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“Hey, Eggsy,” she greeted her pet chicken, which was sitting on a shelf on the wall directly across from Maddie’s desk.

The chicken raised its head with mild interest at her words.

Maddie didn’t take offense. The bird was old.

Hailey had saved her from the soup pot and asked if she could live in the office for a while until she found a home for her.

That was two months ago now. But, hey, they hardly had any clients anyway.

Most of the little – very little – money they made came in from the website and the only people who wandered in here were people with hearing aids and coke-bottle glasses –no one had ever asked why a chicken was sitting on the shelf in their office.

Eggsy didn’t bother anyone, either. She was house-trained and went to the litter box in the corner. The only problem was if she…

A crack echoed through the room and Maddie’s bottom got cold, followed by something slimy wet running down her bare thighs.

“Oh no,” she whined loudly and jumped up from her office chair. It was too late. Bits of eggshell lined the seat and her bottom…and that’s when the door promptly opened.

“Here you are,” Hailey called out breathlessly. “I’ve been trying to reach you for hours and…oh.”

“Yes, oh,” Maddie confirmed. “Your hen laid another egg on my chair!”

“Yeah, it’s always so nice and warm there. Because you sit at your desk for far too long. You know you always have to look before you sit down.”

“I forgot,” she replied, pained, and threw her head back in annoyance.

How could this day get any worse? As if she needed any more signs that her life was a total disaster!

“No wonder Match Me! isn’t working,” she said, groaning. “We share the office with a damn mother hen!”

“Hey,” Hailey objected, looking at her angrily. “You’re hurting her feelings. Besides, you said it was okay to keep Eggsy here until I found her a home.”

“And you said she wouldn’t shit anywhere in here!”

“She doesn’t. She just lays eggs.”

“Which come out of the same orifice as everything else! God, chickens are weird. You’ve been looking for months now for a home for her.”

Guiltily, Hailey ran a hand through her curly black hair. “Yeah, finding a home for an old chicken in LA is a lot harder than I thought.”

“You don’t say. I bet I could find three butchers who’d offer their homes to her right away.”

Shocked, Hailey sucked in her breath. “You don’t mean that.”

“Of course I don’t mean it,” she said, trying for calm. “I love Eggsy and I love you, but I have raw egg hanging from my skirt!”

Hailey opened her mouth, surely to say something positive, as was her way. Probably something like: Hey, in Brazil, chicken slime brings good luck. But the next moment, she seemed to have an epiphany. “Oh, shit. The meeting didn’t go well, did it?”

Maddie slumped down at her office chair. “She chose Love Triumphs.”

“Oh no. That’s…chicken shit.”

“I know.”

“Does that mean we have to think of something else to generate business?” Hailey wrung her hands uncertainly. “Night shift?”

“No,” Maddie replied, exhausted. She glanced at the clock. It was already a quarter to six. “Let me sleep on it. Recuperate. Tomorrow morning we can start with renewed vigor and eggless skirts, okay? This day has worn me out.” She wouldn’t be able to get anything useful done now, anyway.

“Okay.” Hailey looked at her sympathetically before walking around the table and hugging her tightly. “We’ll get through this, okay? Together. Ms. Geller is a complete idiot. We would have found her true love within weeks. I know that. You’re not alone,” she whispered.

No, she wasn’t. However, she was the one who had pushed Hailey to give up herformer, secure job to venture out with her.

If they failed, the guilt would be unbearable.

“Sure,” she said anyway, putting as much confidence into her voice as possible.

“I’m sure I’ll feel better after I’ve showered and had a cocktail. ”

“I think so, too. Go on then. I’ll clean up the mess.”

“You’re an angel,” she replied, giving her another big hug, and then headed for the door. She wanted to end this day as quickly as possible so that a new one could begin.

As she stepped onto the boardwalk, though, she saw a grim man in a suit heading straight for her. Judging by his expression, he wasn’t looking to invite her for a piece of cake.

Connor Stone was all she needed. The arrogant divorce lawyer next door was nice to look at but she didn’t enjoy him shouting at her.

“James,” he growled as soon as he was within earshot. “This crosses the line!”

“What?” she replied innocently, even though she could see the huge sign tucked under his arm.

There was no ignoring it when he shoved it right under her nose. “No,” he said stonily. “Just no.”

“Come on, it’s just a clever line.”

“No!”

“It gives hope.”

“ Are you divorcing your dream man? Then find a new one at Match Me?! That gives me eye cancer, not hope!”

“It promises a fresh start.” It was also good advertising, especially in front of a divorce lawyer’s door.

“It promises nonsense, because your agency is a joke,” Connor said curtly as he dropped the sign at her feet and turned on his heels.

She pressed her lips together angrily. “You’re always so grouchy, Connor! You need more romance in your life!” she called after him.

“And you, fewer chickens. There’s shit on your leg.”

“It’s egg residue,” she replied angrily.

“Yeah, and it looks like shit.”

Then he was gone.

Argh! Really. Divorce lawyers. No sense of love. Well, at least things couldn’t get any worse.

She took the sign and put it up in front of the Match Me!

window, and then walked three doors down to the entrance of the apartment building where she occupied the top floor.

Frustrated, she unlocked the door, raided the mailbox – a bunch of bills and a heavy white envelope – and trudged up the flights of narrow stairs to her tiny apartment.

She wanted to shower and then get comfortable on the couch.

Her bones creaked as she cleared the last step and…

hm... Maybe she was thinking too hard about showering, but why did she hear splashing?

