Chapter 28

An ecstatic Scout greeted Landon when he arrived back. Landon knelt and hugged Scout, then stood and thanked Grace for keeping him.

“No thanks necessary. Scout was a delight. I enjoyed having a dog around. He has very good manners,” Grace scratched Scout’s ears saying, “Who’s a good boy?”

“Yes, he does,” Landon said, “although I can’t take credit for it. He was already trained when I adopted him or, more truthfully, he adopted me.”

“A cup of coffee before going to your game?”

“Sure.”

“Where are you from, Landon?”

“The army was my home for ten years’ active service. Fourteen if you include ROTC at the university. Before that, a small town in Wyoming.”

“There are mountains there,” Grace said. “What about family?”

“Mother and two sisters. My dad died working in the mines. One of them is married. You couldn’t move my mother out of my hometown with a ten-ton truck. Her father, mother, and grandparents are buried there. So is my father. She practically lives at the cemetery.”

The conversation reminded him that he needed to get his act together and help out his family.