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“Maggie Georgiana, you stop throwing those glasses.” Hannah reached down at the same time Jake did, and they bumped into each other. “Oh!”
He laughed, then said, “Sorry, I should have been watching what I was doing.”
He handed Mae the glasses, kneeling next to her. The baby leaned out to touch the pig.
“Do you like piggies?” He looked up at Hannah. “Do you mind if Millie says hello without licking, maybe just a snort?”
“Oh no, not at all. She lives on a farm, after all!” She warned Mae in a stern tone, “Be nice to Millie.”
Emma knelt next to the stroller, helping her to greet Millie, instead of grabbing at the pig like she wanted to. When the pig snorted, Mae squealed in delight, which made the pig snort some more. Mae shook with laughter.
“You know, Millie can do tricks just like a dog. She can even play dead.”
“She’s a really good pig,” Hannah said, although she was the first pet pig she’d ever met.
“I promised a buddy that if I ever had a ranch, I’d get some pigs.” He rubbed Millie’s chin again. “So now, I have an eighty-pound pig living in my house.”
Mae picked up one of her toys and pressed the button, which started playing a nursery song. When Jake started singing along, Hannah couldn’t help but stare at the Marine. He must’ve read her thoughts, because he shrugged. “I had younger siblings.”
She smiled at the thought of Jake taking care of his little brothers or sisters. She thought about the kids she went to high school with, but couldn’t remember a Malloy. “Would I know any of them?”
He shook his head. “Probably not my brothers, but you might know my sister, Julia?”
Hannah did know the woman who’d dated Jesse for a split-second, just long enough to sour friendships for good.
“Julia Ryland?”
“Yes, she’s my half-sister. That’s how I know the Boudreaus.”
The pieces came together.
“Tim Hooley said you two were friends.”
“Did he?” He chuckled, then added, “We lived in the same neighborhood, growing up.”
She nodded, things suddenly making much more sense. “Didn’t you live in that big house on Pine Street?”
He nodded. “Yeah, my family still does.”
He didn’t elaborate, and Hannah didn’t know what else to ask. Maybe he really had been thinking of going on a walk and didn’t want a gab session. She walked in silence as Emma pushed the stroller.
“So, what grade are you in, Emma?” he asked.
Hannah wanted to stay mad at him, but as he walked his pig, asking her daughter about her teachers, she couldn’t help but soften… at least a little.
“What’s your favorite subject?” he asked, as if he really wanted to know the answer. He seemed relaxed, even with his hands folded behind his back, the leash loose between him and Millie.
As the road sloped down, he pointed in the other direction. “Do you see the river, over the hill?”
She looked where he was pointing. Through the trees she could see the river bluffs, and a metal trestle crossing the water.Keep out – Private Propertysigns were posted along both sides of the road.
“This is the Gundersons’ property, up here.” He continued to walk, not concerned by the signs. “Ryan’s place is beyond that hill, over there.”
Hannah could just see the rooftop. For a moment, she wished things hadn’t changed. Once Rosie had her wedding, things were never the same. Soon Olivia had gone off to college, then Charlie, and then Georgie and Sam got married. Moving into town had been a sad day for her and Emma both.
As she looked out at the familiar sunset, tears welled up in her eyes.
“You okay?” he asked.
