Love & Chickens by Kasey Morris

Author:Kasey Morris [Morris, Kasey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2024-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

“Let’s go,” Chad said, the hand on my back gently pushing me towards the group of poultry judges.

I wanted to fight it; I wanted to push back; I wanted to pull his hand off of me and run far, far away, in the opposite direction of George. But I did none of that; instead, I allowed myself to be propelled forwards, my feet and cane obediently bringing me closer to the group, closer to him: cane, step, cane, step. Chad moved behind me, his hand never leaving the small of my back, and I began to feel suffocated, panicked.

When we reached the group of judges, I stepped away from him, but he was too busy shaking hands and greeting his colleagues to notice. And then, George was in front of me.

“Hello, Madeline,” he said solemnly.

“Hi,” I managed to squeak out.

“How’s Elsie?” George asked, and he sounded genuinely interested—as if he really cared.

“Fine,” I said. “She’s doing really well, actually.”

George gave me a small smile, not one of his dimple-creating grins, but a smile nevertheless. “I’m glad to hear it.”

“Hey, Cooper,” Chad said, appearing again at my side. “Let me introduce my assistant, Maddie.” He placed a hand on my shoulder, his fingers squeezing me slightly, an odd tinge of possessiveness in his words.

George’s eyes moved to Chad’s hand, narrowing almost imperceptibly. “Madeline and I have met.” The words were cold, much colder than only moments before, and I wondered if perhaps George was actually unhappy to see me there.

“Oh,” Chad said, surprised. There was an edge to his voice. “Cool. Anyway, I didn’t realize you were here. You weren’t on the list of judges, and the Association told me I was in charge this weekend. I know you normally judge the champion row…”

“I’m just here for the social,” George said dismissively. “I came over early from England for a series of shows out west. In your old region, actually. But I wanted to do some sightseeing in this area before I moved on.” His eyes flicked to mine as he spoke the last words.

“Cool,” Chad said again, although I could tell he didn’t mean it. His attention was already shifting away from George. “Maddie, what do you want to drink?”

“I’ll have a red wine, please,” I said quietly. “Whatever they have is fine.”

“Cooper?” Chad asked.

“I’m fine, thanks,” George answered, lifting a half-full pint glass ever so slightly.

Chad nodded and turned, heading towards the bar to get drinks, and I was left alone with George, the rest of the judges already engaged in conversation with one another.

“Wh—” I started, but George had also started speaking at the same time, so we both stopped, eyeing one another uncertainly.

“Ladies first,” George said, breaking the brief silence.

“What type of sightseeing are you planning to do around here?” I asked.

I thought it would be a fairly innocuous, politely inane question—safe territory, far from any mention or memory of our last interaction, now a month or so ago. Yet the very act of trying not to

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