Page 3 of Crossing the Line (Small Town Love #7)

Two

It was only a couple of days later that the first contractor showed up at the market.

Janice was almost giddy with anticipation as she showed him the ideas she'd seen online, and a few she found at the library. She was also a little flustered.

She'd never had a pet in the time that she'd been with Bixby.

She'd wanted one all of her life, but her parents were 'no frills' kind of parents who did what was necessary, but not much else.

Not that she was complaining, but she'd wanted to enjoy the 'juvenile' things that her friends at school had in their lives, like pool parties and sleepovers.

So this plan to have chickens could be excused as a smart one because she did like to eat her share of eggs, but it was like Facebook had been listening in to her conversations.

As soon as Samantha had mentioned that she was expecting more chicks than she needed in the next few batches from her incubator, Facebook showed her chicken videos. Chicken memes. Even advertisements for chicken accessories. Wait. Was that the right word? Chicken gifts?

Could you really gift things to chickens?

Janice had giggled over that thought, completing her change into a woman with a mild, she'd snorted with laughter over that, chicken obsession.

While she hadn't actually bought any of the crazy things she'd seen, like the little motorcycle helmets, because really, they didn't offer chicken sized motorcycles or even ATVs, she had many of them bookmarked for evaluation after she had her chicks.

After all, how would she know what color chicken dress to get unless she had the chicks in front of her.

Right?

"You know..."

She startled and looked up and saw the contractor pointing to one of the coop images on the screen of her iPad.

"Any of these will work. It's just a matter of what you want."

Janice frowned at that. She wanted all kinds of coops.

There was one that looked like a farmhouse.

Another one that looked more than a jungle gym than a chicken coop.

There was even one that was painted with the KFC logo on it.

Oh, she'd instantly nixed the KFC logo idea.

She didn't want to torment the poor things, but the shape of the coop had been neat.

She was really hoping for some kind of direction on what to build, but this man seemed more interested in building her whatever she wanted.

The trouble was, there were just too many options available.

The back door of the market opened up and Heidi, one of her part-time clerks, leaned out with a harried look on her face. "Sorry, Janice. I need a little help in here."

With a smile, Janice got up to excuse herself. "I'm sorry, Mister..."

"Atkins. I'm fine. I can see you have a business to run. Do you want me to wait-"

"Actually," Janice let out the breath she'd been unknowingly holding, "I don't know how long I'll be inside. Sometimes it's a moment and sometimes-"

"Your work is a little more people-y than mine is. I'll head out." He handed her the iPad he'd been studying. "Give me a call if you have any questions or if you'd like to start working on the coop."

He took a step back and moved away from the little break table that Janice had set up on her side of the back patio.

"Thanks for calling me in."

She nodded her head. "Sure."

As soon as he made it around the corner toward the little strip of parking they had along the side of the building, she let out an audible sigh and turned to head in, stopping short when she saw Bixby looking over at her from his side of the patio.

He didn't ask her a question, but he had that look in his eyes that said he would have plenty to say if he did start talking, so she hustled inside and was greeted by Heidi's smile of relief.

"Sorry to bother, boss." Janice smiled at that.

It said that Heidi was feeling more uncomfortable than she had a few moments before.

There was a slightly panicked look on her face, too.

"Oh, thank goodness you're here, Janice."

"It's always nice to see you, Moira. What can I help you with?"

Moira, better known as the town busybody, held up a jar of preserves. "How accurate are the ingredients in his jar?"

Ah, it's going to be one of those days.

Janice smiled and found that her expression wasn't brittle at all. Some days it was a chore to deal with Moira, but others, it was just Moira's normal level of... nosiness.

"You know that everything we have here in the store fits the legal guidelines of the State of California."

Moira lowered the bottle and held it closer to her face, squinting at the label. "Well, who's to say that the guidelines are any good?"

There she was.

Good ol' Moira.

"I can't answer that question, Moria. But I'm sure if you want to, you can call your State Representative and ask them your questions."

Janice had meant it as a pat answer, but Moira was just full of surprises.

"Hmm..." Moira put the jar down on the counter and nudged it toward the register. "I'll buy it and while I'm eating it on my toast, I'll call up that Representative you're talking about."

