Page 1 of Back to You

CHAPTER 1

BRANDON STARED BLANKLY out the front window, chin propped on his stacked fists on the counter in front of him. He knew there were people in the cafe, he heard Marcus behind him clearing his throat for attention. But no force was strong enough to pull his gaze from the sight heading toward them.

He could even pinpoint the exact moment that Marcus realized what had so captured his interest, mostly due to the sudden “Oh what in the name of God” behind him.

“Yep,” said Brandon as his eyes dried out from lack of blinking.

Brandon felt Marcus move up next to him at the counter and sit down, the counter under his fists vibrating with the thud of Marcus’s head hitting the surface.

“I give up on this day,” Marcus muttered. “Because she’s coming in here, isn’t she? She’s parading down the sidewalk and just planning to swan her ass right on in here like she’s NOT carrying a fluffy damn chicken on a sparkly pink leash.”

Brandon continued to regard the woman walking toward the store who was, yes indeed, holding both a pink, rhinestone encrusted leash, and the fluffiest chicken Brandon had ever seen in his life. He’d had no idea chickens even could be fluffy. He felt the final well of sanity in his mind run dry as he debated whether or not he had any fucks left to give about people, chickens, or the breakdown of society in general.

“Yeah, fuck this day,” he grumbled, drawing himself up to his full height. “Fuck this day, fuck that chicken, and fuck people. I am not making coffee for a chicken.”

Marcus rolled his head to the side, briefly interested. “Is it bad that I kind of want to see a chicken drink coffee?”

Brandon rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest as the woman finally reached the door and set the chicken on the ground. She seemed relatively normal, chicken notwithstanding. Probably in her 60s, overall look screaming casual elegance. Not really the type Brandon would have pegged as a crazy chicken lady.

“Look, ma’am —” Brandon began.

“I know,” she sighed, glaring down at the chicken who was calmly bopping around her feet. “I swear I’m not this person.”

Brandon ignored Marcus’s choked off snort and tried to restrain his natural scowl. “I can’t have livestock in here, ma’am. I could get in trouble with the health department.”

Chicken Lady shook her head and stood her ground. “I swear I won’t move from the doorway, but please, I need coffee. You would not believe the day I’ve had.”’

Brandon eyed the chicken again. “No, I suspect I wouldn’t.” He glanced back at Marcus, who just shrugged. “Okay ma’am, but please don’t make a habit of bringing your … pet in with you.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said. “Just the biggest dark roast you have, black. And it’s not my pet.”

Marcus could no longer restrain himself and slipped around the counter to examine the chicken up close. “I have to ask …” he said, crouching down. The chicken stared back at him, clearly unimpressed.

“She’s my daughter-in-law’s chicken,” she said, shaking her head fondly. “I swear she’s not crazy — someone gave her this chicken as a gift and she thought it would be funny to take it for walks. It actually is really sweet with her.”

Marcus poked the chicken curiously, earning an indignant cluck. The chicken turned her back in disgust of the entire situation. “This is not a normal chicken, though, right?” Marcus said.

“No, it’s a silkie. Her name is Kelly.”

“Kelly?” asked Brandon, against his better judgement. The less he involved himself in this situation, the better.

“Uh, yeah,” she said, grimacing. “Kelly Cluckson.”

Marcus finally gave in to the madness, plopping right down on the floor and laughing. She just grinned. “Sometimes you have to just lean into it,” she said. “My daughter-in-law is unique. I’m crazy about her.”

“Why do you have her chicken?” Marcus said, still chuckling.

“Bless her heart, she fell down walking the chicken this morning and broke her ankle. She drove herself to the clinic, and my son met her there, but they wouldn’t let the chicken stay.”

“Shocker,” muttered Brandon as he walked the giant coffee cup over to her.

“So he asked me to come get Kelly and watch her while they wait for the doctor to finish,” she said, eyes tracking the coffee cup in Brandon’s hand. “Thank you. I had no idea how weird my day was going to be when I woke up.”

She grabbed the cup and knocked back a third of it in one gulp. Brandon was impressed — only the most hardcore coffee addicts had killed their tastebuds enough to guzzle coffee that hot.

Suddenly he felt something pulling at his jeans. He looked down to find Kelly Cluckson pecking curiously at his ankles. “Stop that.”

The chicken turned her face up to his. He was disturbed to see that it appeared to have no eyes, just fluff and beak. “What’s with your face?” he grumbled, reluctantly reaching down to shift the fluff around. “How do you see like this?”

---