Pride beaming from clear blue eyes, Eileen nodded. “They all turned out great.”
“Yes. Yes, they did.” She considered her next question carefully. “What’s it like to raise someone else’s child?”
Eileen stopped mid-step, her mouth slightly open, her eyes a little wide, and then exhaling softly, she nodded. “The human heart is an interesting thing. It has the capacity to love endlessly. It doesn’t matter if I carried these children in my womb because they’ve always been under my heart. And,” Eileen hefted a crate with blankets and began to walk, “when you think you couldn’t possibly love any more, the children of your heart start bringing more children into the family and you realize how much more love you have to give.”
“Of course.” Fancy watched this family. Children raised by aunts. A daughter still thinking of, no loving, a mother she never knew. Respect and love abounding. So many similarities and yet so different. Fate sure liked messing with her.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Paul Brady, his pregnant wife and young son were safe and sound and tucked away at his cousin’s house. What was left of the old house that had been in the family for generations was going to have to be razed and rebuilt.
“There’s so much to clean up.” In the passenger seat, Eileen let out a bone-weary yawn. “It’s a miracle that twister didn’t do more damage.”
“That’s for sure.” Sean Farraday shifted in his seat. “Looks like the Brady’s was the only house caught in the path. Some of the other ranchers have felled trees, torn up fencing, and a little wind damage here or there but it could have been so much worse.”
Eileen knew not a single member of the Farraday clan hadn’t felt deep down the fear and sorrow of losing a loved one so unexpectedly. Beyond elated wasn’t strong enough to describe how she felt that the entire Brady family had been found safely huddled in a bathtub under the protective barrier of a small mattress.
“Paul’s brother said they lost a bunch of fencing too.” Sean held onto the steering wheel with one hand and rubbed the back of his neck with the other. “I don’t want to think about how much fun we’re going to have rounding up and sorting cattle.”
Even though she hadn’t done any of the physical labor involved in digging Paul Brady’s family out from under his house, Eileen felt the stress and work she’d done feeding and hydrating what seemed like half of Tuckers Bluff in every sore muscle of her body. “With so many folks needing help with clean up, I should saddle up in the morning and help. Especially since Finn is going to be working with Connor on the roof damage to his stables.”
“As much as I’d love to spend the day in a warm jetted tub, I’m afraid you’re right. We’re going to need all hands on deck to get things back to normal.”
“Yep.” The adrenaline rush of the crazy evening had long ago crashed. Eileen didn’t dare let her head tilt back against the seat or her eyes drift closed for fear she might wind up snoring till morning. Instead she focused on the headlights lighting the way. She was so blasted tired she could barely think straight. And now was certainly not the time to kick around all that had happened over the last couple of days. Not seeing Glenn, not singing to his old arrangements, and certainly not dancing with Sean. How could it be after all these years she’d never danced with Sean? Well, she had danced with him a few times at weddings but those times had always been by strict Irish Catholic standard—him and her and enough room between them for the Holy Ghost. Earlier tonight hadn’t left a sliver of room for a holy photograph. And wasn’t that food for thought?
****
Glenn slid his shirt over his head and tossed it into the corner. He couldn’t remember a day this exhausting in a long while. He’d never met Paul Brady and his family before today and yet, working to remove debris and rubble with the other friends and neighbors from Tuckers Bluff, he couldn’t possibly have been more concerned and fretful for them if they’d been his own relatives.
Unwilling to bother with his pants, Glenn collapsed onto the bed. One helluva day. He didn’t envy the cleanup ahead of the Brady family. Though from what was explained to him, the family tree had strong roots and lots of branches from which to draw on for assistance.
He still couldn’t believe how many people had arrived to help. Every time he glanced toward the main road, more people were coming, and Eileen had taken over as foreman, directing the newcomers to where they could be the most help. This amazing woman never ceased to surprise him. Had she always been so capable? Yes, she’d always had a beautiful voice, and a beautiful heart, but he didn’t remember this woman. The strong woman who could probably command a Marine platoon if given the chance. And with a smile too.
The thought actually brought a grin to his face. Thinking of this day and of Eileen made him smile. A smile from deep down in what used to be an aching heart. First he’d need a good night’s rest, and then he’d work on making some changes in his world. Changes that would keep him smiling for a long time to come.
****
The to-do list in Sean’s mind was growing almost exponentially with every mile they drove. The problem at hand, the only thing he seemed to be able to focus on was the woman across from him in the passenger seat. She’d been a trooper as usual, taking over the directing and nurturing of the friends and neighbors who had dropped everything and come to the aid of the Bradys in a time of need. It was what their community had done for generations and it was one of the things Sean loved about his sister-in-law. And that was his problem. Ever since Finn had put the word “love” in Sean’s mind, everything involving Eileen seemed to revolve around that one word. He loved how she cared for his family, loved how she dealt with adversity, loved how she could mobilize a team in the face of disaster. All admirable qualities that he might love in one of his sons, neighbors, or dogs.
