Rachel Lee - A Soldier's Homecoming

She said it more like a statement than a question. Ethan hesitated, not sure whether to lie, and that hesitation apparently gave him away.

“You’re…you’re his son, aren’t you?”

Slowly Ethan nodded. He hadn’t expected to feel gut-punched, hadn’t expected to feel his stomach quiver nervously. He had thought very little could fill him with fear any longer. But he felt fear now, as if everything rested on this small woman’s decision.

There was an instant, just an instant, when she seemed to gather herself; then her smile steadied again. “That’s wonderful. I’m surprised he never mentioned you.”

“He doesn’t know.”

She nodded, almost a rocking movement. “I see. Well, then, this will certainly be a great day for him.”

“I wish I were sure of that.”

A little laugh escaped her. “I am.”

“You’re not upset?”

She tilted her head to one side. “Micah was forty-two when I met him. I’d have to be a foolish woman indeed to think I was his first and only love.”

Tension seeped out of Ethan, allowing him to smile at last. “Thank you.”

“Come inside. He’s in the upper pasture checking on the sheep, but he’ll be back soon.” She turned and gestured to Gage to join them.

“I’m just the transportation,” Gage called. “Don’t let me get in the way.”

“You’re never in the way. But if you want to go home to Emma, we can take care of him.”

“You’re sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Gage waved and drove back down the long ranch road, trailing a cloud of dust in his wake.

Leaving the laundry, Faith took Ethan’s hand and gently urged him toward the door. “This is remarkable,” she said. “Absolutely remarkable.”

He thought the only truly remarkable thing was that this woman, who had never seen him before, was so ready to accept him and take him in.

Inside, she motioned him to the kitchen table. “Coffee?”

“I’d love some.”

She put a pot on the stove to brew, then sat facing him, her eyes drinking in every detail. “It’s strange, but I feel like it’s fifteen years ago and I’m meeting Micah for the first time.”

“I didn’t know I looked so much like him.”

“Except for the beard.” She nodded, her fingers twisting together. “So tell me about yourself, about your mother. Or you can wait for Micah, so you don’t have to do it twice.”

“I…” He hesitated. Then he said frankly, “I’m not used to talking about myself much.”

“Then let me tell you about us.” She seemed comfortable with that, and he was grateful. “We met and married about fifteen years ago. I have a daughter by a previous marriage, and together we have two daughters, twins. Micah saved my life.” Her eyes darkened with memory, but he didn’t ask, allowing her to tell her story in her own way.

She shook herself a bit, then smiled. “You also have an uncle here. He and his family live on a ranch a few miles from here.”

“An uncle?”

“Micah’s brother, Gideon. They didn’t grow up together, but you’d never guess it now. You’ll like him, I’m sure. He’s a born horse whisperer, and he mainly trains and breeds horses these days. His wife is also a deputy, Sara Ironheart.”

“Interesting family.”

“To put it mildly.” Faith smiled. “And now we have you. I’m the only ordinary person in the lot.”

“Ordinary?”

She shrugged. “I’ve never done anything special. Everyone else has.”

“I don’t consider anything I’ve done special.”

“Really?” She didn’t look as if she quite believed him. “There’s something about you that makes me think otherwise. Something like Micah. You’ve had a hard life.”

“Everyone has.”

“Not like that.” She reached out unexpectedly and patted the back of his hand. “You can talk to Micah about it. He’s the most understanding man in the world.”

Connie sat both girls at the table while her mother set about making some hot chocolate to soothe them. But Connie wasn’t about to be soothed.

Jody was crying, and Connie gave her a tissue. “I’ll call your mom, Jody, then I’ll drive you home, okay?”

The little girl nodded and sniffled.

After calling Jody’s mother, telling her nothing but that Jody was going to be with Sophie for a bit, she joined them at the table.

“Now tell me everything. Every single thing you remember,” Connie said gently. But she wasn’t feeling gentle at all. At that moment she felt as close to murder as she ever had, even when her ex-husband had beaten her.

“It was a man in an old car,” Sophie said. She was scared, but not as scared as Jody, for some reason.

“He followed us,” Jody said, hiccupping.

“Followed you? How?”

“He drove real slow,” Sophie said. “We kinda noticed it, so we looked.”

Connie’s heart slammed. “And then?”

Jody sniffled again. “He saw us looking at him, and he called out for Sophie.”

“By name?”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. “But I remembered what you said about strangers. So we started to run away from the car, and he yelled he just wanted to talk to me.” Her eyes seemed to fill her face. “We got really scared when he started to drive after us, so me and Jody cut across the backyards.”

For an instant, terror struck Connie so hard she felt light-headed. Her mind raced at top speed, trying to deal with dread and speculations, all of them enough to make her nearly sick.

Connie’s mother spoke. “Come get your hot chocolate, girls. It’s ready.”

Connie grabbed for the phone receiver on the wall and dialed the emergency number. Velma’s familiar voice became an anchor.

“What’s up, honey?”

“A stranger went after my daughter and her friend. I need someone at my house right now.”

Velma disconnected without another word. Slowly Connie hung up the phone and attempted to gather herself. When she felt composed enough, she turned back to the girls.

“What did he look like?” she asked as the girls politely took mugs from Julia, who then began to put cookies on a plate for them.

“Ugly,” Sophie answered. “He had a dirty beard. His clothes were old.”

Connie’s thoughts immediately flew to the stranger she’d driven into town just yesterday. Ethan, that was his name. But his beard hadn’t been dirty. Nor had he been wearing old clothes. But who knew what he might be wearing today?

“Did he say anything else?”

“No,” Sophie said, returning to the table. “We ran away.”

“Can you tell me anything about his car?”

Jody sniffed away the last of her tears and came back to the table with her mug. Julia put the plate of cookies in front of the girls.

“Brown,” Sophie announced. “But not dark like a crayon.”

“Was it big or small?”

“Not as big as a sheriff car, but bigger than our car.”

That was quite a range. “Anything else you can remember?”

Both girls shook their heads.

“Okay, you enjoy your cookies and cocoa while we wait for a deputy.”

By that point, both girls were more interested in their cookies than in what had scared them. Ah, for the resilience of the young, she thought.

Because she was still angry and terrified. She wanted to grab her gun and go hunting for this man who had scared her daughter. She wanted to make sure he never again frightened a child.

Which was precisely why she joined them at the table and tried to smile, tried to cover all the protective, angry feelings inside her.

“It’s going to be okay. Another deputy is coming to help, and we’ll find him.”

God willing.

Gage was halfway back to the office when he got the radio call from Velma.