Page 60 of Embattled Return

“Logan says he’d like some time to talk to me this weekend or Monday,” he murmured, looking at the screen. “Hope everything’s okay.”

“If it wasn’t, he would probably tell you.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Go to bed.”

He swatted her lightly on the behind as she left the kitchen. She barely had the energy to brush her teeth and climb into bed she was so tired. As soon as her head hit the blessed pillow she was lost to sleep.

Six a.m. did indeed come early, but the boys were surprisingly malleable as she fed them breakfast in their pjs, which tickled them, and parked them in their high chairs while she cooked bacon. They were usually dressed by the time she fed them breakfast, but they knew that the weekends were different. They still got up at the same time but they didn’t have to rush out the door. Shannon felt refreshed after a full eight hours of sleep, and powered through the early morning, starting what felt like ten tons of laundry. How could such little people produce so much work?

She thought about John’s assertion that he would help her out more. Would he watch the kids while she went to town?

When she asked him to babysit after she filled his belly with good breakfast, he immediately said yes. “I don’t have any plans. Sunday, I have to go to the range with Harper to test that trigger pull. Why don’t you see if Lora and Willow can do lunch or something?”

Shannon was shocked and appreciative. “I’ll text them and see. I love you, babe. Thank you.”

He shook his dark head. “Don’t thank me for watching my own kids. You do too much and it needs to be more even. Now,” he said warningly, “throw another baby into the mix and things might change.”

Shannon laughed, horrified at the thought. “No other baby right now. I’m going to go hop in the shower.”

Another baby, she snorted, as she kissed her boys on the head and headed for the bathroom. They would be crazy to have another kid right now.

Shannon hurried through a shower and got dressed, then checked her phone. Willow was on-call, so a no-go. No response from Lora. Hm. Maybe she should just run over there and steal her away. She was probably locked in her office eyeball deep in some report that she absolutely needed to know by Monday. With a final kiss to John and her boys she hopped in her truck and headed the few blocks to Lora’s house.

Mercy opened the door, which surprised Shannon. “Hello, sweetheart. Where’s your mom?”

Mercy blinked her big green eyes up at her. “She’s in her office talking to Dad. That’s why I opened the door. I don’t think they’re...” she frowned, shaking her blond head. “I don’t know. They keep telling me everything is okay, but something’s not right.”

Shannon frowned and leaned down to hug the girl. “If they say everything is okay, it probably is.”

“Hey, Shannon. Sorry, didn’t hear the door,” Chad said, walking up and resting a hand on Mercy’s shoulder. Barefoot and rumpled, Chad looked like he’d slept in his clothes. He wore his blade prosthetic rather than the one fitted to his cowboy boots, but he moved like he didn’t even notice the strange looking thing. He probably didn’t.

“If this is a bad time I can come back. John offered to watch the boys while I grabbed lunch and groceries, and I thought Lora might want to go with me.”

Chad smiled and nodded, but she didn’t feel like he was okay. Reaching out she rested a hand on his forearm, conscious of worried, eight-year old eyes tracking them. “Are you okay?”

The smile faded and he sighed. “I’m fine. Maybe some lunch talk would be good for Lora. She’s in her office.” He made a motion down the hallway, and with a final smile at them both, she headed in that direction.

Lora sat in her big office chair, turned away from the desk and looking through the big bay window over the back yard. The house was beautiful, with a wide panorama view of the golf course beyond. It was late Spring, and the fairways were already an artificial neon green, too bright to be natural. Shannon was so excited when they’d moved in, because it had plenty of room to expand their family later and was within a few blocks of her own house.

“Hey, woman,” she said breezily as she walked in.

Lora turned in surprise, forcing a smile as she crossed the room to meet Shannon. They hugged and when Lora would have drawn back, Shannon held onto her arms. “What’s going on?”

Lora’s face was blotchy with restrained tears. She shook her head as her eyes welled. “Nothing.”

“This doesn’t look like nothing,” Shannon said, worried.

Lora drew a deep breath. “Just a difference of opinion.”

And she stopped there. Shannon was worried for her friend, but she knew certain things were too sensitive to talk about. “Okay. Just know that I’m here for you if you need me.”

Nodding, she hugged Shannon again. “I know. Thank you. What are you doing here?”

“Well,” Shannon said slowly, drawing back a little. “John has the kids and told me to take time for lunch before I got my groceries. I thought you might like to get out as well.”

Lora glanced back at her desk. “I would but I’m having some issues at work. Can we take a raincheck?”

Shannon narrowed her eyes at her friend. “No, we can’t. I already have about three of your rainchecks in my pocket I’m still waiting on.”

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