I hear about butts and fat backs the better I'll sleep at night."

"Amen, sister."

The door opened up again and Mirella Santini walked in with a handcart holding three crates of green herbs and a baby in a sling around her body. "Hey, ladies!"

The baby in the sling craned his neck to look over the edge of the sling.

Janice crouched down a little and lifted her hands, wiggling her fingers at the little boy whose hand gripped the edge of the sling. "Hey, baby boy!"

Fiore Santini smiled, and his chubby cheeks looked full and rosy with health.

Janice lifted her gaze to Mirella's face. "How are you doing?"

"Losing the baby weight faster than I did with the girls. I've got a ton of orders and working in the garden is helping a lot."

Samantha grinned. "He looks bigger than the girls were at this age."

Mirella sighed and blew at a bit of hair that had fallen forward over her forehead.

"Ugh. Absolutely. Where the girls were on the small side.

He's on the ninety-something percentile for size and weight.

I've told Teo and Lorenzo that they're going to have to carry him around just so I can get some sleep. "

Samantha winced. "Yikes... You're not getting a lot of sleep?"

Mirella shook her head. "Not really. He's a bit of a night owl."

Janice nodded, but felt a little out of sorts here.

While she and Bixby had wanted kids, it hadn't worked out for them. Even when they'd realized that kids were not in the cards for them and they'd gone through therapy to deal with the loss, Janice had never stopped loving kids.

She just didn't have any knowledge to share with others when they were talking about their children.

Then she caught sight of the Kitamuras coming in through the door near the middle of the building. Just shy of Janice's side of the line, the older couple were third generation owners of Kitamura's Sweet Beets Farm.

"Pearl!"

Missus Kitamura turned and waved at her, quickly stepping over into the Landy's produce side of the store. "Janice! How are you?"

"Fine, fine." She gestured at Mirella. "Mirella's boy is a night owl and making it hard for her to get some sleep. Didn't your son keep you up all night?"

Pearl laughed and nodded. "Yes! I can't believe you remember that!" She looked at Mirella. "Paul's in university now, but when he was a baby, he'd sleep during the day and stay up all night." The elegant woman sighed and put her hand over her heart. "I was so exhausted."

"What was it you did to switch his clock around?" Janice loved hearing stories about families. It was little like living vicariously through them.

Pearl dropped her chin a little and smiled, her eyes going soft at the thought.

"It was something my great grandma in Hawaii did for my grandfather when he was a baby.

She," Pearl looked around the group with a bit of a blush on her cheeks, "this is a bit of superstition or cultural belief, but she took a picture of a rooster and put it on the wall beside the crib upside down. "

Mirella nodded her head slowly. "So just a drawing of some sort?"

"I only remember the story, but I think she just cut one out of a magazine."

"If it works," Mirella looked at Pearl with a kind of desperation that was telling in how sleep deprived she was, "I'll make Lorenzo put on a rooster suit and hang him from the ceiling."

"Lorenzo," Pearl laughed. "Your brother-in-law? Not the father?"

"Nope," Mirella smiled, "Teo is really good about helping me change diapers. I don't want all of the blood in his body rushing to his head if I hang him upside down."

The women agreed. After all, a man who did his share of diapers and more was worth his weight in gold.

Fiore, looking at the group of women around him let out a big, echoing burp and then a delighted peel of laughter.

Which earned him the appropriate oohs and aahs from the ladies.

Mirella mussed her son's hair which was dark and thick like his father's. "I'd love to stay and talk, but I'll drop off the top crate with you, Janice, and take the rest of the herbs to," she cleared her throat with a little comic smile, "the competition across the line."

Janice looked down at the sage leaves that were poking out between the wooden crate slats along with some thyme and rosemary, too. "A delivery for the sausage king?"

Mirella chuckled at that. "He wants to try using some fresh herbs in the sausages. So I picked fresh bundles for him today."

Janice sighed and shook her head. "That man..."

Samantha grinned at her. "There's a reason you divorced him."

Janice chuckled along with everyone else, but when she tried to find a reason why they'd divorced her mind was suspiciously empty.

Instead of dragging one up, she just let the thought disappear out of her head. "I'm glad he's buying herbs from you, too. Best herbs for several counties."

Mirella gave Janice a sweet smile. "It's moments like this that remind me why I fell in love with this town."

Samantha sighed. "And that hot Italian man who gave you three kids?"

"Oh," Mirella blushed to the tips of her ears, "he's a part of it, too. He's already talking about number four. I'm debating whether I should kick him in the... you know."

Mirella turned her hand cart, and Janice took the top crate off and set it on the counter.

"I'll send you the payment once I close tonight."

Mirella waved a hand at her. "No rush. I'll probably go back home and drop face first on the bed as soon as I hand this boy off to someone. If I'm lucky I'll get a couple hours in."

Janice smiled at her friend. "I hope so. I'll be thinking sleepy thoughts for you."

"That's why I love you, Janice."

Mirella moved her handcart off and crossed the line into the butcher shop.

Pearl excused herself to go shopping and Janice looked back at Samantha. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"I was wondering if you're still interested in getting some chicks?"

Janice felt giddy at the reminder. "When... when would I have to have a place for them?"

She'd been toying with the idea of a backyard coop for a little over a year, but things never seemed to work out at the right time.

"Not right away. I'm asking because a few folks in town wanted some chicks, and I always put more eggs in the incubators than I need.

I'll probably have somewhere between three and six chicks when the others have been claimed.

If you're interested, we should get you started on preparations before they're hatched. "

Having chickens was going to mean more effort at home.

As it was, she watered her plants before work and after, keeping the watering in the cooler hours to help with water conservation.

She'd have to feed the chickens and collect eggs when they were old enough, but other than that they'd keep themselves occupied which she was away.

More humane than a dog who would miss her during the hours she was at the store.

"Yeah," she nodded at Samantha. "I think I really do want some chickens."

Samantha clapped her hands together and smiled gleefully. "Yes! You'll love them!"

Janice agreed readily. "I love the days I can visit you at the egg farm. So much fun. And they eat the bugs off of your plants."

Samantha nodded. "Another benefit. We haven't had more than a nibble on any of our veggie plants in ages."

"You said I'm not going to need a place for them at first, right?"

"Nope," Samantha shook her head. "It depends how early you want them. If you want them as chicks, you're going to need a box, food, water, and a warming light."

Janice raised a brow at that. "That sounds like a lot of opportunities for me to mess things up. I don't want to be responsible for hurting the little nuggets."

Samantha shook her head. "You run a store and run it like a boss, babe! You can have some fun with them while they're still little fuzzy things before they become dinosaurs with feathers roaming your yard."

Janice's eyes widened at that. "Uh... I've seen Jurassic Park, I'm not eager to have my limbs ripped off."