He still preferred to keep to himself, even though he liked the crew working on the wind machines. Every person had a story and some were better left in the past. To the last man, none of them pried, just accepted whatever was put before them at face value.
Satisfied with his work, Erik took a step back and grinned. This was the last machine they were putting up in this area.
For several weeks they’d been working on a century-old farm located out of Walla Walla, Washington, near the Oregon border. From his view up on the ridge where the machines were placed, he could see Ethan Weber baling hay while his son Zach came along behind stacking the bales. The twosome owned and operated the well-tended farm. Beyond the acres of hay, Erik could see rolling fields of wheat waving in the gentle afternoon breeze.
Although where he grew up in Ontario wasn’t that far from the Walla Walla Valley, Erik had never ventured that far north. He was surprised when their crew pulled into the area to find a beautiful green valley filled with apple orchards, vineyards, acres of sweet onions, and field after field of wheat.
Not a large city by any means, Walla Walla was a nice small town with friendly people and a selection of stores and businesses. Although he rarely ate anything other than fast food, he tried a few of the local restaurants and found the food to be quite good.
The crew would be packing up tomorrow and moving out the next day. Erik wasn’t sure he was ready to move on. There was something peaceful here that whispered to his soul, tugging at him to stay a while longer. He wondered if he could find some other work in the area until he was ready to move on.
“What do you think, Boone? Should we go or stay?” Erik asked, bending down to rub the dog on his head, where he panted in the shade made by Erik’s pickup. Getting a plastic bowl out of the pickup bed, Erik took a bottle of water out of a cooler and poured some in the bowl then set it in front of the dog. Giving him a look of appreciation, the dog lapped at the water before licking Erik’s hand.
“You’re welcome, buddy.” Erik scratched the dog behind his ears and patted his back. “What do you think? Go or stay?”
The dog barked twice.
“Stay?”
The dog barked again and wagged his tail.
“Okay, stay it is.” Erik smiled. Now he’d just have to find another job and somewhere to live beyond the cheap motel where they had been staying. It was fine for a few weeks, but not somewhere he wanted to be on a long-term basis.
The crew was just finishing up their work for the day, when Zach drove up the hill and surveyed the project. He spoke with the manager for a few minutes before walking over to Erik. They had talked several times the past few weeks and Erik genuinely liked Zach and his dad. They were good, honest people.
“Hey,” Erik said, grasping the hand Zach extended to him. “What do you think?”
“It really changes the landscape, doesn’t it,” Zach said, looking at the row of wind turbines on the ridgeline.
“That it does,” Erik said studying the altered landscape. “Hard to miss these.”
Zach laughed then turned a more serious look to Erik. “Say, Dad and I are looking for some extra help this summer, through wheat harvest. Is that something you might be interested in?”
Erik couldn’t believe the perfect timing of Zach’s question. Relaxing his stance, he smiled. “I would be interested. In fact, I just made the decision this afternoon to see if I could find another job here in the area. Your Walla Walla Valley has grown on me and I’m not quite ready to leave it behind.”
Zach grinned. “Well, that’s great to hear. I know from what you’ve said, you have farming experience and you seem like an upright kind of guy. If you don’t mind, we’ll do a quick background check, have you fill out a brief employment form and be ready to go. The position includes room and board and you know we don’t mind having Boone around. He gets along great with Rose.”
Erik nodded, thinking of the way the two dogs liked to play together. He was surprised Rose had been so accepting of a strange dog on her place, but she and Boone seemed to be in puppy love.
“That sounds just fine.”
Zach studied Erik. He knew Erik was running from his past, but the guy was well-spoken, hardworking, and the project manager couldn’t stop raving about what an asset he had been to the crew. With his sister coming home for the summer, Zach knew he’d have his hands full and they were really going to need some extra help. Despite his quiet nature, Zach trusted Erik. His gut feeling was that Erik was a good guy and would be a great help to them for the summer.
