Page 108 of Back to You

The door slammed open again. “You’ve got to come see this,” Marcus cried, bolting back out into the cafe.

Michelle and Brandon followed him out, and Brandon was pleased to see Ethan at the counter pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Hey. Heading to work?”

“Yeah, once I figure out what has Marcus all in a tizzy.”

“Guys, look!” He flung his hand toward the front window. They all looked, saw nothing, and turned as one back to Marcus. He stared out the window.

“Give it a second.”

The four stood around the counter, staring out the front window. Brandon was about to question his employee’s mental state when a tiny, fluffy white head peeked up over the bottom of the window.

“It’s Kelly Cluckson!” Marcus cried happily. Ethan immediately burst into laughter, setting his coffee down so he wouldn’t spill it. Brandon eyed Marcus sideways.

“You have an unhealthy attachment to that chicken,” he said.

“No, I just think she’s cool. But what is she doing here without the Chicken Lady?”

“It’s not like she could have run away from her while they were walking — I’ve seen dead people move faster than they walk,” Michelle said. They all continued to watch the chicken, who pecked at the glass in fascination.

“We need to bring her inside,” Marcus said.

“Uh, hell no, I am not getting sideways of the health inspector because you’re obsessed with a chicken,” Brandon said.

‘No, seriously, it’s about to rain. I read up on silkies and apparently they’re not supposed to get wet. Something about their weird feathers.”

“You’ve been researching them?”

Ethan was still having hysterics.

“They’re cool!”

“What if we just put her in my office?” Michelle said sensibly. “Marcus, do you have any idea how to get in touch with her owner?”

“Yeah, she has an Instagram for the chicken.” That just set Ethan off again.

Brandon sighed. “Okay, go get her. But straight back to the office!”

Marcus darted outside and bustled back in with the indignant Kelly Cluckson tucked under one arm. The bird clucked angrily and tried to peck him. He hustled through the door to the play area, where childish squeals of “It’s a chicken!” could be heard.

“Whoops. He didn’t think that through, did he?” Michelle said, walking off to rescue Marcus and Kelly.

“God, I love this place,” Ethan said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

Brandon walked over to cage Ethan against the counter. “Want to hang out a while?”

“I do, but I need to get to work and deal with the 5,000 emails I probably have.” He pecked a kiss against Brandon’s lips and smacked him on the butt. “I’ll deal with you later.”

“You promise?” Brandon called as Ethan walked toward the door.

Ethan just turned and winked on his way out.

Brandon waited at the counter until Marcus returned, nursing a pecked hand. Brandon laughed at him.

He returned to the kitchen, getting his dough set to proof and then getting a wild hair to make eclairs. That pretty much killed the rest of his morning, but they sold incredibly well.

Marcus had messaged the Chicken Lady on Instagram earlier, and around noon she came dashing into the cafe.

“Someone messaged me that they found my chicken?” she said, clearly worried.

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