The sun had crept up by the time Ellen returned home. Jake had gone in the opposite direction to check on the cattle and make sure they withstood the storm without problems, and she put her horse in the corral to graze and cool down. She’d come back and groom the mare after breakfast.
When she stepped inside the house, she smelled sausage cooking, biscuits cooling, and saw Penny mixing blueberries into her pancake batter. Her wispy white hair was pulled back into her customary bun, a little less perfect than usual.
“What’s the damage?” Penny asked.
“Not as bad as I thought it would be. We can take care of a lot of the debris over the weekend, hopefully the water will drain overnight and we’ll assess the crops tomorrow. Avery mentioned last night that everything east of Whisper Creek is flooded.” Which meant she’d lost half her vineyard, unless it drained quickly. Maybe not a complete loss. But she wouldn’t know for a day or two. “Jake’s checking on the cattle right now, Mateo’s meeting him out there. After Rick comes for our patient, we’ll go out and inspect the fields.”
Any damage would take a couple days to truly assess, but the bulk of the work before them was dealing with standing water,clearing fallen trees and branches, and getting the driveway repacked. Between the hail and the subsequent storm, the potholes were too deep for vehicles, and too dangerous for the horses.
“Where’re Avery and Ryan?” she asked as she poured a fresh cup of coffee.
“Ryan and Lyla are feeding the animals,” Penny said. “Avery’s still sleeping. I told her to get up, don’t know if she even heard me. Travis called on the radio—phone lines are still down. He’s heading over with Bobby; they’ll be here for breakfast.”
Ellen put the cracked phone on her charger. “Brock didn’t lie about the evidence. He left this phone behind, and it has copies of all the contracts he stole. I don’t know if it’s going to help us take down Mitchell Robinson and Verdacorp. There might be more on the phone, maybe a history of calls between them, or an incriminating voice message.” That was probably wishful thinking, Ellen thought.
Penny glared at it. “There’s a special level of hell for men like Mitchell Robinson.”
“Do you think Clive knew?” Ellen had always liked Clive, at least until recently. He seemed to be the opposite of his driven, manipulative brother. Yet they worked together, lived on the same ranch, she didn’t see how he wouldn’t know what his brother was up to.
“Clive knows what he wants to know,” Penny said. “Willfully ignorant, that man.”
Ellen checked on Sam; he was still sleeping and had a slight fever, but his pulse was strong. She heard a truck and went outside, hoping it was Rick Perez.
Better. It was Travis, with her son.
She put her mug down on the railing and ran out to greet Bobby. She picked him up out of the passenger seat and hugged him tightly. “I missed you,” she said, then hugged him again and kissed him all over.
“Mom,” he said, grinning but wrinkling his nose. “Put me down!”
She did, then glanced at his bandaged feet and frowned. “What happened?”
“I lost my boots in the muddy field next to the pecan trees. I’m sorry.”
She hugged him again. “I don’t care. I only care that you are home and safe.”
She picked up him again even though he protested and carried him up the stairs before putting him down. Titan and Timber were in the back of the truck. Titan jumped out, and Travis helped Timber get down. He was limping only slightly and seemed happy to be outside. They ran up the porch stairs, Timber only lagging a little behind, and greeted Whiskey as if they hadn’t seen each other in years, and Ellen said, “You know they’re going to be filthy when you get home.”
“That’s fine with me,” Travis said, watching the dogs with a smile.
She looked at her brother-in-law and was pleased to see that he seemed happier and more at peace. She didn’t know exactly what happened with him yesterday when he decided to stop drinking, but whatever it was, she would support him one hundred percent. She would do everything she could to help him succeed.
They went inside. Penny took one look at Bobby and gave him a fierce hug, then pulled out a chair for him. “Sit,” she said, then pulled a cast-iron skillet with both hands from the oven. Her county-famous apple streusel biscuit pie, as she called it. Topped with pecans and brown sugar, it was Bobby’s favorite dish.
“Grandma,” Ellen said, knowing how much time and energy went into making this meal, the biscuits and sausage gravy, the pancakes, the apple streusel, “you’re working too hard.”
“I’ll take Sunday off,” she said and put the streusel in front of Bobby, who grinned ear to ear.
Food was Penny’s love language.
Lyla and Ryan came in from the barn laughing about something, and they washed their hands after Penny told them to set the table.
“Avery still sleeping?” Ellen said as she brought bowls of food to the table.
“Let her sleep,” Penny said. “I’ll keep a plate warm for her.”
They were dishing up breakfast—Bobby had already served up a huge serving of the streusel—when Jake and Mateo came in. “The run-in held,” Jake said as he washed his hands. “Mateo was already out there checking on the cattle when I got there.”
“Jake filled me in on what happened after I left,” Mateo said. “I should have come back. I’m so sorry, Ellen. What an awful experience. Are you sure you’re okay?”