“If you want to swing by the house on your way out, we can get the paper work out of the way. Are you available to start tomorrow?”
“Absolutely,” Erik said, looking forward to moving out of the motel and eating something that didn’t come wrapped in paper or foil.
Thirty-minutes later, Erik walked up the neatly swept steps of the farmhouse porch and rang the doorbell.
A woman in her mid-sixties opened the door and gave him a once over. Despite the cool greeting, her eyes twinkled with warmth and a smile cracked the corner of her lips.
“Well, don’t stand out there all day, come on in,” she opened the door wide and took a step back. “You must be Erik. Zach told me to expect you. He and Ethan will be in soon. I’m Ethan’s sister, Ralene. Everyone calls me Lena.”
“Nice to meet you,” Erik said, taking off his ball cap and holding it in his hands. He felt like he was under intense scrutiny and wasn’t sure he would pass muster. Shutting the door behind him, Erik swiped his boots on the rug at his feet before stepping into the foyer.
“Come on back to the kitchen and I’ll pour you a glass of tea,” Lena said, leading the way to the back of the house. Delicious smells of dinner cooking made Erik’s stomach growl. He couldn’t think when he had last eaten a home-cooked meal. He was fair in a kitchen, but most of the motels where he stayed didn’t have kitchenettes and he was usually too tired to think about cooking when he finished for the day anyway.
Lena turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow.
“Sorry. It smells like you’ve got a fine meal in the makings for dinner,” Erik said, his face flushing red.
“At least you’ve got a good sense of smell,” Lena said, motioning him toward a big farm table in the spacious kitchen. She put ice in a glass, filled it with tea and set it in front of him along with a plate of chocolate chip cookies, still warm from the oven.
“Thank you,” Erik said, taking a long drink of the tea before biting into the soft cookie. He closed his eyes, better to appreciate the homemade goodness of the treat. It had been so long since anything had tasted that good to him.
“You’re welcome,” Lena said, stirring something in a pot on the stove. “So, Zach said you’ll be staying on through the summer. That will take a load off that boy’s mind. They’ve been shorthanded this spring and with Madelyn coming home, he’s going to have his hands full.”
“Madelyn?” Erik asked, taking a bite out of his second cookie.
“My niece. She got herself into a bad situation and needs to come home for a while this summer. Since she and her brother are both as stubborn as the day is long, things can get quite interesting with the two of them,” Lena chatted while she washed a head of lettuce and made a green salad.
“Are she and Zach close to the same age?” Erik asked, struggling to remember how to make polite conversation. It had been a while since he’d needed to, and he felt out of practice.
“Zach is two years older, but she thinks she can do anything he can, only better. She isn’t shy about making her opinions known, either.”
“Can she?” Erik surprised himself with the question. “Do things better, I mean?”
Lena laughed. “Sometimes, yes.”
Erik chuckled and took another drink of tea. Before he could start on his third cookie, Zach and Ethan came in the kitchen door. Striding across the room, Zach extended his hand to Erik, who stood when the men came in.
�
�Sorry to keep you waiting, Erik. Had a little problem with the baler we were trying to fix,” Zach shook Erik’s hand again. “Dad, you’ve met Erik before. Why don’t you two talk while I get the paperwork from the office?”
“Yes, we’ve talked a few times,” Ethan said, shaking Erik’s hand before sitting down at the end of the table. “Zach says you’re willing to stay on and help us this summer. Says you’ve got some farming experience?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” Erik said, hoping he wouldn’t have to go into details. At Ethan’s probing look, Erik swallowed down a sigh. “I grew up on a farm in Ontario, Oregon. My family has been farming it for several generations. We raised mostly hay, corn, some wheat and sometimes we put in a few experimental fields.”
“What kind of experimental fields?” Ethan asked, warming to the subject of new farming ideas.