However, when it came to loving the feel of Eileen in his arms, the sway of her hips against his to the rhythms of the music, and the cute way the corners of her mouth tipped north when something made her happy—that was all Eileen and only Eileen. And now, regardless of Finn’s words, Sean was going to have to do something about it.
****
The good thing about spending most of the night tossing and turning is that it made crawling out of bed before dawn to start the day easy. There was no sleep for Eileen to wash out of her eyes. Donning a pair of jeans and work boots, she was in the kitchen packing lunches and scrambling up some breakfast burritos for a light energy boost before everyone headed out the door.
It had been a while since Eileen rode with the family for a work day. Usually she made sure everyone was fed and hydrated and took care of things at home. Today they were spread too thin and there was too much to be done. Already Sean had been on the phone with Sam, who’d reported missing cattle in the pasture closest to his house. Another neighbor, Luke Pendry, also called to say that the tornado had torn a path across his property and the fence between one of his back pastures and Farraday land was down, which meant Pendry and Farraday cattle were most likely off together exploring new territory.
“The horses are loaded in the trailer. We’re going to have to go it alone. King is favoring one foot still. I don’t want to make it worse.” Sean filled his thermos with coffee.
“You have been thinking about retiring him.” Eileen took a long gulp of her morning brew. “Maybe it should be sooner than later.”
“I was thinking the same thing.” Sean blew out a sigh. King was such a great cattle dog, Sean had been slow to bring up a replacement. “Has Finn come out yet?”
“He and Joanna already had their coffee and toast and left for Connor’s.”
“If this doesn’t take near the time I expect it to, I’ll go over and lend a hand.”
“According to Connor, there’s quite the line up of neighbors going to help.” She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about the slow way Sean went about his morning routine told her he was either more worried about King than he’d let on, or he hadn’t had the best of night’s s
leep either.
“I was thinking,” he reached for one of Eileen’s biscuits and slathered on some jam, “might be nice to… uh…” he turned to face her, “go out for a grown up dinner.”
Grown up? As compared to what? It’s not like they’d taken the kids for Happy Meals at McDonald’s on a regular basis. Hell, the nearest McDonald’s was all the way in Butler Springs. And it had been a helluva long time since her nephews were kids.
“You know, just the two of us.” His gaze seemed to struggle to stay level with hers.
Was he asking her on a date? Because if he wasn’t, it sounded suspiciously like one. Did it matter? “Sure,” she managed to eke out. Since she’d relived yesterday’s dance in her head a hundred times trying to fall asleep last night, going to dinner alone with Sean might stop him from robbing her of more sleep. Or not.
“Friday night?” he asked.
“Sure,” she muttered with only a fraction more confidence than the first time.
A smile bloomed on his face. “You ready to go?”
Her mouth muttered, ‘yes’ but she wasn’t all too convinced she was ready for anything reality suddenly seemed to serve up.
The ride to the back pasture wasn’t nearly as long in the truck as it would have been on horseback. Sipping coffee made the silence fit. Despite having learned to rise before the sun, Eileen still didn’t really wake up until after a few cups of coffee and several hours of daylight.
Parking the truck near the first break in the fence, Sean climbed out and unloaded the horses. Saddled up and riding out on the open field, it hadn’t taken long to come across the first stray cows. With the fence down, they were going to need to lead the displaced cattle to the nearest pasture with its fencing intact.
Nudging the horse into a trot, Eileen veered left and Sean turned his horse to the right, ready to gather the cows into a loose herd, except two young bulls picked that moment to butt heads and send the few cows instinctively gathered close scattering in opposite directions. “Marvy,” Eileen muttered under her breath. If this was any indication of the rest of the day, it was going to prove to be really, really long.
All they needed were for a few of the animals to move in the right direction and the others would follow. No one wanted to be the last cow left behind. But so far despite pressure from Sean and her, the cows this morning seemed much more interested in grazing than walking.
Sean came up closer. Rather than ride up on her, he slowed, cutting around, encouraging the cow to move just a bit. Once she moved, a couple of cows began following in the right direction. Eileen refrained from letting go of the reins and doing a fist pump. Together they moved slowly alongside the first group, keeping them from moving too fast or stopping to snack.
Not far ahead, they came across a mama and her calf. Eileen went back and forth, seeing one eye than the other until the mama turned toward the rest of the herd. It seemed for every cow that got with the program, another one felt more inclined to wander off. These guys were bound and determined to go in every direction. The short drive seemed to last forever and take even longer. As they approached the next pasture, Eileen could see a mass of cows already huddled waiting for them. Thank heaven at least some of their herd got the memo. Or did they?
Inching forward and back, nipping and barking, she could make out two dogs maneuvering around in the distance, keeping the herd in line.
Eileen trotted closer to Sean and shouted, “Did Luke say anything about bringing his dogs out?”
“Not to me.” He shook his head and kept the cows they’d finally corralled moving at a steady pace, his gaze never leaving the small herd of cows ahead ruled by two dogs.
