“Mommy! Mommy!” Finley dropped her red crayon and slipped out of the chair to race over to wrap her arms around Novah’s waist.
She bent and hugged her daughter tight, fighting back tears. She’d missed her so much. “How are you, sweetheart?”
“We’ve had so much fun, Mommy! Justice has pigs, one of them, a female that is a sow, had a baby and I got to feed her from a bottle! And the baby goat too.”
The excitement Novah saw on Finley’s face made her realize why they were all happy. “That sounds amazing.”
“She’s a very good helper.”
At the sound of the stranger’s voice, Novah looked to the end of the table where a brawny, unshaven, blue eyed man sat. She offered him a smile, guessing he was Justice. “I’m Novah. You must be Justice.”
“Yeah.”
“Thank you for taking good care of my girl and Mom.”
Rita set down the spatula and walked over to pull Novah into a comforting hug. “I was worried, but I knew Egan wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” she whispered.
Novah looked at Egan and he was digging into his stack of pancakes covered in strawberry syrup. Was he intentionally ignoring her?
“Pancakes coming right up!” Rita took up her place again at the griddle, served up a plate of fluffy flapjacks and set them at an empty place at the table. “Eat up, daughter.”
“You know I don’t eat breakfast.” As nervous as she was, Novah wasn’t sure she could eat anything.
“Try,” Rita insisted.
Sitting next to Finley, Novah looked at the picture her daughter was drawing. “Who’s that?” There were several stick people.
“That’s me,” Finley said in excitement. “And this,” she stabbed her finger against the paper. “Is Chestnut. She’s a cat.”
“Can I meet Chestnut?”
“Yes. She lives in the barn.”
“Your mother sure knows how to fill a man’s stomach. I think I’ve put on ten pounds since she’s been here.” Justice patted his flat stomach.
“You’ve probably made her happy. She loves to cook.”
“It’s the least I could do as a thank you to Justice and Owl. After all, they were stuck with us,” Rita chimed in as she placed another pancake on Justice’s plate. “Egan, want another?”
“No, thank you,” he answered, keeping his gaze averted.
“Owl?” Novah asked.
“That’s my father. You’ll get to meet him soon,” Justice said.
“Mommy, I rode a horse. A big one. It was so much fun! Can we stay here forever?”
“Sweetie, we’re just visiting. Eventually we’ll go home.” It was then that Egan looked across the short distance at Novah, but she couldn’t read his confusing expression.
The screen door off the kitchen squeaked open and a seasoned version of Justice walked in. They were almost identical except this man had a head full of silver hair and a few wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. He slapped his white straw hat against his denim-clad thigh then hooked it near the door. “I smelled pancakes all the way down to the barn.” He swiped off his work boots on the welcome rug and came to stick out his hand for Egan to shake.
“Good to see you, Owl.”
“Glad you’re here, Egan. And this here must be Novah.” He turned his attention to her, giving her a pleasant smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Finley and Rita.” He patted Finley’s shoulder who’d stopped drawing to dig into her pancake. “Bout time I got to put a face to the name.”
“I’m sure I’ve talked your ear off.” Rita beamed which made Novah curious. She hadn’t seen her mom this flushed in a long time. And the way Owl responded with a dimpled grin only solidified Novah’s curiosity.
He sat down next to his son, forked a large piece of pancake and shoved it into his mouth. He swallowed the bite with a gulp of coffee. “Do we need to be worried, Egan?”
Egan said to Rita, “Do you mind taking Finley for a walk?”
“Sure. She loves early morning walks on the farm, don’t you?”
Finley slid out of the chair and eagerly met her grandmother at the door. “I’m ready. I’ll be back, Mommy.”
Novah waved and when the door was closed behind the pair, Egan finally answered Owl’s question. “I don’t know. I tried to call Dave Banner. Hopefully, he’ll call me back.”
Justice pushed his empty plate away and said, “That bastard Langley needs to be castrated. The man can’t keep his dick—”
Owl elbowed his son’s arm. “Watch your language. We have a lady present.”
Clearing his throat, Justice looked at Novah apologetically. “Sorry, ma’am. But the man has a reputation of being someone who can’t keep his fly zipped. Egan told me about the woman being pregnant. Langley can play the game, but he can’t take responsibility. Figures.”
“Forgive us if we get a little angry or use crude words. I guess we’re not used to having many females out here on the farm,” Owl said, shoveling more pancake into his mouth. “I’m sorry about your predicament but your mamma certainly has spoiled us over the last few days.”
“You’re safe here,” Justice said.
“Won’t Mr. Langley just let things go?” Novah asked.
Egan and Justice made eye contact, exchanging a silent message. “I hope,” Egan muttered.
“With any luck this’ll all be settled before you leave for Iraq.” Owl downed the remaining coffee in his cup.
Novah sat straight. “Leave? Iraq?” The stress lines around Egan’s mouth told her he hadn’t expected this information to come out. She pushed the plate of untouched pancakes aside. “You’re worrying me.”
He stared into his full cup of coffee for three heartbeats then he looked at her. “I signed a contract to go overseas for a month to train troops on dismantling bombs.”
The breath swooshed out of her lungs. It took her a moment to get her voice
