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Surprised but composed, Lark took one step forward. “Oh, well... okay.” She cleared her throat. “Burt was a good chicken. His life was... peaceful here. There were many sunny days, and he was loved. Though we will miss him, I know he’s in a better place.” She stepped back and leaned over to Penny to whisper, “How was that?”
Penny’s mouth twisted in subtle disappointment. “Can you cry a little?”
At that, I coughed to hide my laughter. Lark’s eyes whipped to mine before clearing her throat. “I’ll work on it.”
We stood, silent and staring down at the shoebox.
I really hope there’s not an actual dead chicken in there.
Lark blotted at the fresh tears in the corner of her eyes. After a moment of silence, Penny nodded, satisfied that Eggburt had been properly honored.
“Thank you, everyone.”
We slowly started walking back to the main house. “Pickle, what was in the box?”
She looked up at me. “Eggburt.”
“Okay... what happened to him?”
Penny rolled her eyes at me like I was the simplest human on the planet. “Daddy... we ate him!”
Lee’s barking laugh erupted into the evening air while Joey turned and puked into Tootie’s rosebushes.
17
LARK
Havinga casual dinner with Wyatt and his family was easy.
Too easy.
I could feel that Red’s condition made Wyatt uneasy, but for me, I loved listening to stories about when the Sullivans were little, especially hearing the pride in Red’s voice when he talked about Wyatt.
There was so much love there.
The fact Penny had stolen the chicken carcass from dinner and forced us all into an unexpected chicken funeral had me giggling the rest of the night. I couldn’t get over the look of horror on Wyatt’s face. Poor Joey had lost his composure and ended up throwing up all over Tootie’s rosebushes. He recovered once he learned that the chicken was store-bought and not one of the cute little hens that milled around Tootie’s backyard.
We also had the best blueberry pie I’d ever tasted.
After dessert, Penny had begged and pleaded to have a sleepover. The boys took off to a late-night beach party, and Duke and Lee parted ways, presumably bringing Red back to his place at Haven Pines.
The silence in Wyatt’s car was deafening on the ride back. I fiddled with the hem of my skirt.
When he caught my movements, Wyatt adjusted the air-conditioning. “Are you hot?”
I only shook my head. Truth was, Iwas hot. Hot and bothered.
The drive was quick, and once I’d wrapped my head around the fact that the crushed limestone path connected the two properties, I had a much better sense of where each home was located within the greater boundaries of town. Bit by bit I was learning more about Outtatowner and feeling more comfortable in my temporary hometown.
When we stopped on the driveway between my apartment over the barn and Wyatt’s house, he didn’t make a move to get out. I looked up at him in the fading evening sunlight.
He cleared his throat, and I stared a moment too long at his chiseled, stubbled jawline. Wyatt reached into his pocket and opened his hand. On his palm was a key. “This is for you.”
I reached over and plucked the key from his hand, careful not to touch him. “Oh. Thanks.”
“Use it any time.”
“Um... okay.”
