well as gold and copper mines. Some of them are near here, but I don’t know if they’re operating. If Zeke can’t tell you, you could ask some of the old-timers we met at his wedding reception.”
“Speaking of the newlywed,” Ben interrupted, “here he comes. Let’s rib him about not wanting to leave his bed—so he makes us stand around waiting for him to show up.”
“Skip the teasing,” Hunter warned. “His wife is with him.”
Indeed, Myra jumped out of the pickup as soon as Zeke stopped. “Where’s Lila?” she asked, glancing around. “This looks bad. Was she hurt? I thought you told Zeke she was okay,” she challenged Seth. “It’s not like her to not be out here supervising.”
“There’s no need for her to come out,” Seth shot back. “I told her the guys and I would help Zeke rescue her vehicle.”
“Zeke,” she called, “I’m going to run up to the house to check on Lila. She sometimes tends to be too stoic for her own good.”
Her husband nodded. “This shouldn’t take long. Don’t get too wrapped up talking to Lila about what all you missed at last night’s Artsy Ladies meeting.” Grinning, Zeke winked at Myra even as he unhooked the cable on the winch.
“I’ll be quick,” she promised and jogged off.
“She had to miss a meeting to feed all of us last night?” Seth asked his brother.
“She didn’t have to. She wanted to see you all again and thank you guys for showing up on such short notice to be in our wedding. Well, not you, Seth. You already had tickets to visit. But the others.” He handed Seth the hook on the end of the cable and smiled at his groomsmen. “Damn, but I’m going to miss you guys all over again. Remember, any time you can take leave, ours is a revolving door. You, too, Hunter, once the docs get you squared away.”
Gavin let out a big guffaw. “Don’t you mean the door here at the Owl’s Nest revolves? It was clever how you prebooked us here.”
Zeke didn’t bother to look sheepish. “Hey, buddy,” he said instead, “wait until you get married and see how many big dudes you want snoring all night on the other side of your bedroom wall.”
“I was kidding.” Gavin gave Zeke a friendly fist bump. “Shall we quit jawing and get this SUV unstuck? Or am I the only one tempted by the cinnamon smell of whatever goodies Miz Lila fixed today?” He sniffed the air. “My mouth’s watering from here.”
The others agreed and, outside of Hunter Wright, who moved out of the way but still offered insight on the best way to hook the cable to the mired auto’s front axle, their teamwork made the retrieval short and easy.
Seth helped Zeke rewind the cable onto the winch then scanned the others. “I’m going to drive the Jeep to the house. Who wants a ride?”
“Do you have the key?” Ben asked.
“It’s still in the ignition.”
Zeke, who’d been about to climb into his pickup, stopped. “You left it in the ignition all night?”
Seth frowned. “It wasn’t like anyone could climb in and drive it away. Don’t forget it was rainy and dark, and I had a boy and dog to shepherd as well as carrying Lila, who was woozy after banging her head on the side window.”
“What? She hit her head?” Zeke exclaimed. “Myra is gonna be pissed at you. You led us to believe she was A-OK.”
“Yeah, well she let me know that wasn’t something she wanted to get around and worry her mother. She had a small knot, but the skin wasn’t broken.”
“Boy, Myra’s probably going to say it could’ve been a concussion.”
Seth shrugged. All at once Ben and Gavin, standing near the front of the Cherokee, ducked and flung their arms over their heads. One of them shouted, “Hey, cripes! Incoming! What the hell is that?”
The air stirred as a large bird dived talons first into the culvert and rose again with a screeching rodent. A second, slightly smaller, all-white bird circled above the dumbstruck quintet of men, crying, pyee-pyee, pyee-pyee right before the pair flew off.
“Wow.” Zeke was first to break the silence. “Those were snowy owls, guys. The male made off with a good-size rat.”
By then the others had sufficiently recovered from their initial shock to squint and follow the birds’ flight.
Hunter shifted his stance. “What a sight. I’m glad we had this experience. From the way Myra’s friend Tawana talked about how the owls return here every year to nest... I figured they’d already all gone north.”
“Are they dangerous?” Gavin asked. “I think that second one grazed my head.”
Zeke watched Gavin scrub a hand through his crew cut. “They don’t attack humans, dude. They do rid our ranchlands of pests like mice, rats and voles. Myra and I had a tug-of-war with a huge male once who tried to make off with her minipig, Orion.”
Ben muffled an expletive. “Not in your kitchen, right? Then again, who keeps a pig in their kitchen?”
Zeke socked his pal’s arm. “Hey, a pet is a pet is a pet. And the day it happened, we had Orion in a pen outside near where we were cutting alfalfa. I told you last night...the little guy grows on you.”
Wisely his friends held their tongues, although not all schooled their doubtful expressions.
“Orion is cute,” Seth said, opening the Cherokee’s door. “Hey, if we want any of that great-smelling breakfast before we leave for the airport, we’d better hop to it.”
Ben and Gavin climbed into the backseat, leaving the front passenger seat for Hunter.
“I’m positive keeping a pig in any part of the house, especially the kitchen, wouldn’t grow on me,” Gavin asserted once they were inside the SUV and out of Zeke’s hearing.
After starting the engine, Seth glanced behind him. “Is a pig any worse than goldfish or parrots or snakes?”
“Okay, I see your point. To each his own,” Gavin muttered.
Hunter turned to address his one-time regiment buddies. “If any of us fell in love with a pig owner like Zeke did, we’d change our minds. Love short-circuits brain cells.”
They all laughed as Seth parked near the entrance to the B and B.
The others piled out of the Cherokee. Without waiting for Zeke, all but Seth climbed the steps and went inside. He noticed Lila’s son at the side of the building, tossing a baseball in the air. Even though the boy wore an old mitt on his left hand, he missed catching three times out of three. Ghost chased after the dropped ball and carried it back to the kid.
“Hiya, Rory,” Seth called, pausing to lean on the handrail. “You need to teach Ghost to throw the ball back to you.” He grinned. “Are you on a team or just goofing around?”
Rory took the ball from Ghost and wiped dog slobber on his pants, his shoulders sagging as he squinted at Seth. “I wanna join the team my best friend is on. Mom first
