Page 35 of The Cowboy Who Came Home

“Are you done?” Finn asked, and how he had a teasing lilt in his voice, Edith wasn’t sure.

“Yes,” she said.

“So you’ve got sinkholes?”

She turned to face the one in front of her again. “Looks like it.”

“How deep?”

“I don’t know. At least six or seven feet. Alex is down there taking pictures.”

“You’ve just got the one?”

“I have no idea.”

“Do you need me to bring out the drone?”

“Let me ask Alex.” She lowered her phone and called out to her brother. “Finn says he can bring the drone, so we can see if there’s more than one.”

“Yes, please.” Alex faced her and started back toward her. “This says we have to excavate down to rock to fix this.” He held up his phone as he marched toward her. “We need special equipment for this.”

And that wasn’t a bad thing for Alex. He loved vehicles of all kinds, including farm machinery. Tractors, balers, ATVs, and oh, boy, an excavator.

“He says he’d love to use the drone to see if we have more sinkholes.”

“I’ll talk to my uncle and be there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you, Finn.”

“What about lunch?”

“What…about lunch?”

“Have you eaten lunch?” he asked. “Either of you?”

“No,” Edith said. “Is it lunchtime?”

Finn laughed, and he said, “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“As soon as he could” for Finn meant another ninety minutes, by which time Edith’s stomach clawed at itself for something to eat. He’d texted several times since she’d called, keeping her updated with his progress, so she knew he was bringing Chinese food with him and the drone.

She sat on the front steps of the farmhouse when he rolled up, and Edith stayed right where she was, her phone on the plank beside her. Finn took several seconds to get out of the truck, because when he did, he had the bags of Chinese food looped over one wrist and the drone in the other hand.

“Need some help?”

“I can see I’m not gonna get it from you.” He grinned at her as he neared. “Stay there. I’ve got it.” He came up the steps and set the drone on the porch table where she sometimes sipped her coffee before church on Sundays.

Finn groaned as he sat down beside her. “We eatin’ out here? Alex isn’t hungry?”

“You try prying him away from the computer,” she said dryly. “He’s been researching how to fill sinkholes for an hour.”

“My daddy’s done it loads of times,” Finn said. “I mentioned it to him, and he said it’s do-able.”

“Yeah, well, maybe he should come do-able it.” Edith leaned her shoulder into his. “It’s good to see you.”

He put his arm around her, and she settled further into him. “I looked up that touch starvation thing,” he said. “You were right. I pretty much think I’ve been starving for a while now.”

“I’m starving physically too,” Edith said, though she didn’t want to move away from his side. “Did you get that cashew chicken?”

---