Frowning, she unlocked the door, stepped into the apartment, and …

was greeted by a surge of water. Shocked, she stared into the open kitchen, whose slightly sunken floor was filled with water three fingers deep, as if someone was trying to turn her apartment into a pool.

No!

She stood there stock-still, staring at the horrific scene as water continued to seep out from under the sink, expanding the pool into the living room.

No, no, no. This was not happening!

Cursing, she threw the mail onto the counter and waded through the water. With a strange numb feeling in her chest, she knelt on the floor, ripped open the door under the sink, and reached in past the apparently broken pipe to turn off the main faucet.

The water stopped gushing.

It made little difference. The damage had already been done.

This wasn’t a puddle. It was a pond. And it was overflowing onto the carpet of the adjoining living room, causing the cheap linoleum floor in the kitchen to pucker, soaking her clothes, destroying her upholstered furniture…

She didn’t even want to think about how her neighbor’s ceiling below looked.

Maddie’s shoulders sagged as her only professional pencil skirt was soaked in dirty water.

It was a disaster. Her life was a disaster.

She’d had so much hope this morning and now…

“Maddie? Your door was open and…oh, fuck. What happened?”

Blinking back tears, she tried to focus on the doorway and the tall, blond man standing there. Matt gaped at the mess she was sitting in.

Right. They were supposed to go out, celebrate the big client she hadn’t landed today.

Shit.

“Everything’s…ruined,” she whispered, wiping her runny nose with her sleeve.

“ Everything .” She buried her face in her hands.

“God, I can’t do anything, Matt. Match Me!

is going down the drain. I can’t help my dad.

I’m still all alone. Unmarried, childless.

And I no longer have a home.” Quiet despair crept through her veins, settling in every pore and burning her eyes.

When had she become such a failure? What the hell should she do now?

It was just…too much! There were too many messes in her life. Quite literally.

Suddenly, warm arms enveloped her and pulled her out of the water and onto her feet. Her knees were shaking, but Matt held her upright effortlessly. “The pipe burst?” he guessed.

“Yes!”

“I’ve been telling you for months that your pipes are too brittle and old.”

Angrily, she pulled away and glared at him. “You’re not helping, Matt!”

He raised one corner of his mouth. “Oh, being angry at me is better than being sad as hell, right?”

She snorted. “I can be both. Didn’t you hear what I said? I’m alone and my life is a mess…”

“Come on, Maddie,” he interrupted gently. “Of course you’re not alone.” He gripped her shoulders and held her a few inches away so he could look into her face. “Never. You have Lucy and the rest of your family. You have Hailey. You have a chicken. And you have me.”

She sniffed and took a shuddering breath. “I know, but it feels like…”

“…everything is ruined?” he quoted slowly.

“Yes!”

“There are a few things ruined,” he confirmed, glancing at the dirty upholstery and swelling floor. “But, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a home anymore. It’s merely water damage. It can be fixed.”

“But when? And how much will it cost? And…where the hell do I stay in the meantime, Matt?” She sniffed again and glanced up at him.

She must have been a terrible sight, but to his credit, he didn’t flinch.

“I probably won’t be able to sleep here for a while.

They’ll have to tear up the floor or put big fans around and… ”

“Don’t worry, you can stay at my place.”

“What?” She blinked at him, confused.

“You can stay at my place,” he repeated and shrugged. “I have a guest room.”

“No. I can’t stay with you,” she stated the obvious. “Not for weeks.”

“Why not?” Perplexed, he frowned. “With away games, I’m not home half the time, anyway. You could water my plants.”

Reluctantly, she laughed, even if it sounded more like a hiccup. “Matt, all your plants are plastic.”

He grinned. “Well, then dust them.”

“That’s what your cleaning lady is there for!”

“Maddie.” He clicked his tongue impatiently.

“Stop searching for excuses. You have a problem and I have a guest room. It’s as simple as that.

Now, stop making a fuss and help me bail the water before we call your landlady and warn the neighbors below.

It’s not that bad.” He nodded encouragingly at her.

“Your apartment will dry out again. The business will take off. You’ll come up with something.

And you’ll find the man of your dreams and have a bunch of children with him, once you finally start looking properly.

But step by step. You’re young, you have time.

Now, if I hug you, will you promise to stop crying?

Not like last time when the old dog Hailey saved died.

That time, you only really started crying when I had my arms around you. ”

She smiled shakily and the weight that had pressed down on her chest like an anvil slowly lessened. He was right. She really wasn’t alone. “I’m trying,” she replied hoarsely. “But it’s a reflex. When I’m feeling bad and someone is nice and caring to me, the floodgates open.”

“We have enough flooding here, Maddie,” Matt said seriously, nodding toward the floor. “Now pull yourself together, damn it! I just picked up this shirt from the cleaners.”

She chuckled, put her arms around him, and took the promised hug. Matt’s hugs were special. They were warm and tight, and when he patted her back awkwardly because he didn’t know how to hug platonic female friends, it always made her laugh.

“Thanks, Matt,” she whispered, pressing her cheek against his chest.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, uncomfortably, and kissed her head. “Always. By the way, do you want to clean your skirt before I get rid of this water? There’s egg on it.”

She smiled wearily and sank deeper into the hug.

Matt was always so…solid. Literally, a rock in the surf, although she suspected his muscles were harder than rock.

In any case, he was always cheerful and composed, and today she would take a page from his book.

“Yeah, maybe I should go for another swim. I’ve always wanted a pool,” she whispered. “I think my wish finally came true.”

She felt Matt’s laughter vibrating in his chest. “That’s the right attitude.”