Chapter 3 Stolen Ring #2
“Which thrift store?” It was difficult for Halle to see her mother’s ring on someone else’s finger. She could hardly tear her gaze away from it.
Brooke eyed her curiously. “Timeless Trinkets. They have a lot more old jewelry on display if you’re into that sort of thing.”
Halle nodded, blinking rapidly to contain her emotion. It was a shock seeing the ring again, but she had no interest in breaking down in front of Brooke or the boys.
“Are you okay?” Brooke’s voice held a breezy quality that fell short of sincere.
Halle nodded again, swallowing hard.
“In that case…” Brooke glanced impatiently at the door, as if unable to believe Owen was still away from home. “I guess I’ll have to come by another time to visit with your employer.”
Halle walked her to the door, cleared her throat, and found her voice. “Thanks for the pie. I’m sure the Tollivers will enjoy it.”
Brooke gave her a princess wave without turning around.
Halle remained at the door, watching until Brooke drove away in her luxury SUV. It was a sparkly shade of metallic silver—a custom paint job for sure.
No sooner had her vehicle disappeared around the corner than Owen rumbled up the driveway in his midnight blue Ford F-150. It had been hitched to the back of his moving truck the day he’d arrived in town.
Catching sight of her at the door, he waved before pulling into the garage. She waved back and shut the front door. It was with a heavy feeling in her heart that she trudged back to the kitchen.
He entered the house, drawing happy shrieks of welcome from his sons. They scrambled off their stools and launched themselves at him, swinging into his arms like a pair of monkeys.
He hugged them close, listening to them babble on and on about how their baseball practice had gone. They were talking at the same time, so it was impossible to make sense of everything they said. However, Owen nodded as if he’d understood every word.
Halle gawked shamelessly at the Norman Rockwell-styled picture they made. The boys’ jerseys were topsy-turvy and their baseball caps were askew, but they couldn’t have cared less. All that mattered to them was being the center of their dad’s attention.
His auburn hair had been freshly trimmed—close on the sides and left to wave freely on top. He smelled like shampoo and aftershave. As usual, he was wearing a t-shirt and faded jeans. Today, however, he had on cowboy boots instead of hiking shoes, which made him look a little more like the locals.
While he listened intently to the boys, he set them back on their stools so they could continue eating. Then he motioned for Halle to be seated. Only after she had climbed on her stool did he grab a paper plate and build a burrito for himself.
While he piled on toppings, he cast a worried look at her. “Is everything okay?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Mostly.” She nodded at the twins, not wanting to discuss her concerns in front of them.
He nodded back in understanding. Backing up to lounge against the kitchen cabinet, he took a bite of his burrito.
She motioned to the empty stool beside her.
He shook his head. “Listen, Coop is back to vacuuming up his burrito, and Ryder has a front-row seat to his antics. I could announce that we’re going on a trip to the ice cream shop after lunch, and they wouldn’t hear a word I said. See?”
It was true. The boys were fully engrossed in Cooper’s quest to finish his entire burrito without using his hands.
“So, start talking,” Owen urged. “What’s bothering you?”
His perception both surprised and touched her. “I think some of my family’s belongings might’ve ended up at the Timeless Trinkets thrift store.” She tried to speak in a normal voice, but it wasn’t easy.
His expression sharpened. “No kidding?”
She told him about her mother’s ring that Brooke had been wearing when she’d delivered her blueberry pie to the house.
The cursory glance he gave the pastry in question went a long way toward restoring Halle’s better mood. “Did you tell her the ring belonged to you?”
“No.” Halle wasn’t sure why she hadn’t. “I should have, but I didn’t. I was just so stunned to see it.” Afterward, she’d been too busy trying to keep it together in front of his snooty neighbor.
“She thinks Coop eats like a pig,” Ryder announced during the stretch of silence that followed what she’d told his father.
Halle gaped in astonishment at him, wondering what else he might’ve overheard her tell his father. “Oh, sweetie! She didn’t say that.” She shot a harried look at Owen. “All she did was suggest we should work on our dining etiquette.”
Owen’s eyebrows rose. “With five-year-olds?” Anger simmered in his gaze.
My thoughts exactly! Halle hid a smile. “Not everyone understands the mysteries of the kindergarten intellect.” She chose her words carefully, not wanting the ears of their young listeners to latch onto any buzz phrases that could be misunderstood.
