28 - Margaret
The kitchen at Mountain View Farm was a high-performance engine, and by late January, Margaret had learned exactly how to keep pace with its gears.
In her old life, a “large breakfast” was a curated affair handled by a silent catering staff.
Here, it was a beautiful, rowdy symphony of sizzling cast iron, the rhythmic thud of Moose’s knife as he diced potatoes for a massive skillet of hash, and the constant, bright laughter of children.
The air was thick with the scent of maple-cured bacon, rising yeast, and fresh coffee.
Despite the date on the calendar, the Virginia mountains were enjoying a suspiciously mild winter.
The morning air was crisp and invigorating rather than biting, making it a perfect day for the expedition the men had planned.
“Bear, if you put one more piece of bacon on that plate, there won’t be enough for the kids,” Flora warned, though she was smiling as she swatted her husband’s hand away from the cooling rack.
“I’m fueling for the mission, Flo,” Bear rumbled, snatching the piece anyway and winking at Charlie, who was sitting at the counter watching the exchange with wide, fascinated eyes.
Today was a milestone for Margaret’s children.
The men: Bear, Moose, Link, Jax, and Shadow were taking the entire younger generation out for a day of hiking, survival training, and fishing.
It was a diverse group: Sammy and Rhys, who had been training with their fathers for years, were the tactical leads.
Kenzi and Amelia were the seasoned middle-graders.
And then there were Charlie and Emily.
Margaret watched as Moose knelt beside Charlie, adjusting the straps on the boy’s small rucksack.
Her son looked like a different child than the one she had known in Richmond.
Gone were the tailored suits and the fear of a grass stain.
Instead, he sported rugged canvas pants, a flannel shirt, and hiking boots caked with real mud.
He wasn’t a “prop” anymore, he was a boy embracing the world around him.
“You ready, Charlie?” Moose asked with a grin. “We’re going to see if we can pull some trout out of the creek for lunch. Just remember to be quiet. Fish have ears.”
Charlie nodded, his brows furrowing in concentration as if he were preparing for a competition.
“I’ll be as quiet as a ninja,” he declared with a fierce determination, a gleam of excitement shining in his eyes.
Beside him, Emily clutched Kenzi’s hand, glancing around at the dense woods surrounding the farmhouse.
“What if the fish are too smart for us?” she asked in a whisper, eyeing the tangled greenery.
“Then we’ll outsmart them!” Charlie replied, puffing out his chest. For two kids who had never been allowed to step off a paved path without a nanny’s watchful eye, the thought of getting dirty and catching their own food was a thrilling, terrifying frontier.
As the group gathered, Mike pulled Elena into a quick hug. Margaret stood close enough to catch his low whisper, “Take care with the cleaning and stay away from the harsh chemicals, okay?”
Elena’s quick glare was unmistakable, her voice sharp as she replied, “I am fine.” Yet even as the words left her mouth, a faint flush touched her cheeks. Margaret exchanged a curious glance with Flora; neither said a word, but the question hung in the air.
“Alright, move out!” Bear called, and the kitchen erupted into a flurry of discarded napkins and heavy boots.
Margaret stood on the porch with Flora, Elena, and Noor, waving until the last of the camouflage-clad figures disappeared into the treeline. The sudden silence that settled over the Farm was jarring, but it was quickly broken by giggling from the kitchen.
Link and Noor’s three-year-old twins, Yasmin and Amina, had stayed behind to help the ladies with the big house-prep.
They were busy unloading pots and pans from the dishwasher while chattering away in a lively mix of Arabic and English.
No one else could understand a word, but their animated conversation filled the kitchen as they carefully, if not always efficiently, put everything back in the cabinets.
“Peace at last,” Noor sighed, watching her daughters. “Now, we have work to do.”
Blast and Nova had finally completed their long-term rehab following the helicopter crash.
After receiving their medical discharges from the Navy, they had spent time with their respective families.
Now, they were ready to return to work. They were due to arrive in just a few days to join the Blue Ridge Protectors full-time, and the big farmhouse needed to be scrubbed, aired out, and restocked.
Armed with cleaning supplies, the ladies moved through the house while Eloise tackled the grocery list in the kitchen. Their conversation flowed with the easy intimacy of family as they divided the work, turning the big farmhouse back into a home.
