chores were going to be messy. He rolled over on his back and began mentally going over the tasks for the day.
He’d still been up when Hope came home last night, and he knew today was her day off, so she was likely sleeping in a bit.
Jack tried to be protective of Hope, but she was just as strong-willed and independent as her sister, Mercy, and somehow that became what was most special about her. Lord knows, Jack was forever smitten.
Duke sighed. He really didn’t want to grow old alone. He wanted to be smitten, too, but for whatever reason, he’d never found that certain someone. And the very next thought that went through his mind was of Cathy Terry.
He wondered if she’d been able to sleep much last night and if she needed help with anything. He’d left his number with her, but he knew she wouldn’t call. That left the next move up to him, so he got up, showered, shaved, and dressed, then made his bed before going downstairs to start breakfast. Because of Hope’s work schedule, he and Jack did most of the cooking and cleaning, while Hope kept up with most of the grocery shopping because she was in Blessings almost every day.
Duke began by starting coffee brewing, then stirred up a batch of drop biscuits and put them in to bake before browning some sausage patties. When they were done, he took the meat out of the skillet and made gravy in the drippings.
By then, the biscuits and coffee were done, and he could hear Jack moving around upstairs. Likely, the aromas of frying sausage and fresh coffee were hard to ignore. Duke cracked a half-dozen eggs into a bowl to scramble, and then poured them in a skillet to cook. He was putting them into a bowl when Jack and Hope came into the kitchen.
“Morning, you two,” Duke said, and then winked at Hope. “I thought you might sleep in a little this morning.”
“I planned to until I smelled breakfast,” she said, and poked him on the arm as she went to pour herself a cup of coffee.
They filled their plates from the bowls and pans on the stove, then sat down to eat in companionable silence. After a couple of minutes, Hope got up to get some jelly from the refrigerator.
“Has anyone heard anything from the sheriff’s office about the stolen cattle?” she asked.
Jack shook his head. “I think they’ll call if they have news. Otherwise, we go on about our business.”
“I am going to put up game cameras today. We have three that I know of, but I’ll need to replace batteries. I can’t remember the last time we used them,” Duke said.
Jack reached for another biscuit to finish off the gravy on his plate. “I do,” he said. “About three years ago, when there was that cougar sighting up by Gray Goose Lake. Remember?”
“Oh, I remember that,” Hope said. “I was leery of going into outbuildings for a long time…afraid I’d walk up on one waiting to pounce.”
“That’s not exactly their natural behavior,” Jack said. “They don’t like to be around people any more than people like being around them.”
She shrugged. “I know, but we have chickens, and at the time, we had three small calves that we were bottle-feeding in the barn, remember?”
Duke nodded. “You’re right. If a cougar is hurt or injured in some way and unable to hunt, they will come to the easy prey. Only this time I’ll be on the lookout for rustlers, not cougars, and I’m pretty sure we don’t have near enough batteries to replenish three game cameras. I’ll feed the chickens before I go check on the cows, then I’ll head into Blessings for batteries. If anyone needs anything else, make a list.”
“You cooked. I’ll clean up,” Jack said. “And call if you need help. Don’t do something stupid on your own.”
Duke gave Jack a look. “I don’t do stupid things.”
Hope laughed out loud as Duke grabbed a rain poncho from a peg in the utility room and pulled up the hood before going out the back door.
The rain was really coming down and already forming puddles as he headed for the chicken house first. He ducked into the feed room just off the henhouse for a bucket of feed, then walked across the covered breezeway and into the henhouse.
The chickens that weren’t in the nests were either perched on the roosts or milling around down on the ground. But when he