Page 36 of Crossing the Line
"I'll be there in a few minutes." Jenny laughed. "I'm glad we only live a neighborhood away."
"Me, too."
Once Jenny hung up the phone, Janice turned to look at Hank. "So, let's get you a drink and you can sit in the shade until Jenny gets here."
Hank's expression looked more like a little boy than the big, rough 'n tough man that he was was. "I can't believe you called my wife to tell on me!"
Janice looked at him with a grimace. "I can't believe you're building a football stadium for fowl in my backyard!"
Hank looked one way and then the other, finally blurting out, "Bixby said the plans were good!"
Janice burst out laughing.
The back door to her house opened up again and she turned.
She took one look at Bixby and burst out laughing.
Then she regretted it a moment later when his face went red and he looked down at his fly, moving his hands over the buttons.
When he was sure that he hadn't left his fly open, he looked up at her and the look in his eyes was a little miffed and a little curious. "What?"
He narrowed his gaze at her.
"What are you laughing at?"
Janice gave him a smile that filled her whole self with joy.
"Your friend here," she pointed at Hank, "just threw you under the bus!"
"Hank?"
Hank backed up, holding his hands in the air. "What? When?"
Janice folded her arms across her chest. "You said that Bixby thought the plans were good."
Bixby looked at her, confused. "They are."
"But," Janice swung her gaze back to Hank, "while he's a magician with meat, Hank Ford, do you know that Bixby was in danger of failing shop class because he made a cutting board the size of Easter Island?"
Hank shrugged. "So you're telling me-"
"That unless you explained the size of the coop to him in explicit language about the measurements, he'd probably happily let you build a coop the size of Dodger Stadium."
Hank's shoulders sagged. "Well, I'm going to look like a complete boob, aren't I?"
Bixby shrugged and Janice laughed.
It was the perfect moment for them to hear the definitive sound of a truck door opening and closing.
Janice shook her head and walked toward the side of the house. "Jenny! Come to the side gate! You're gonna love this one!"
"Oh, brother!" Jenny might be a diminutive woman, but she had the personality of a giantess! "This is going to be one for my Instagram page, right?"
"You know it!"
Janice wished she was still at an age where she could skip to the gate, but she was worried she might break her hip or twist an ankle.
Yes, she was in 'that' part of her life, but she was really beginning to enjoy it and when she reached the gate she looked back at Hank and Bixby and shook her head, smiling.
