Chapter 8

Spencer read the thought in her eyes and knew that one kiss would hurt, so he smiled and said, “I don’t know if I have ever had cobbler that good before, but I do know that it was never made by anyone as pretty.”

Annie let go of her breath and smiled.

“Why don’t we get started on these dishes and when Slone comes back, he can just lock up the barn and we can head out?” Annie asked rinsing the plates.

The dishwasher was all loaded and Spencer was washing the last of the pots when Slone came downstairs. Following Annie’s instructions, he went out to close up the barn. She followed him out and he watched her head across the yard.

She smiled and waved and then headed over to open the gate from the pasture. It was staying light later and later but they always tried to have the barn cleaned and ready before dark. In the summer the sides of the barn were opened so the cows could have plenty of fresh air and since the pasture was always gated and locked, they could get out if they wanted. There was a little more work involved in the winter though. If the weather was bad, the walls were brought down, at least at night and if it was really cold the barn door to the pasture was closed at night too. Annie’s mind flowed to cold nights. By the time it got cold again, this would all be over, and Spencer would have moved on to another job. Hopefully, Ron would be in prison and she would be safe. Papa would be all better and they could manage things alone again. The work didn’t bother her; it was the alone again that she dreaded. Spencer was not the stick around kind of guy. And even if he asked her to go with him which she didn’t think he would, she had already left home and come back once, she wouldn’t leave it again. She and Papa could go to the beach and stay at her place sometimes. She would just keep the house since Ron had paid for it and it would be there little get away. They had lots of work to do on the farm and Papa really needed her. In another year they wanted to put a water coolant system on the barn. It would circulate cool air in the summer and warm air in the winter.

Annie was sitting in the exact same spot on the pasture gate that she always sat on when Sloan headed to the house. But this time she was just staring off in to space.

“Annie, Annie are you awake?”

“No, I guess not. Sorry, I guess I was just daydreaming. I’m all locked up here how about you?”

“Locked and ready to go.”

The trip to Boyd’s only took a few minutes. This place was almost a second home to Annie. She had spent a lot of time here as a child. And Boyd had been helping out so much at their place that she hadn’t even been over to visit yet. But that was ok because Boyd was excited and thrilled to show everyone around and share all his improvements. His ranch was a hand me down too. His Grandfather passed it to his father and now it was his. Boyd was a little sad whenever he made that statement because he too was getting on in years and although he had once been married, they had never had children, no one to pass it down to. Clara, his wife was the perfect rancher’s wife until the day she complained of a headache that just wouldn’t go away. Annie was young but she remembered the pain Boyd suffered after the aneurysm had taken his wife. Boyd went through a long depression and hid away from friends and neighbors, but Walt finally got through to him and helped him through it all. They were all impressed, but Spencer was more impressed then anyone. He was interested in the fact that Boyd had goats and was using their milk to make cheese. He even promised to stop back over for a tasting some time. It was night fall when they finally headed home and although they were exhausted, it was agreed that they could stay up long enough to force down the last of the cobbler.

Spencer checked the barn door and they all went in for the rest of the cobbler. In only a few weeks they had worked themselves in to a routine. Just inside the back door was a place for shoes. They took turns washing up in the mudroom, but Annie went to the kitchen to wash up tonight. She split up the cobbler and warmed it in the microwave. Spencer was the last man to the table and Annie was just adding the ice cream to his when he pulled out his chair.

“I’m only offering milk to drink; at this hour coffee would be the death of all of us.” She poured four glasses of milk and Sloan helped her carry them to the table.

The room was quiet, too quiet. Everyone was tired and it was truly good cobbler but that was not the reason for the silence. It was almost like everyone had heavy thoughts on their minds. You could see it in their eyes, something was going on.

“Anyone want to play cards?” Walt asked trying to break the ice.

“Sure, we haven’t played in almost a week” Spencer said clearing the table and grabbing the deck of cards. “Poker anyone?”

“Not hardly” Annie said laughing, “last time you almost won the farm.”

“Let’s just play euchre,” Sloan said, “but I think we need to trade partners, you and Walt always win, and I think it’s because you have played together for so long.”

“Ok, we can change partners, who do you want?” Annie asked.

“You.” Sloan answered smiling brightly.

“Ok.” Annie said moving in to Spencer’s seat, leaving hers open for him.

Spencer sat and gave Sloan a dirty look, then smiled at Walt. “Ok Walt, let’s kick some butt.”

Two or three hands later the tension was gone. Around 9:30 Sloan got up and went to the fridge. “Anyone want anything; I’m grabbing a beer.” He tossed Walt and Spencer a beer and Annie said she was just fine. While he was up the phone rang so he answered it. Things had been quiet since Ron was tied up with the grand jury, so no one thought too much of the phone ringing at 9:30. It was for Sloan; he spoke quietly and turned his back so the others couldn’t hear.

“Yes I am. Not at this minute. I will call in the morning and then let you know. I know. Yes. Isn’t there anything around here? When did we get married? Then stop nagging at me. Ok I’m sorry. I’ll call you in the morning. Yes, early. Ok, good night.” When he turned around, he knew there was no way he was getting back in the game without and explanation.