Janice was about to ask her if she was joking, but the older woman was already digging into her purse for her wallet.

It turns out, Moira just wanted her strawberry preserves.

Janice tried not to smile too much as she rang up the item. "Do you need a bag, Moira?"

"A bag?"

Janice nodded as she made change for the older woman. "Yes, Moira. Would you like a shopping bag for your purchase?"

Moria gaped at her and then shook her head. "What kind of wasteful creature do you take me for, Janice Landy?"

Janice held out her change. "I just wanted to make sure you got your purchase home safe."

"I'm perfectly fine carrying one bottle home on my own.

" Moria took her bag off of her shoulder and held it open in front of Janice like kids often did on Halloween.

"You can put the preserves in my bag, but-" She gestured at the jar on the counter beside the register. "You can put the change in there."

Janice smiled even more at her comment.

"Thanks, Moira. The girls will really appreciate it."

Moira's eyes softened a little. "I remember wanting to be in the FFA when I was a little girl."

Janice nodded. She had too.

Joining the Future Farmers of America was something she'd wanted to do when she'd been in school, it just wasn't in the cards for her.

The group she was raising funds for was a local girl’s group in the FFA who were raising money to do a field trip to the Stockton Livestock Auction.

Moira closed her purse and slipped the long handles over her shoulder. "You know..."

Janice tensed up a little in her shoulders. Here we go again , she thought.

"That oak tree in your front yard," she started, before sliding a look across to the butcher side of the market, "I guess it's in both of your yards." She sighed in a dramatic fashion that might have earned her a starring role on a soap opera in the 80s. "Bixby?"

There wasn't an immediate reaction from the other side of the market and Janice hoped that Moira would just say what she had to say and move along, but that wasn't in the cards.

Moira walked up to the white painted line that divided the original market in two and without crossing the line, even with the tips of her bright pink sneakers.

"Bixby! I know you're lurking back there, Bixby! I want to talk to you!"

Janice heard her ex-husbands deep throated chuckle from where she was standing.

Moira seemed unable to hear him.

Probably for the best.

She just hoped that Bixby would hurry up and come over to hear whatever it was that Moira had to say about their oak tree.

Their in that it was in both of their halves of the yard.

"Bixby?!"

Moira's voice climbed a little higher in tone and volume.

Janice winced a little and wondered if the glass doors on her refrigerator case were vibrating from the sound.

"Moira Lundin..."

Bixby's voice had a way of making her tremble, not that she'd say that in front of him, or even out loud.

There was this delightful rumble of sound when he was holding back a laugh that had always tickled her, especially when they were alone together on quiet nights.

Now, she only got to hear it once in a while during the day at the market.

He walked up to within a few feet of her and Janice took a moment to look at him, really look.

Damn him.

He was aging well, not that she wasn't, but she didn't normally have a chance to look at him up close or have an opportunity to really study him.

When they first started dating and in that 'golden time' after their marriage, she'd love his thick brown hair, almost black.

She'd use any excuse to touch it, run her fingers through it.

Sometimes when he was sleeping, she'd gently splay her fingers through his hair and imagine how he'd change through the years.

His ruggedly handsome features didn't disappoint.

His jaw wasn't so sharply cut anymore, but the laugh lines around his eyes had deepened and it looked good on him, really good.

Bixby lifted a hand to his head and rubbed it over the crown. A gesture that used to be so familiar to her, but she'd forgotten it.

It gave him a certain boyish charm but the dark brown hair that she'd loved so much when they were younger was now more salt than pepper, but wow... it made him look... hot.

"Janice?" Something tugged on her sleeve, and she looked down to see Moira frowning at her. "Are you okay?"

The last thing she wanted was to be caught ogling her ex.

There was a reason why he was her ex!

There was...

She just couldn't quite remember what it was.

"Janice?"

Slowly, she turned her head and saw that Bixby was talking to her.

Bixby.

And that deep chuckle she loved?

Grudgingly, she had to add.

Well, now she had a new favorite tone of his voice.

Concerned.

And those laugh lines at the corners of his eyes?

Fell to second behind the deepening furrow between his brows.

"You, okay?"

She widened her eyes, trying to reclaim her normal aplomb and flippant attitude when she was talking to him.

His frown deepened. "Janey?"