While they were in the dining room, Elena paused mid-motion, dust cloth still in hand. Her eyes lit up as she gazed at a framed photo on the sideboard and exclaimed, “I love that you framed the picture from Mike’s mother’s wedding!”
Still staring at the picture, Elena said softly, her voice filled with emotion. “She has come a long ways in the two years since I first met her.”
Flora nodded, adding, “Her life has really opened up. I’m still amazed that she is married now.”
“She was so radiant standing there in her favorite meadow with all friends and family there,” Elena sighed softly.
Margaret turned her attention to Elena and Flora. “Who’s Nancy?”
Elena glanced at her, her face aglow. “She’s Mike’s mom. Nancy has non-verbal autism that her family and the town she grew up in didn’t understand. But now, with some new technology, she is able to communicate and has fallen in love and gotten married.””
Flora chimed in, “Yeah, she really showed her hometown that just because you’re quiet doesn’t mean you don’t have something to say. Nancy is the heart of Banner, Tennessee now.
Margaret nodded, absorbing the information. “Wow, that’s inspiring.”
Elena wiped a stray tear, giving a small, bashful laugh. “I think I’m just extra emotional lately. Everything makes me want to cry or grab a pint of ice cream.”
Flora stopped mid-stride, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Elena’s face. “Really?”
“My go-to was bananas and peanut butter,” Margaret laughed.
Noor’s face lit up as she realized what wasn’t being said.
Elena bit her lip, a radiant, joyful smile breaking through. “We only found out for sure three days ago. Mike is, well, he’s already trying to wrap me in bubble wrap.”
The congratulations were loud and boisterous, a flurry of hugs that even the twins joined in on, sensing the excitement. For a moment, the darkness of the past few months felt completely gone.
As the group moved upstairs to the bedrooms, Margaret paused in one room, pulling fresh sheets from a nearby basket. She began changing the bed, her hands steady but her mind wandering.
“Charlie and Emily are adapting so well to the homeschooling system you all have here,” Margaret said quietly, almost to herself.
“I was worried at first. Back in Richmond, education felt like a performance.” She hesitated, smoothing the sheet.
“Honestly, I don’t even know what the Pythagorean theorem is, much less how to spell it. ”
Flora smiled warmly. “None of us were born knowing that. The great thing is everyone has a skill they teach the kids.”
Elena nodded. “Like Sammy teaching geometry out in the barn or Rhys showing them how to track.”
Margaret chuckled softly. “Well, I suppose I can teach them poise and manners and maybe how to use eighteen different forks at a fancy dinner.”
The others burst into laughter. “That would be a very good lesson for them,” Noor agreed with a grin. “They will need to know that someday.”
Margaret felt a warmth spread through her chest. Together, they were giving these kids a whole new kind of education.
“Capability is the best teacher,” Noor said, lifting Amina onto her hip.
“It is,” Margaret agreed. “Emily told me she doesn’t miss her ‘shiny shoes’ at all. She wants to know if she can have her own garden plot in the spring.”
Flora looked over at Margaret, her expression softening.
“They’ve found their footing, Margaret. Just like you have.
” She paused, her gaze drifting toward the empty guest suite on the first floor.
“Bear told me that Dog should be coming home about the same time as Nova and Blast. He’s going to stay here in the farmhouse for a while.
Since his apartment and clinic were destroyed, he doesn’t have a place of his own yet. ”
Margaret’s hand paused on the pillow case she was smoothing. The mention of his name still felt like a physical jolt. “Is he ready to come back?”
“He’s walking,” Flora said. “Jake says he’s stubborn, angry, and acting like an ass, but he’s walking.”
Margaret looked out the window toward Monterey. She thought about the “Nonna’s Legacy” funds she and Will had quietly funneled into the construction. She thought about the trauma bays and the 24/7 Urgent Care facility rising from the ashes.
She hadn’t told anyone at the Farm that she was the one paying the contractors.
“He’ll have a place to stay,” Margaret said quietly. “But when Barkley Berkshire gets back, he’s going to realize that the world didn’t stop turning just because he left. He’s going to find a town that took care of itself.”
She looked down at Yasmin and Amina, who were now trying to “help” by reorganizing the Tupperware drawer. She smiled, but her heart was already racing. She hoped Emery was still in there, under all that anger. Because she wasn’t just building a clinic for the town.
She was building a future for the man who had forgotten he deserved one. And when he finally returned to the main house, she would be right there across the yard. No longer a socialite in need of saving, she would be his partner.