“Work?” Spencer asked.

“Yea.”

“Want you back?” Walt asked.

“Yea.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Annie asked.

Sloan was shocked.

Annie leaned across the table and took his hand. “You have been here much longer than anyone expected. You have your own obligations and people depending on you. You just came to help till Papa got back on his feet and in two weeks his cast will be off, and he will be back on his feet. We are grateful for all the things you’ve done here and all the help you’ve given but we know you have a life of your own. Don’t feel bad about this. You know you can come back anytime you want,” Annie’s voice caught in her throat, “even after Spencer’s gone. You both have become family to us, you are welcome anytime.”

“Thank you, Annie, but I just feel like you are still going to need me, and I don’t want to let my family down.”

“Don’t be silly son, you told me that Spencer was the best man for this job and that he could do it with his eyes closed and both hands tied behind his back, so we’ll be fine. Besides I’m not completely helpless.” Walt said laughing and reaching for his cane.

“I did ask Margaret to see if she could find some work in this area so that I would be close by, but she still hasn’t heard back from any of our contacts.” He rubbed the back of his neck and then looked up. “I really do need to get back to work; I’ll catch a flight tomorrow and come back whenever I can.”

Annie could tell that this was really hard on Sloan, he felt like he was letting them down.

“Well then if this is your last night here, we need to kick the stuffing out of these two so you can go home the euchre champ.” Annie said picking up her cards.

“Fat chance” Walt said, “We are going to win this and send you home wanting a rematch.”

Sloan laughed and was grateful that they really did understand. The cards flew almost as fast as the laughs the rest of the evening. Things had been very quiet and uneventful on the farm for the last week or so and Sloan found himself hoping that it stayed that way.

True to her word, Annie and Sloan won the match. It was close but they did it.

As everyone headed up to bed, Annie watched as Spencer and Sloan stopped in the hallway to talk. When they saw her, they moved into the bedroom so she couldn’t hear.

The next morning Annie had coffee and cinnamon rolls ready when the guys all got up.

“I’m sure going to miss this,” Sloan said coming in to the kitchen.

“That’s the point, you’ll miss us so much, maybe you will come back to visit from time to time.”

“Count on it.” He said sitting at the table.

“Before you get any breakfast mister, call the airlines. You can’t put it off anymore.” Annie said handing him the phone. “Call.”

“You wouldn’t be trying to get rid of me, would you?’

“Ha-ha funny.”

“Morning everyone.” Walt said coming in to the room, “Something sure smells good.”

Annie gave Papa a hug and handed him a cup of coffee. Barney came in the back door on that note and wanted to know where his was.

“The hug or the coffee, old man?” Walt asked.

“The coffee, you old fool, I’ll leave the hugging up to the young guys.”

“Well then I’ll take yours.” Spencer’s voice boomed from the doorway. And darned if he didn’t. He moved right over to Annie and folded her in his arms, you could have heard a pin drop.

“Do I get coffee too?” he asked only slightly letting go his hold.

Before Annie could answer Sloan spoke up. “Spence, can I talk to you out back a minute?”

He got his flight, it was not a secret, but Annie figured Sloan wanted to talk to him alone to give him another hands-off speech. She had taken the hug in the fun humor it had been intended, but deep down inside she cherished every second of it, she could live in his arms.

“Spencer, what are you doing? You know you have to keep your hands off at least until Ron gets put away.”

“Why, I thought a lot about this last night and I think I can handle it.”

“Ok, so you think you can handle it, do you think Annie can too? Just think about that before you get in too deep, now come on in I need a cup of coffee.”

As Sloan went in, Spencer looked down and kicked a clump of dirt. Damn, he was right, this wasn’t fair to Annie. Slowly he went back in and joined everyone at the table.

Sloan’s flight didn’t leave till after lunch, that meant he could help some with the milking. Annie did his laundry and packed for him.

“This works out well,” Annie said putting lunch on the table, “I need to go to the grocery, and we can go when Sloan does, you know, so if we’re being watched they won’t know he is leaving.”

Everyone at the table just looked at each other. It had been so long since they had been concerned about being watched that it wasn’t even a thought anymore. But she was right, Ron had not given up and just because they didn’t see people watching them didn’t mean someone wasn’t still watching. Just after lunch, the semi came to pick up the milk and then it was time for Sloan to go. Barney and Walt had things to do around the farm, so Spencer and Annie were the only ones going in to town. She hugged Sloan to nearly nothing before letting him get in the rental car. He would wait five or ten minutes after they left and then head the other way.

Annie had not been to the store in a few weeks and she was checking out everything. Sloan and Spencer had picked stuff up whenever needed and she always had a list when someone took Papa to the doctor. That was a thought that made her happy, only ten more days and Papa’s cast would come off. Annie threw all kinds of goodies in the cart. Things to make each meal special. She was looking at life through new glasses so to speak. She was grateful for so many things lately. Grateful that Papa was all right, the farm, having Sloan and Spencer in her life and mostly for just being home again.