he calls out to the boys, and disappears into the room to play with them.
Jack makes some calls as I talk weather with Martha, and when he gets off the phone, he whistles.
“She’s a bit of a way from home,” he says.
“We’ll take her back.”
Jack jots down the address, and Martha fills a tin container with cookies and hands them to me.
“Come on, Sam.”
He jumps up.
Back in the car, I pull out my phone and get the directions. “She must have been walking all day.”
“Kira at the campout?” he asks.
“Yeah, I think she’s having fun.”
“Good.”
“I don’t think a campout is going to change her mind, Sam.”
“Maybe you can?”
I stare out the window. “You think she’d listen to me.”
“I think if you gave her a reason to stay, she’d stay.”
“Sam, it’s not like that.”
“You sure about that?” he asks, in a voice so serious it gives me pause.
I open my mouth and then close it again, not sure how to respond. Sam goes quiet as we drive through the back roads, and I leave him to his thoughts, as I’m lost in my own. A long time later, we finally reach the Langille farm and get Lucille back to her rightful owners. It’s late by the time we make it back to the Anchor, but I sure could use a beer. Inside I find Albert shooting some pool, and Sam and I join in. I nurse two beer through the evening, and it’s well after eleven by the time I drive Albert home. In the driveway, he opens his door, and the night is quiet, no sounds of giggling girls in the distance.
“I guess they called it a night. Time for me to do the same,” Albert says.
“Night.”
He shuts the door, and I wait until he disappears inside. Then, I grab my phone and text:
Nate: You asleep?
Kira: No. There are too many strange noises, and I’m still cold even with all these blankets.
Nate: Want me to come warm you?
I quietly exit my vehicle, close the door softly, and hurry up the hill to the clearing.
Kira: As nice as that sounds, it’s late and I wouldn’t want to put you out. You have to work in the morning.
Nate: What if I want to put out?
Kira: Has this conversation just gone south?
Nate: Would you believe I’m right outside your tent?
Kira: You’re kidding.
The zipper cuts through the quiet, and a second later, Kira peeks her head out.
“Get in here,” she whispers.
I climb into the warm tent. “Looks cozy.”
“Better now that you’re here.”
“Did you have fun tonight?”
“So much fun,” she says, her voice low. “But I think you being here is against the rules.”
“I’m just here to get you warm,” I say. I take off my coat and boots and climb into the sleeping bag. “Come here.” She crawls in with me, and it’s snug for the two of us, but her body stops shaking as I press mine to hers.
“Mmm, this is nice,” she says and snuggles in closer.
Man, she has no idea how nice this is for me, how I could so get used to this.
“What happened with the cow?” she asks, her voice low and drowsy.
“We got her home. She’s safe. Sam wanted to keep her.”
That pulls a chuckle from her. “He needs a pet. Remember you talked about getting a cat to hunt the mouse?”
“Uh-huh,” I murmur.
“I should have said yes. He’d probably pretend he wasn’t a cat person. But I bet I know where kitty would sleep every night. I think that man needs something to love.”
“Or someone.” I run my hand up and down her arm. “Warming up?”