Roz Denny Fox - A Maverick's Heart

Zeke didn’t bother to look sheepish. “Hey, buddy,” he said instead, “wait until you get married and see how many big dudes you want snoring all night on the other side of your bedroom wall.”

“I was kidding.” Gavin gave Zeke a friendly fist bump. “Shall we quit jawing and get this SUV unstuck? Or am I the only one tempted by the cinnamon smell of whatever goodies Miz Lila fixed today?” He sniffed the air. “My mouth’s watering from here.”

The others agreed and, outside of Hunter Wright, who moved out of the way but still offered insight on the best way to hook the cable to the mired auto’s front axle, their teamwork made the retrieval short and easy.

Seth helped Zeke rewind the cable onto the winch then scanned the others. “I’m going to drive the Jeep to the house. Who wants a ride?”

“Do you have the key?” Ben asked.

“It’s still in the ignition.”

Zeke, who’d been about to climb into his pickup, stopped. “You left it in the ignition all night?”

Seth frowned. “It wasn’t like anyone could climb in and drive it away. Don’t forget it was rainy and dark, and I had a boy and dog to shepherd as well as carrying Lila, who was woozy after banging her head on the side window.”

“What? She hit her head?” Zeke exclaimed. “Myra is gonna be pissed at you. You led us to believe she was A-OK.”

“Yeah, well she let me know that wasn’t something she wanted to get around and worry her mother. She had a small knot, but the skin wasn’t broken.”

“Boy, Myra’s probably going to say it could’ve been a concussion.”

Seth shrugged. All at once Ben and Gavin, standing near the front of the Cherokee, ducked and flung their arms over their heads. One of them shouted, “Hey, cripes! Incoming! What the hell is that?”

The air stirred as a large bird dived talons first into the culvert and rose again with a screeching rodent. A second, slightly smaller, all-white bird circled above the dumbstruck quintet of men, crying, pyee-pyee, pyee-pyee right before the pair flew off.

“Wow.” Zeke was first to break the silence. “Those were snowy owls, guys. The male made off with a good-size rat.”

By then the others had sufficiently recovered from their initial shock to squint and follow the birds’ flight.

Hunter shifted his stance. “What a sight. I’m glad we had this experience. From the way Myra’s friend Tawana talked about how the owls return here every year to nest... I figured they’d already all gone north.”

“Are they dangerous?” Gavin asked. “I think that second one grazed my head.”

Zeke watched Gavin scrub a hand through his crew cut. “They don’t attack humans, dude. They do rid our ranchlands of pests like mice, rats and voles. Myra and I had a tug-of-war with a huge male once who tried to make off with her minipig, Orion.”

Ben muffled an expletive. “Not in your kitchen, right? Then again, who keeps a pig in their kitchen?”

Zeke socked his pal’s arm. “Hey, a pet is a pet is a pet. And the day it happened, we had Orion in a pen outside near where we were cutting alfalfa. I told you last night...the little guy grows on you.”

Wisely his friends held their tongues, although not all schooled their doubtful expressions.

“Orion is cute,” Seth said, opening the Cherokee’s door. “Hey, if we want any of that great-smelling breakfast before we leave for the airport, we’d better hop to it.”

Ben and Gavin climbed into the backseat, leaving the front passenger seat for Hunter.

“I’m positive keeping a pig in any part of the house, especially the kitchen, wouldn’t grow on me,” Gavin asserted once they were inside the SUV and out of Zeke’s hearing.

After starting the engine, Seth glanced behind him. “Is a pig any worse than goldfish or parrots or snakes?”

“Okay, I see your point. To each his own,” Gavin muttered.

Hunter turned to address his one-time regiment buddies. “If any of us fell in love with a pig owner like Zeke did, we’d change our minds. Love short-circuits brain cells.”

They all laughed as Seth parked near the entrance to the B and B.

The others piled out of the Cherokee. Without waiting for Zeke, all but Seth climbed the steps and went inside. He noticed Lila’s son at the side of the building, tossing a baseball in the air. Even though the boy wore an old mitt on his left hand, he missed catching three times out of three. Ghost chased after the dropped ball and carried it back to the kid.

“Hiya, Rory,” Seth called, pausing to lean on the handrail. “You need to teach Ghost to throw the ball back to you.” He grinned. “Are you on a team or just goofing around?”

Rory took the ball from Ghost and wiped dog slobber on his pants, his shoulders sagging as he squinted at Seth. “I wanna join the team my best friend is on. Mom first said it was too ’spensive. But last night she said she’ll try to figure out how I can play. Were you in Little League when you were my age?”

“What’s your age? Eight?”

“I’m nine,” Rory said, puffing up his chest. “Since last month.”

“Hmm. At nine I played on a junior boy’s city league. In junior high, high school and college my brother and I were on school teams. Do you watch the pros? We grew up going to see the Boston Red Sox.”

“That’d be cool. I like to watch games.”

Zeke drove up, parked beside Lila’s Cherokee and vaulted from his pickup. “Hi, Rory,” he hollered. “Hey, did your mom finally sign you up for Little League?” he asked, bounding over to stand beside his twin.

“Not yet. And I’m not very good. Even if Mom finds money so I can join Kemper’s team, I probably won’t get to play in a real game.”

Zeke clapped Seth on the back. “You should get this guy to give you tips while he’s staying here. He racked up awards and trophies playing baseball. In college he had scouts after him. We all thought he’d end up in the majors. He was definitely good enough.”

Before his brother or Rory could comment, the front door opened and Myra stepped out onto the porch. “There you guys are. Zeke, Lila invited us to join the men for breakfast here. It’ll save us driving into town to the café and give you a last few minutes with your friends.”

“That’d be great if it’s no trouble for Lila.” Zeke hurried up the steps. He kissed Myra soundly even as she leaned over the porch rail to address Rory.

“Your mom says to bring Ghost and come get ready for school. It’s supposed to be sunny, so she’ll load your bike and you can ride to the café after school.”

“Isn’t there a cattlemen’s meeting at the café today?” Zeke asked. “Is it lunch or supper?”

“The meeting starts at three. Probably more like supper by the time everyone orders and eats. Why?”

“I thought if it was a late lunch I’d eat more breakfast,” Zeke said.

His brother swept by him and Myra. “You’d better get inside fast, dude. If your buds get a jump on us there’ll only be crumbs left. Those three eat like there’s no tomorrow.”

Myra waited for Rory, but Zeke followed Seth and said softly, “Where they’ve been, no tomorrow is often the case.”

Seth looked guilty. “Sorry, Zeke, that was a thoughtless comment.”

“It’s okay. I think about the guys we lost from my unit whenever war memories rise up to smack me in the face. My arm injury’s nothing compared to guys like Hunter who lost limbs. Or others who lost everything.” Zeke’s expression sobered even more.

“I didn’t mean to remind you of the bad stuff.” Seth gripped Zeke’s good shoulder and squeezed. “All of that’s behind you now. You own a slice of what Hunter calls God’s country. Hey, you’ve never mentioned—uh, do you suffer flashbacks or anything?” Seth lowered his voice as he asked because Myra, Rory and Ghost bustled into the foyer, where the two men still lingered.