“Seed,” Erik said. “One year we raised zinnias, another carrots. We tried sunflowers and marigolds. It was more for fun than anything. We used a field that was too small to grow much else. I was thinking about putting in some grapes before…” Erik’s voice trailed off as he remembered all the plans that died right along with Sheila. He lost more than his wife and unborn baby that day. He’d lost his ability to dream.
“Before what, son?” Ethan asked, genuinely interested.
“Before my wife and baby died and I left the farm.”
Lena stopped her work and looked at Erik with teary eyes. She didn’t say a word, but the pain in his face and voice was enough to make her sniffle before she turned back to her work.
“I’m sorry, Erik. For a young man like you, that must have been very difficult. Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“No, sir,” Erik found that he didn’t mind talking about his loss as much as he once would have. He hadn’t shared his story with anyone since he left home. It actually felt good to talk about what happened. “My wife, Sheila, and I had been married for ten years and wanted a baby so badly. We’d given up trying when we found out she was expecting. A boy. She was six months pregnant when she ran into a feed truck at the end of our lane. She died on the way to the hospital. I just couldn’t stay on the farm after that.”
Ethan leaned across the table and patted Erik on the shoulder.
“I’m very sorry, Erik. That is a terrible thing to go through. My wife was killed a few years ago, so I can understand your grief and loss.”
“What happened to your wife, sir?”
“She was shot in cold blood in our car on her way home from the grocery store.”
Erik couldn’t think of an appropriate response to something so harsh and brutal. “I’m so sorry,” he finally managed to say.
“I know Elaine is in a better place and she’ll be waiting for me to join her someday. I just hope the man who shot her will be brought to justice.”
“I’m truly sorry, Mr. Weber. What a tragedy,” Erik said, realizing him and Ethan had much in common, except where he had the gift of closure, Ethan still waited. “The man who shot her has never been caught?”
“No. I’m starting to wonder if he ever will be,” Ethan said, his face registering his emotions of fear, despair and raw pain.
Zach hurried back into the kitchen and sat down next to Erik with a simple form for him to fill out. Completing that task, Ethan insisted he stay for dinner and Erik was not going to argue.
Lena served up pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, hot rolls and green salad.
“This is the best meal I’ve had in years,” Erik said, slathering butter on another roll.
“Well, for that compliment, I think you get the first piece of pie.” Lena said, while Zach and Ethan grinned.
Half an hour later as Erik scraped the last bite of strawberry pie off his plate, he came to the conclusion agreeing to work for the Webers was one of the best decisions he’d made recently. If he got to eat like this on a regular basis, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.
“That was a fine, fine meal, Lena. Thank you very much, and thank you for inviting me to stay,” Erik said, insisting on helping clear the table. As he did, the phone rang and Zach answered it.
“You’re where?” Zach hollered. “What did you do a fool thing like that for? Why didn’t you give Dad or me a call? Yes, I’ll be right there.”
Slamming down the phone, Zach grabbed his keys and hurried to the door. “That was Maddie. It seems my mule-headed sibling is at the airport and needs a ride.”
“What?” Ethan said, surprise registering on his face and in his voice. “I thought she wasn’t getting released until next week.”
“Apparently she encouraged them to let her go early. I’ll go get her and be back soon. Lena, can you get her room ready?”
“You bet,” Lena said with a shake of her head as Zach ran out the door and across the yard.
From the kitchen window, Erik watched the trail of dust that followed Zach’s speeding pickup down the road.
“Maddie is your daughter?” Erik asked Ethan as he helped Lena with the dishes.
“Yes,” Ethan said, running a hand through his thinning gray hair. “My headstrong, independent daughter. That girl is going to be the death of me yet.”
Lena laughed and patted her brother’s arm as she walked by.
“If she isn’t, it won’t be for lack of trying.”
Erik helped Lena finish the dishes, wished both she and Ethan goodnight and drove to the motel, wondering about Maddie Weber.
His mind conjured a picture of a tall, solid girl with a stubborn streak and flowing dark hair. She would look like a female version of Zack, which would explain part of the reason why it seemed they antagonized each other.
