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“Where did he go? It’s been days since he’s been home.” Beck asked Sparrow as Sparrow began to unload the pickup truck of some feed for the livestock.
“You know Jace does this. He could disappear for days, especially when he’s having episodes. He likes the time away,” Sparrow told him.
Beck looked down the road toward the main entrance to the family farm. It was kind of crowded today, for a weekday. Spring was coming fast, and soon the blueberries and strawberries would be ripe for the taking and all the pickers would be coming out.
“I worry about him and so does Ridge,” Beck said to him as he lifted up two bags of feed, threw them over his shoulder, and headed toward the barn.
“It will be fine,” Sparrow mumbled and then continued to work. It had been difficult for all of them to retire from the service, leaving their lives as Green Berets behind them. Having family out here in Texas had helped, and especially living in a place like Salvation. There were plenty of other men and women in the military still serving or retired, plus a lot of first responders. It was a great place to live and to settle down and, hopefully, to find some peace.
Sparrow thought about his cousins, Laverty, Ford, Ghost, and Evan, who also worked on the farm and lived a little ways past their ranch, five minutes from here. They were all close, always had been, and they’d made their parents crazy with worry when they all entered the service one by one. They were lucky enough to come back in one piece, except for Trevor.
Sparrow swallowed hard.
“Sparrow,” his other brother Ridge called out to them. He was walking over, carrying the truck keys.
“What’s up?” Sparrow asked, wiping his brow.
“Got to go head back to the house. Got some woman interested in renting the cottage.”
Sparrow and Beck both responded, “Really?”
Ridge nodded his head and then adjusted his brown cowboy hat. “Yup, and from the tone of her voice, she sounds like she’s from the northeast, New York or someplace.”
“Okay, you want to take Beck along?” Sparrow asked.
“No, I can handle this. Once you guys finish up we can call it a day and head out to Casper’s or something. Gunny and the guys are going to be there.”
“Great. Good luck,” Beck said, and then Sparrow watched Ridge walk toward the truck. He wondered who the renters might be and hoped they weren’t nosey or annoying. The cottage was a good distance from the main house, but he could still see the back porch and yard from where their wraparound porch was.
“I wonder who it is and if they’ll like the place?” Beck said aloud, carrying the last two bags of feed.
“What’s not to like?” Sparrow barked. “We renovated the whole thing, and everything is new in it. Plus, the price is cheap.”
“We could have charged more. Plenty of guys are coming back this way and looking to settle down.”
“Well, it’s a good twenty minutes form the main town. Not everyone likes that, and the only two ranches are ours and our cousins’ place.”
“I guess you’re right. We’ll just have to wait and see what Ridge has to say when he gets back,” Beck said to him, and they went about finishing up their work.
* * * *
“I don’t know about this. It’s, like, far from town. Are you sure your friend is trustworthy?” Lois asked Valentina as they waited in the long driveway to the small, nice-looking cottage. It was out in the middle of nowhere, with trees and gorgeous greenery. Not far to the left was a large, picturesque ranch with livestock and it looked impressive. To the right was another house, just as big but designed differently. They were both stunning and both had the letter B in script on their front gate entrances.
Valentina swallowed hard. She knew Helena back in the police academy in New York. They even worked together for a few years, but then Helena’s mom got sick and she wanted to be closer to her back in Dallas. She got the transfer to the Dallas PD and then went into the special operations unit for the police department. She was tough and always gave Valentina a run for her money when they sparred in the gym together. Helena was already making plans for Valentina to train at some cool dojo, but not until Valentina was fully recovered.
She stretched her arm and felt the ache in her side and her chest. Multiple operations and months of physical therapy and she was feeling almost herself again. Except for the anxiety and occasional nightmares.
“Helena wouldn’t steer us wrong. Look, there’s even a fenced-in yard, which will be perfect for Kenny,” Valentina said and glanced into the back seat to see him sleeping. She swallowed hard. The poor kid and his mother had post-traumatic stress disorder. They were going to meetings with the school this week to see about homeschooling him for a year or two.
“Here comes a big pickup truck. Probably some redneck hillbilly with his teeth missing,” Lois stated, looking wary but trying to act tough.
“I doubt it. Weren’t you paying attention during that drive through town? Seems like something good is in the water. I’ve never seen so many good-looking people in one place,” Valentina said to her and then got out of the car. She glanced at her sister.
“I’ll stay here with Kenny.”
“Don’t you want to walk through and see it? We’ll be living here together and we need to make these decisions together.”
“I trust you,” she whispered.
