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“Well, Mike you bring her over to the house so we can meet properly, I live at the big house right by the front of the ranch.” Maggie turned to leave, but he reached out and touched her arm.
“Thank you. You seem to be the person we need right now.”
Mike wanted someone to help Sydney and this woman had an aura around her even his own mother didn’t possess. Maybe because she wasn’t worried about the shift in behavior his mom saw with Syd. Or it may be her way. No matter the reason, four women were now serving food up to the people wandering in and this woman needed a rest.
“Can’t you stay and sit down and talk for a bit?” Sydney asked as she chewed her food. “Everyone is always going somewhere here.”
“Sure, I can sit a minute. The girls don’t need me perched and prodding to get supper served.” Maggie pulled the chair out and took a seat at their table. “Josh is always saying I need to remember to rest. Guess he can’t help it, but I like going.”
“Going where?” Sydney asked with her head tilting a bit to the side.
“Just going, you ever like that in school? My own mama used to scold me for having ants in my pants,” the woman said with a sigh. “Unless I have a book in my hand I can’t sit still and even then I tend to only read before bed. There’s always so much to do. When Josh left for the Army and it was me and his daddy we had a good time, but he had a bad heart so it was mostly playing games around a table after he’d worked too hard out with the animals.”
“Animals?” Sydney asked.
“They’re all gone now, the last thing Josh wants to deal with is a bunch of sheep and lambing each spring,” she said. “Though that part was fun. All the new little ones, but in a way we have that with the club now. I went from having one child and a hundred sheep to more sons and daughters than I can shake a stick at. Best part is all the grandbabies now.”
“Your husband passed?” Mike asked and she gave him a slight nod. “Our condolences.”
“He passed and Josh came home with a woman near destroyed,” she said glancing back toward the kitchen area where Roadkill stood with a hand on her lower back as she dished up helpings of asparagus to men whose eyes narrowed at first until she gave them a warning glare. “Now Novalee is about to be a mother of two.”
“I haven’t met too many of the members yet. We’re staying at Creek—Hack and Preacher Girl’s house.” Mike took a bite of the creamy homemade mac and cheese trying his best not to moan in pleasure from unprocessed gooey delight. “We getting more of this on Easter, right?”
“With that endorsement, yes. And don’t worry, you’ll meet everybody soon enough. They don’t usually allow strangers in their clubhouse without meeting them. They are all upstairs in church right now. Josh and the others will be coming out soon.”
“Church?” Sydney questioned glancing over to the staircase.
“Not that kind,” Maggie explained. “More of a big old meeting where they discuss big things.”
“We do that at school in a big circle on the carpet.”
“What grade are you in Sydney?”
“I’m in third grade.” Sydney was sticking with the chicken nuggets as she snagged a second, finally finding her appetite Mike hadn’t even noticed was gone until he saw her finally eating. His mind on a thousand things, he’d passed her food and never acknowledged the fact she wasn’t eating.
“Then you’re old enough to know you need to eat your veggies,” Maggie said with a soft tone hiding a bite behind it that had Syd examining the bright green asparagus to determine the best way to eat it and Maggie gave her a hint by taking a spear from her plate and biting off the tip.
A commotion by the stairs caused by several men clamoring down and into the open area triggered a roar through the place. Syd froze for a moment until Maggie tapped the edge of her plate by the mac and cheese.
“They do change the volume in the room don’t they,” she said with a smile. “I don’t even remember what silence is anymore. At least you always know where they are.”
“We have one boy in class that runs around all the time,” Syd said. “He’s like a puppy with the zoomies if he doesn’t get his medicine.”
Creek stood by a taller man with a shock of red hair that could only be Red the president. His presence larger than most in the room even though he wasn’t the biggest man around. That was the man who ducked as he came from the stairs and wandered over to the front door and let out a loud whistle that had smaller feet come rushing over to the kitchen area. Sydney’s eyes watched as a girl about her age rushed in and wrapped her arms around his waist and locked her leg on around his like a possum taking a ride. Then a boy a little bit younger was scooped up in his arms and locked on his hip. The asparagus in her hand trembled for a bit as she followed them as he toted the kids, too old be carried in Mike’s opinion, toward the kitchen and released them to their mother Nightingale who reached up and snagged a chaste kiss from the man.
“He is a sight to see at first,” Maggie said as she captured Syd’s attention again. “Probably the gentlest one of them all and don’t let him find a stray animal until he gets his new house built or his fiancé will go crazy.”
“He their dad?” Syd questioned.
“He will be their stepdad,” Maggie said.
“I’ve got a stepdad,” Syd’s eyes became down cast as she reached for her fork to poke at the mac and cheese.
“Not all of them are good,” Maggie said. “Are they?”
“No,” Sydney replied, her voice hushed.
“Good thing you’re here with us and your daddy,” Maggie said and Syd nodded. “Bjorn is good too, my Josh wouldn’t allow him near us if he wasn’t.”