Erik was in for quite a surprise.
Chapter Four
Maddie lay in bed, knowing she should get up, but enjoying the peacefulness of her old bedroom. She could feel the sunshine sneaking through the blinds behind the ruffled chintz curtains, creating streaks of warmth on her face.
Taking a deep breath, she inhaled the fragrance of home. She could smell fresh cut hay, the invigorating scent of outdoors on the sheets and the distinctive aroma of fresh coffee and crisply fried bacon wafting up the stairs.
Opening an eye, she looked around the room where she spent all her growing up years and smiled. It looked exactly like it had when she left it fourteen years earlier, at the ripe old age of 18.
She thought she knew everything there was to know about life when she packed her bags, loaded her car, drove to Seattle, and broke her mother’s heart. She never wanted to stay in the small town of Walla Walla. She had her sights set on bigger and better things. When the boy she’d fallen in love with her first week at college shattered her heart in a million pieces, she realized she might not be quite as wise and worldly as she originally led herself to believe.
Maddie sighed, wishing she could go back in time and give her 18-year-old self a long lecture about how lucky she was, how much she had, and advise her to enjoy it while it lasted.
She’d give anything to be able to sit with her mama one last time. To smell the sweet floral perfume her mother always wore. To feel her hand, comforting and warm, on her back. To see her face beam a smile filled with love and joy.
Zeus had taken more than just her mother the day he shot Elaine Weber. He’d taken one of Maddie’s few friends.
Growing up a tomboy, Maddie wasn’t interested in anything girlie. Instead of playing with Barbie’s or baby dolls, she played with trucks and footballs. She had a BB gun instead of ballet shoes and spent time in hunter’s safety classes instead of music lessons.
Maddie threw a fit when her mother decorated her bedroom in soft shades of yellow with ruffled curtains and white furniture when she was a freshman in high school. Secretly she was quite pleased. Although the persona she gave the world was tough and tomboy, there was a part of Maddie that thoroughly enjoyed being a girl.
Only Elaine had known Maddie had a soft side.
It had been a challenge for Maddie all her life
to prove she was as good as the boys. At only five-feet tall, petite with blue eyes and golden blond hair, she looked like a perfect little doll. Because people took one look at her and assumed she’d be a prissy female, she worked twice as hard to show them she wasn’t.
Maddie had always found it hard to relate to girls her age. They giggled too much, spent too much time worrying about their clothes and hair, and discussed the most inane things. Maddie hung out with the boys, who treated her like one of the guys, although she never felt like she belonged anywhere. Elaine loved her for who she was and for that Maddie was eternally grateful.
Her mother was the one who encouraged her to follow her dreams. To be whatever she wanted to be. Maddie knew she wasn’t going to pursue a career typical for most females. She was good at analytical thinking, problem solving, and reasoning. With a strong sense of right and wrong, and an ability to read people, it didn’t take long after Maddie started college to decide she wanted to be involved in law enforcement.
Despite her diminutive size, she proved she could handle the job. She was an expert marksman, had a reputation for never quitting, and was loyal to a fault.
Even that wasn’t enough to save Devin.
Maddie sat up and rubbed her eyes. She still missed him, still thought about him. Although she tried to avoid relationships of any type, Devin Suez had gotten to her, working his way into her guarded heart inch by inch until he became a huge part of Maddie’s life. Devin was an All-American boy with a winning smile and gentle heart. How could she not fall in love with him, especially with all the time they spent working together?
Zeus not only took her mother from her, he had taken the man Maddie hoped to marry. Releasing a sigh, Maddie tried to quiet the voices raging in her head that told her, once again, she blew the opportunity to end Zeus once and for all when she didn’t shoot him point blank in the alley.
Being honorable had gotten her nowhere except on extended leave until the knife wound in her shoulder healed. It was going to be a long summer stuck back on the farm with Dad and Zach hovering over her.
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