Page 67 of Luna

The afternoon was a blur of activity, and that evening, he spent hours with Rowdy trying to fix a broken piece on one of the threshers after taking care of the evening chores. There wasn’t time for stealing kisses or even a few moments just to sit in silence on the porch with Luna.

Exhausted after he took a quick bath and turned in for the night, Hunter fell into a dreamless, heavy sleep the moment his head hit his pillow. He awakened early the next morning, though, and hurried downstairs, hoping to catch Luna.

The kitchen was dark and his disappointment keen as he helped himself to a handful of cookies and headed outside. Two hours later, when he returned to the house for breakfast, everyone was in a subdued, quiet mood.

“Did something happen I don’t know about?” Hunter asked as he sank into his chair in the dining room.

“Did you see the newspaper?” Nik asked.

Hunter looked around the somber group and shook his head. “Nope. I didn’t have a chance to look at it yesterday. What happened?”

“It looks like the world is going to war,” Rowdy said, handing Hunter the previous day’s newspaper that he’d been reading.

“War?” Hunter asked, taking the paper and reading the sensational headlines. It appeared Germany had declared war on France and Belgium, Russia was fighting the Germans, and the British had appropriated more than five million dollars for a war fund.

“What does that mean?” Laila asked in a frightened, small voice.

Hunter wanted to devour every word of the newspaper but purposely folded it and tossed it onto the china cabinet behind him. He looked to Dally and then Nik to answer the child’s question.

“Do you remember the news about the Archduke and his wife getting shot a while back?” Nik asked Laila.

The girl nodded. “Sure. Everyone was talking about it.”

“Everyone,” Rachel agreed.

“Well, their deaths set something into motion that is going to be hard to stop,” Nik said, simplifying what had turned into a battle between countries that would no doubt be bloody and disastrous. “Last winter, do you remember when Brett and Ben made that big snowball, and it rolled down the hill? The longer it rolled, the bigger it got until it was dangerous and hard to stop. Well, war is kind of like that snowball. It starts with something small enough, but then it gets bigger and bigger. However, this war is a long, long way from here, across the ocean in Europe, so the two of you don’t need to be afraid or worry about it coming here. You are just as safe today, now that war has been declared, as you were yesterday when you knew nothing about it.”

Laila and Rachel looked at each other, shrugged, then folded their hands on their laps, waiting for someone to ask the blessing on the meal so they could all eat.

Nik offered the prayer, adding a plea for the fighting overseas to be brief, then they ate their meal, mostly in silence.

Hunter had no chance to corner Luna in the kitchen alone as he rushed out the door to get to work. Since Nik hadn’t been called out on any emergencies, he jumped in to help.

The morning went smoothly, with Laila and Rachel bringing out a wagon full of hand pies stuffed with peaches and berries, along with cool water and a big jug of lemonade.

Hunter thought he might suffocate in the wheat chaff and heat before the triangle clanged at the house to let them know lunch was ready. All the men took turns at the pump by the barn, pouring buckets of water over their heads to wash away the grime and to cool off.

The previous meals Luna had served had been primarily Italian food, filling and hearty and toothsome. Today, though, platters of fried chicken, bowls heaped with potato salad and coleslaw, baskets filled with golden biscuits, and slices of fresh melon lined the big table set up in the shade.

Hunter caught Luna’s eye as she carried out jam and butter and nodded at her, knowing she’d made his favorite meal.

He wondered if Dally had told her how to season the chicken just right, because everything tasted just as good as any meal he’d ever eaten at Bramble Hall. Maybe better, because he knew every dish that had been prepared had been made because he would enjoy it.

Luna even served slices of apple pie for dessert, made with summer apples that had been shipped from a grower in California.

When he forked his last bite of pie, Hunter was full and content. He drained his glass of sweet tea and looked around for Luna, but she’d disappeared. As the men rose and prepared to head back out to the field, Hunter ducked into the house and nearly collided with Luna as she was coming out of the kitchen.

“The meal was fantastic. Thank you for making it.” He kissed her cheek, then dashed back outside.

The harvest crew sent up a cheer when they wrapped up their work just before dinner. They were all in good spirits as they drove the equipment out of the field and back to the barn. Most of the men would eat supper there and then head out so they would be ready to start work at a different location in the morning.

Nik and Hunter helped Rowdy pay the men their wages, then headed for the house. The two of them were almost there when dust rolled up the lane, and an automobile tooted its horn in greeting.

“Oh, no,” Nik said under his breath.

Hunter glanced from his brother-in-law to the occupants of the auto and groaned. The war raging in Europe had nothing on the battle about to ensue when his parents stepped into the house and saw Dally’s condition.

His mother waved from the back of Caterina’s car, which Harley John was driving. A few dozen questions rattled through Hunter’s head as Harley John stopped at the end of the front yard gate and Dacey and Braxton Douglas stepped out of the automobile.

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