Chapter 9

Riley moved across the room to the far counter. "This won‘t take long." He jotted a quick note to Miss Stella Burton hoping that it wasn‘t too late. It was already the second of June.

Dear Miss Burton,

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your two requests to rent my cottage. As long as you understand that the cottage is rustic living with no Internet, Satellite or Cable TV, then it is yours to rent for the dates that you requested. The payment of one thousand dollars is acceptable and is non-refundable. I would require it in full on the day of arrival.

The cottage is in excellent condition with a recently remodeled bathroom. There is a window air conditioning unit in the living room along with ceiling fans in the loft and bedroom, which keeps the home comfortably cool even during the hottest days of summer.

The kitchen has an old-fashioned stove and refrigerator but no washing machine or dryer. Feel free to use the ones in the main house with no restrictions. If you are agreeable with my terms then I will see you both soon.

Sincerely,

Riley Pranger

Riley dug the envelope from his back pocket and carefully copied down the woman‘s address. He then handed it over to Mr. Connors who glanced at the name and address before dropping it in a bin to be picked up by the mail truck. Riley wondered if he would reach in the bin and rip open the envelope as soon as he walked out the door.

Well he could snoop as much as he wanted as long as it kept his nose out of his and Bodie‘s business—not that the news of his firing wasn‘t probably already making the rounds.

He felt his annoyance begin to once again rise. No. It was more than annoyance. He‘d liked Bodie. It hurt that the man would treat him with so little regard--all because of a man that was in the country illegally in the first place.

He left the post office and then because he didn‘t have anything better to do he decided to go over to Stubby‘s where he knew the guys would be despite the fact that it was the middle of a workday. But none of them had jobs so that didn‘t matter.

~*~

Shaun parked next to her husband‘s truck wondering why there was only his car parked in the lot. She wrangled the girls out of their car seats—it wasn‘t that easy being that she was eight months pregnant. Nobody had told her to expect that each pregnancy would result in a larger belly than the previous pregnancy. Right now she thought that she looked like a bloated whale. Being a petite 5‘5" the added bulk made her feel clumsy but she had to work past that because she had a three and a five-year old to wrangle with. Whoever said that girls were the tamer sex?

"Can daddy go to the park with us?" Myisha, her eldest asked.

"Myisha, you always ask that and I always tell you the same thing; Daddy has to work. Hold your sister‘s hand."

"Can daddy go to the park with us?" Madison mimicked looking at her mother expectantly with big grey eyes that looked just like Bodie‘s. Shaun shook her head and hid a sigh.

"No Maddie," Myisha replied in exasperation. "Daddy is too busy."

It broke Shaun‘s heart to hear her daughter say that—but it was true, which is why she liked bringing the girl‘s up to the garage to visit with him every so often.

"Go on and find your daddy but don‘t get in Mr. Pete‘s or Mr. Riley‘s way."

"Yes mama!"

"Yes Mama!" And then they ran off hand in hand to the garage. Shaun went to the back of the truck and retrieved the picnic basket filled with food. She‘d spent the morning frying fish and making home fries. She‘d even made hush puppies because Pete loved them so much. There was also a jug of sweet tea to keep the boys hydrated in this sweltering weather. The garage had central air but that was blown the minute the large doors lifted to allow cars in and out, so mostly it was just relegated to the private office.

Bodie met her at the entrance of the garage with his dirty hands raised over his head as if he was being arrested. A little girl was latched onto each of his legs as he walked using big steps like he was a giant.

Shaun paused wondering how it was possible for her to love him more than she had the moment before. He was everything. Grease streaked one cheek and his forehead and his usually sun-blonde hair was dark with sweat. A beard covered his cheeks which Shaun liked because it made him look like a bear; a toned muscle bound bear.

"Hi babe." He greeted her with a hands-free kiss. "How‘s my little man doing?" He asked while glancing down at her swollen belly.

"I told you Bodie Matthews that you ain‘t about to have that son just yet. You better have that little girl‘s name ready."

He scoffed but didn‘t particularly mind having little girls that squealed when they saw him and stared at him as if they were looking into the face of God. Being a daddy humbled him. He couldn‘t love his children more whether they were girls or not.

Shaun had walked into the garage to put down the picnic basket and she looked around curiously.

"Where are the boys?"

Bodie walked to the sink to wash his hands, the girls still clinging to his legs and giggling.

"Yeah," he said. "I was going to tell you about that when I got home tonight."

"Tell me what?" Shaun followed him to the sink when he took too long to continue.

He glanced at her as he scrubbed his hands. "Pete‘s getting deported."

"What!" She exclaimed. "Oh no. Theresa and the baby…"

"I know." He told her what he knew and what he planned to do to help Pete and Theresa.

"Oh this is so terrible." She crossed her arms and rested them on her belly thinking about how alone Theresa must be feeling. She‘d pay her a visit. Right now she was probably taking every available second to spend with her man.