Page 25 of Ford

The log home sat in the middle of a nine-thousand-acre ranch, the Triple M, rooted in a legacy of cattle raising that hearkened back a century, and every time Ford came home, he missed it more.

Some of the family was up. Reuben, Knox, Kelsey, and Tate sat at the kitchen counter.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t the only one worried about RJ.

“Hey, Ma,” Ford said and kissed her on the cheek as she stood at the stove scrambling eggs. The smell of fresh cinnamon muffins drifted from the oven, and she’d cooked for roundup, judging by the stack of buttermilk pancakes on the counter.

Reuben had a pile that should put him to shame, but he was the biggest in the family, nearly six three, and had the girth of a moose thanks to his former job as a sawyer for the Jude County Smoke Jumpers. According to Knox, Reuben was moving home to work the ranch while Knox went on the road with NBR-X, a bull-riding show, as Director of Livestock.

“Hey, Ford,” Glo said as she came out of the den.

He liked Glo. Petite and blonde with hazel-green eyes and a generous smile, Glo was energy and light and cuteness. He hadn’t a clue why she liked Tate, but she was clearly good for his brother.

Dark, troublemaking Tate was actually smiling. A lot.

“Glo,” Ford said as he made his way to the coffee pot. It was nearly gone so he finished it off and opened up the top to make a fresh pot.

“I expected to see Scarlett with you.”

He dumped the filter in the garbage, then glanced at her. “Why?”

Her mouth opened, and she glanced at Tate sitting at the table, scrolling through his phone. Tate looked up and frowned, gave a little shake of his head.

“Oh, uh. I thought…hmm.”

Perfect. Now he was the subject of a soap opera. Ford reached for a new filter. “We work together, that’s all. She’s in Rescue Swimmer training in Pensacola.” He didn’t look at Glo as he filled up the filter with coffee, hoping his voice didn’t betray him.

A beat of silence, as if his family could see through him to the hammering of his heart, then Tate said, “Ford just saved a bunch of kids.”

Ford cast Tate a look.

“Really?”

“I’m so proud of you, Ford,” his mother said, like he’d gotten an A on his spelling test, and pulled out a platter from the cupboard.

But when she slid the eggs onto the platter, then set them on the island, he caught the dark pucker of her lips, as if trying to hold in more.

He sometimes forgot how she’d felt about him joining the Navy after Tate went to Afghanistan. She hadn’t stopped him, but had looked him in the eyes the day he left for MEPS and told him to do whatever it took to return.Please.

He finished filling the coffee pot, closed the lid, and turned to the table. “Anyone heard from RJ?”

Every eye turned to him, and Tate frowned, casting a glance at their mother.

Gerri looked up, frowned. “RJ? What do you mean?”

Seriously?

Ford blew out a breath and shook his head. “Ma, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…RJ’s missing.”

More silence. Across the room, Tate seemed to want to turn him to ash with a look, but really, it wasn’t fair to leave their mother out of the loop, was it?

“What do you mean,missing?”

Actually it was a lot more than missing, but…

“She went out of town, and now she’s not answering her cell phone,” Reuben said.

Sort of skimming the truth there, bro.