Owen polished off his burrito. Instead of making a second one like she expected him to, he pulled his keys out of his pocket. “I think it’s time to pay our next-door neighbor a visit to thank her for the pies.”
Halle’s heart sank, but he didn’t need to know that.
She carefully schooled her expression. “While you’re away, we’ll head outside to start our afternoon chores.
” She’d assigned light summer chores to the boys that were to be completed in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
Not only did it give their days more structure, but they were also learning a lot about caring for chickens.
“I’ll join you guys when I get back.” Owen winked at her, making her heart do a dizzy little dance for no particular reason. “I won’t be gone long.”
His words made her feel a little better, though she still wasn’t thrilled about the idea of him paying a visit next door.
She especially couldn’t bear the idea of Brooke flirting with him.
He deserved so much better than a shallow, pretentious creature like her, but guys could be notoriously blind about stuff like that.
Halle’s only comfort was that she wouldn’t be there to see it.
After he took off, she scraped their plates into the bowl of food scraps she kept beside the stove. “Alrighty! It’s chore time,” she sang out.
Ryder and Cooper sent up a shout of elation that shook the rafters and made her ears ring. They adored chore time. They quickly abandoned their stools and rushed toward the door.
She met them there, barring their exit. “Aren’t you forgetting something, my dear little chicken farmers in the making?”
“Um…” Cooper glanced over his shoulder, understanding lighting his gaze. “You want us to clean up the kitchen.”
She broke into a celebratory two-step. “You’re so smart that I might recommend you for skipping kindergarten and going straight to college.”
“Without Ryder?” He looked so horrified by the prospect of being separated from his twin that she chuckled.
“I’m kidding.” She swiped a hand playfully over the brim of his hat, knocking it down over his eyes.
It didn’t take them long to toss their wadded-up napkins in the trash can, put away the meat and toppings, and wipe down the counter.
“Such gentlemen,” she praised. They were mini versions of their dad. “You’re a great help to me.”
Instead of preening as she expected, they exchanged sheepish looks. “Aunt Jen is very strict,” Ryder informed her solemnly. “She would tar and feather us if she were here.”
“Oh?” Halle eyed them in fascination as she washed out their glasses and turned them over in the drying pan. “Why’s that?”
He gave a heavy sigh. “She makes us put hospital corners on our sheets and tuck the blankets so tight you can bounce a quarter on them.”
“Are you serious?” Halle burst out laughing. “Did she serve in the military?”
He scowled in contemplation. “What’s the military?”
Halle changed the subject, intending to ask Owen about his sister later on. “I would’ve never guessed you were so highly house-trained. Boy, have I underestimated the Tolliver brothers! Way to go, Aunt Jen!”
“Look what you’ve done!” Cooper sent his brother a distressed look. “Why’d you have to open your big mouth and ruin our summer vacation?”
“Whoa!” Halle swooped between them to prevent a brawl, steering them toward the door. “I’m not going to make you do hospital corners, but you’d better not get too out of practice. Your Aunt Jen will be back soon.”
Cooper opened his mouth to issue a grumpy rejoinder, but she shushed him before he could get it out. “She takes good care of you, hospital corners and all. Now, let’s go gather some eggs.”
This time, she didn’t stop them when they shot out of the kitchen. She grabbed the bowl of food scraps and followed them outside, amused by the way they skipped and tumbled their way toward the chicken yard. They never simply walked anywhere.
The chickens caught sight of the bowl of scraps and rushed to the fence, squawking excitedly over the snack they were about to receive.
Jensen and Kenny glanced up at the noise and grinned at Halle.
They’d been gathering the few eggs that the hens had randomly laid in the yard instead of inside the boxes in the coop.
While the chickens tore into the food scraps, the boys joined the men in their egg hunt.
Anyone watching them would’ve thought Easter had come early.
Jensen abandoned the hunt to Kenny and the boys. Grabbing a hammer and a handful of nails, he went to work hammering down a loose slat on one of the ramps leading up to a chicken perch.
“This is their favorite spot to hide eggs.” Kenny led the boys over to the lattice skirt around the bottom of the nearest red coop. “They kept digging in the dirt to climb under the wood, so Dad and I built a door to make it easier to get the eggs.” He opened the miniature door and swung it open.
“Cool,” the boys breathed. They dropped to their knees and tried to crawl through the opening at the same time, but ended up bumping their heads.
“Ow!” They sat back, rubbing the sore spots.