chapter five

The screen door creaked, the clomp of heavy boots against the wood floors echoed through the still kitchen. Hazel set down the iron, hanging up Max’s work shirt on the rack beside her before taking one of the brown bags he had stacked in his arms. She sat it on the countertop, beginning to unpack the night’s dinner necessities. Max swept around, kissing the side of her head before sinking down into a dining chair to take off his boots.

“Thanks for stopping in on the way home,” Hazel smiled, desperate to break the silence that lingered. She knew he hadn’t been happy to make the stop, even less so when he suggested getting groceries delivered and she reminded him that wasn’t a thing here. “I thought I’d have more time this afternoon, but there was so much prep to do before I start work and then cleaning  out the chicken coop took a lot longer than I expected. I don’t remember it taking my dad that long.” She laughed awkwardly, watching Max rise from the table, lean muscles tensing slightly as he strode across the kitchen, swinging open the fridge to grab a beer.

“I wanted to talk to you about the animals actually.”

“Honey, you’ll get used to Bruce, I promise,” she smiled, brushing past him to set some vegetables into the crisper.

Max snorted, shaking his head through a laugh. “I don’t think that’ll happen, but that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“Oh,” she murmured, moving toward the fruit bowl to stack it high with apples and bananas. “Then what?”

“It’d be fine if you weren’t planning on working, but you’re going to  have to get up, feed them and do all the shit you have to do for them, go to work, and then come home and do it all over again. Don’t you feel like it’s a bit too much?”

Hazel hummed, grabbing some potatoes for dinner and setting to work on peeling them. She concentrated on the skin slicing away from the flesh, dropping each remnant into a bowl to feed to the chickens later.

“I know it means a lot to you ‘cause of your dad, but I’m just worried it’s too much to have on your plate.”

“I mean, you could help?”

“Yeah, right. Can you imagine me out there?” Max laughed, a genuine laugh that triggered something within Hazel’s stomach. “I was just thinking about it today. Jack at work said his ‘rents could take the goats, and I’m sure those people across the drive could take the birds, add to their zoo over there.”

Anger boiled beneath her skin, a heat blooming up her neck as she forced herself to take in a deep breath. She set down the paring knife, turning to face Max. Her fingers ran along the bony ridges of his shoulders, closing her eyes to avoid the slight grimace on his face from her dirt-dappled fingertips. “I know you’re thinking about me, but… honey, I don’t want to get rid of them. They meant a lot to my dad.”

“Hazel, we’re already living in his house-”

“My house,” she corrected. “I grew up here, remember?”

“Okay, but we’re still here. You don’t want to change anything. I mean we’re sleeping in your childhood bedroom, for Christ sake.”

“It feels weird to sleep in my parents’ room.”

“It feels weird living here, point blank. It feels like we’re living in a shrine, Hazel. This can’t be healthy. It’s like you’re trying to take over their life, instead of living your own.” He swept away some strands of her hair from her eyes and Hazel fought to keep herself from swatting him away. “At no point in our relationship have you ever even discussed the idea of taking care of a shitload of farm animals, and I don’t think it’s good for you to take on the life they had while working for the life you want at the same time.”

Hazel wanted to argue, wanted to remind Max that their relationship hadn’t been filled with a whole lot of deep conversations, but she could sense Max would have a retort for whatever she threw at him. The reminder that he moved here to be with her rang out in her mind, and she attempted to swallow some of her guilt. “I’ll think about it, okay?” she sighed, watching his lips tug into a satisfied smile, his head dipping down to kiss her. “Just please don’t sell off any of my animals yet. Please.”

“I just worry about you, you know.”

“I know,” she nodded, straining a smile as she turned back to the dinner preparation. She'd planned to mention the bonfire, test the waters, but the conversation had left a sour taste in her mouth. Instead, she sucked in a breath and changed the topic. “Did you manage to find everything at the store?”

“Pfft, don’t even get my started on that “store”. Everything costs a damn fortune and they didn’t have any of the shit we usually get at home. No Ben and Jerry’s, can you believe that?”

“Oh my god,” Hazel rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her tone as she stifled a giggle. “How will you ever survive?”