Slow and steady wins the race. They’d read that story to the children growing up and repeated the line a hundred times working the cattle. Yet, right now Eileen was anxious to press her heels into the old mare and gallop ahead to see what the heck was going on.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than one of the dogs remained hovering around the small herd in the distance and the other came running in their direction. A few feet closer and she would have had a close up view of the large animal. Instead, it stopped at the head of the gathering of cows and began working them. Still close enough to read Sean’s expression, she could see he was clearly as taken aback as she was. The way his one brow went up and he moved close enough for the dog to hear him, she wasn’t at all surprised when he began giving commands to the dog, though she hadn’t expected the animal to do exactly as told.
“I’ll be,” Eileen mumbled to herself. Whoever’s dogs had come to help, the pups worked those cattle as though they’d been training their entire lives with Sean. He’d always said one good dog could do the work of several good men. It was why he hated to retire King. And this guy was proving to be one very good dog.
Steadily moving the large animals toward the other strays, the dog was impressive, but it was Sean breaking away and riding toward her that she hadn’t expected at this point.
Slowly easing her horse in his direction, she came to a stop moments before Sean circled around and stopped at her side, both horses facing the moving cattle.
“Are you seeing this?” he asked.
Did she look blind? “Do you think they belong to Luke?”
Sean shook his head. His face void of any emotion, he turned to her. “Eileen, take a good long look at the dog.”
She was the closest she’d been to the cattle dog since his appearance. A bit larger, okay, a lot larger than the border collies they usually used, this pup’s colors were becoming clearer. His stance. His face. “Oh, my…”
Sean nodded. This time a hint of a smile teasing his lips. “Looks like Mr. and Mrs. Gray decided to chip in and help.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Butterflies had spent the better part of the morning swooping and fluttering in Fancy’s stomach. Allison had agreed to meet with her for coffee. Ethan, along with just about every able-bodied man or woman in town, was off helping clean up from yesterday’s storm. Her sister had spent the entire morning treating thankfully minor injuries and was clearly relieved at Fancy’s suggestion she pick up something from the café and meet Allison in her office.
Fancy may have made a lot of really stupid decisions as a teen that snowballed into worse choices as a young adult, but she’d always loved and been proud of her baby sister. Now was no exception. “You look exhausted.”
“You should have seen me during my residency. That was exhausted.” Allison stretched left then right and took a seat behind the desk. “Yesterday could have been so much worse.”
“It’s rather amazing that the Brady’s was the only house to take a hit.”
“It’s even more amazing that trapped under two stories of rubble, the entire family came out dusty but without a single scratch. Not even a broken nail.”
Fancy chuckled. “I’m guessing the same can’t be said for the folks who dug them out.”
“I do believe we had one splinter removal in that group.” Allison smiled at her sister. “I still can’t believe after all these years I finally get to see you.”
“I’m sorry.” Fancy had truly thought it for the best at first, then she’d been in so much trouble back to back that she didn’t want to taint Allison with the same brush. “I really am.”
“I’m delighted to see you looking so good. Guess I can stop worrying.”
“You can.” Enough time had passed that Fancy was sure this life was going to work. For the first time ever, she even had a savings account and was hunting for her own home.
“So,” Allison tossed a pen on the desk and leaned back in her chair, “what happens now?”
“I’ve already told you I’d like to be a part of Brittany’s life now that things are more settled and I have a solid financial footing.”
Fancy could see Allison swallow hard.
“I know I signed away my parental rights.”
Allison released the slightest of relieved breaths.
&nbs
p; “But I’d hoped… well, I had hoped you would reconsider.”
“Fancy,” Allison folded her hands and leaned forward on her desk, “how much do you love that child?”
“More than my own life.”
“And how much do you care about her future?”
Fancy smiled. If med school hadn’t worked out, maybe her sister could have been a lawyer. “Enough to let her go.”
“But you just said…” Allison stuttered.
“I did.” Fancy cut her off. “But that was before.”
“Before?”
“I suppose deep down I had my doubts. For months now things have gone so well. Everything with the band is perfect. They’re like family to me. Garrett has been such a good friend, so supportive. Now seemed like the right time to make a change. Before Brittany was old enough to truly understand what has been happening.”
“What exactly do you think is happening, Fancy?”
“Not what I thought. That’s for sure.” Fancy dug deep for strength. She’d done this before and it was time to do it again. “I got to spend a few minutes with Grace helping her aunt. It struck me, the similarities in our lives. More importantly, it surprised me how much it shows that she cares for a mother she never knew.”
Allison nodded. No doubt everyone in town knew more about the Farradays than Fancy could possibly learn during short visits. “Some days, I still miss Mom, but Aunt Eileen has a way of filling big shoes.”
“I noticed. And honestly, I miss Mom all the time. Have for decades. It’s one of the reasons I came back. When I signed Brittany over, I never thought I’d have anything close to a normal life.”
“I’m guessing there are a lot of people who would not consider performing all over the country normal.”
“At least I’m not living out of cars and following all the wrong men around the country.”
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