started to knead the dough, and after a few tries she became more confident and picked up the pace.
“If it feels a little sticky, just do this.” I held my hand over the dough ball and let the flour slip through my fingers.
“Ellie, do you remember my name?”
Her lips pressed together as though she was attempting to pull it from her foggy memories. “S-S-So,” she tried.
“Sloane.” I helped her out. “Do you have a flip book?”
“No, I don’t think so.” She folded the dough again.
“We should make you one.”
“Like a craft?”
“Exactly.”
“I love crafts.” Her face lit up.
“Me too.”
I wiped my hands and pulled my phone free. I opened the camera and flipped the camera to face the two of us.
“Ellie, will you smile at the camera?” To my surprise, she came up and smiled over my shoulder. I snapped a photo of us and one of her kneading the bread.
Oliver stomped dirt from his boots before he came into the kitchen. He stopped short with surprise when he saw Ellie helping me.
“Kelly needed to run to her sister’s,” I kept my voice light, “so I offered to help out. Ellie is making the bread, and I’m just finishing up the sauce for the pasta.”
His smile grew about three sizes as he shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the peg inside the door.
“I’m starving.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in through his nose.
“Good,” Ellie chimed in. “Wash your hands, Dad.”
“Yes, dear.” He scuffled a laugh and did what his daughter ordered.
Once the table was set and the sauce prepared, I eased the pasta into water. I grated some fresh parmesan and put it on the lazy susan in the middle of the table. I glanced out the window at John, who was now under his father’s truck.
“Seriously?” I grumbled under my breath and snapped a photo of him not doing what he promised.
“You didn’t actually think he was going to listen, did you?” Oliver laughed behind me. “John does what John wants. He knows his limits and will calculate the risk of whatever it is he’s about to do.”
I eased into a chair with a huff and watched Ellie as she concentrated on her task, ignoring us. When she finished, I helped her put the bread in the pan.
“Thank you, Ellie, for all your help. Now, why don’t you look at your book while we wait for dinner?”
After she went into the living room, I turned to Oliver.
“Between you and me, Oliver, do you know what John actually does for a living in the Army?”
He poured me a glass of red wine before he opened his beer.
“If someone was to ask me, I’d just say he’s in the Army, but I know better.” He took a draw from his beer. “You don’t get broken bones, staples, and fractures from working in an office. I know what he does is dangerous. I can see it on his face when he comes home after disappearing for weeks on end.”
“Does it not bother you?”
He shrugged with a sigh. “When Ellie wasn’t around, John was independent, always wanted to be alone with his thoughts and do his own thing. He’s strong as an ox and is very disciplined. So, when he joined the Army, I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I was waiting for it.”
“Did he ever share any of it with you?”
“Oh, yeah, at first he did.” He nodded. “He lived and breathed the military life. He wasn’t born to be a farmer’s son. He was born to lead and fight. But the stories of his wild adventures and friendships stopped when he tried out for Delta. That’s when he came back, explaining he got a position in an office. We both knew it was what he needed to say, and I knew it was for all of us, for our protection.” He pulled back the curtain a little more and saw John cleaning off his hands. “I hate what his sister’s accident did to this family.” He turned to me. “It was as if a bomb went off, and we all got shot off in different directions. It’s only now that we are beginning to find our way back.”
“Time has a funny way of redirecting life back on course after something tragic has happened.”
The door opened, and John came in, dusting some dirt off his coat. Oliver looked at me and smiled. “Yeah, it sure does.”
Chapter Fifteen
John
I lost track of Sloane, who had become quiet during dinner.