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Chapter 10
Brady checked his phone every few minutes just to make sure he hadn’t missed a text from Maggie. It got to be close to five o’clock, and when he hadn’t received a message she’d landed successfully, he gave her a call.
“Oh Brady, we just landed, and I was just going to text you. There was a delay on my flight from LA. I haven’t met Father Salvador yet, but we must wait before we start to unload. We’re still taxiing.”
“Thank God, I was beginning to get worried when I hadn’t heard.”
“Everything’s a mess. The airports, all the canceled flights—it’s just awful. LA was a zoo, and I’m really glad finally to be on the ground. Every single seat was taken. In fact, it was oversold. They were offering lots of money to take over places, but there was no way I was going to give up my seat. By the looks of it, I don’t know when I’d find another flight out. But I’m here, and I’m glad you called. I miss you so much.”
“When you make your contact, you also text me. And again when you’re on the way to your lodging. Then I want you to call me when you get settled in, and I don’t care what time it is, okay?”
“Okay, I promise. Is there something wrong?” she asked.
“No, sweetheart, but I need to go over a couple of things with you that I don’t want to do right now. So, when you have some privacy, we need to have a short conversation. But I’m glad you’re safe, and I look forward to talking to you later on, okay?”
“You got it, Mr. Studly. And thanks for letting me come.”
Brady was glad at least he’d made contact with her. The delay was reasonable, but of course his mind had gone crazy over all the things that could have gone wrong. He shifted gears and began readying himself and Emma for the dinner with Riley and Cassie.
He picked some vegetables from the garden for a salad. He had fresh spinach, tomatoes that were absolutely the sweetest cherry tomatoes he’d ever grown in his life, fresh celery, some zucchini, and a fistful of herbs he picked at random. Then he grabbed a couple of wild boar steaks from the freezer, grabbed a two-pound bag of boar, venison, and blood sausage he’d made himself, and picked up a jar of venison jerky he’d actually created for Riley but hadn’t gotten around to sending it over to his friend. He’d soaked it in aged bourbon before completing the drying process and the meat was so tender and so delicious he had to restrain himself from eating too much at one time.
It gave him the runs.
Emma was changing her clothes after her shower, running in to check on the baby chicks off and on as she got dressed. Everybody seemed to be healthy. Brady looked for chicks that were slowing down or not eating or drinking, and it appeared that all ten of them were going to do just fine. Since he and Emma would be leaving the property, he was going to leave Tate inside the house to protect everything, but he would have to close the door to the bathroom because he just wasn’t sure how Tate would react if they were gone and he was left alone with the babies. He didn’t want the drama of coming back to find out that Emma’s little darlings were dog treats for Tate.
“Come on, sweetheart. We got to get over to Riley’s. I can’t wait an hour or two while you get dressed and finish your fiddling with the chicks.”
“I’m ready, Daddy. Just have to put on my shoes. Can you tie them?”
“Absolutely. Sit down here.” She sat on the edge of his bed while he laced up her pink high-top canvas shoes complete with yellow shoelaces. She’d been going through a phase of loving pink and yellow together. He wondered if all little girls did these silly things he so enjoyed watching Emma do. He imagined that, as a child, Maggie would have been quite similar. Emma was bright, probably the most precocious little girl he’d ever known.
“There you go. All done.”
“Can we bring one or two of the baby chicks with us?”
“No, sweetheart. They’ve got to stay here. They eat and drink water all the time. And when they get tired, they have to sleep together and stay warm. If we take them outside of this little room, they’ll get too cold, and they’ll die.”
Emma adopted a horrified look on her little face. “Do I hurt them by picking them up and petting them?” she asked, looking worried for the answer she might get.
“No, sweetheart, you don’t. The heat of your body keeps them warm. They like nestling in your hands, don’t they?”
Emma nodded.
“But it’s better for the babies to stay together, and this way, we know they’ll be safe while we’re gone.”
Riley greeted themat the door when they arrived. He handed Brady two long-neck beers.
“What’s this? You trying to get me drunk? I don’t drink two at once,” Brady said.
“Oh, come on. You drink the first one in like thirty seconds, and then this is so you’ll have the second one and I don’t have to get up to get it for you. Just relax, we’re going to have a good time, and if you don’t feel like going home, Cassie’s already said you guys can spend the night.”
“No can do. We brought home ten baby chicks, and I got Tate at home watching over things. But he’s not going to like being left alone all night long. And I don’t trust him with those babies.”
Riley took back the second beer Brady returned to him. “Okay, if you want to run this kind of a tight ship, you go ahead. I’m going to have me some fun.”
Brady picked Emma up and carried her on his shoulders.
“Uncle Riley, you guys need to come over and see our new babies. They are so cute. I’ve got three oranges and three speckled, and Daddy bought some black-and-white babies that have chocolate eggs!”
