Page 46 of Swamp Kings 2

“Found it,” she announced, then quickly popped off the lid and dumped the contents into a little metal bowl. “I’ll keep looking for more while you eat this. See what all we’ve got in our happy fancy camper.”

Beth gobbled up the food, feeling like it had to do something good for her allwhile Maggie called out her findings. “Chips, please,” Beth said when they appeared in the list. “Do they have anything with vinegar?”

“How about dill pickle?”

“Chips?”

“Yep.”

“Yes, please.”

She opened the little fridge. “Water, juice, orange, apple, some kind of mango.”

“I’ll take an apple. And orange.”

She brought them to her. “I saw crackers too if you want that.”

“Do they have anything with protein? Something… meaty.”

“Let me keep digging,” she said, like a kid on a quest. “Hey, we should see what they have to watch on TV. Would be a good distraction, let you relax. Oh! You could take a shower!”

“I doubt Bishop will want me doing that while driving through the end of the world.”

Her eyes popped. “Definitely not.”

Beth felt like a dead end problem. “But… we can see about that movie if you want.”

“Yes!” Her childlike excitement took a bite off her tension. She needed something or somebody else to focus on, she realized. Somebody with needs she could actually figure out and do something about.

The door at the front opened and all her tension returned in a flash. Just Seer. The sight of him sent more tension on the run. She gave him a smile and patted the seat near her. Ever since she’d gotten pregnant, his presence always had a soothing effect. Almost like something inside her had opened when she became a mother. Something drawn to spiritual things. Probably the responsibility of another human’s soul. She was glad, though. She’d been meaning to get to the whole God part of life. He was always near, but in the background or on the back burner of things you needed to do, even intended to do which was why they were on a burner to begin with. Many things in her life didn’t even make it to the burner, they sat in some weird mental storage, waiting to be sorted and trashed.

“Babysitting duty?” Maggie asked as he sat next to her.

Beth smiled at his signature humble grin that no doubt caused many women to fall immediately in love with him. “Was ready for more entertaining conversation.”

“We got snacks,” Maggie leveraged, listing off the goodies she found.

“I’m fine,” he said, with a hand raise. “How’s our favorite mothers faring? Enjoying the accommodations?”

Maggie appeared horrorstruck. “How do you know?"

He eyed her with an angled head. “I saw.”

“I haven't told Spook yet.”

“I know,” he said, his tone gentle and understanding. “Congratulations.”

Her exuberance tripled till her face beamed. “Thank you!” She went super serious. “What did you see?”

He let out a big chuckle, putting his arm on the back of the couch. “That you carried life.”

Maggie hurried to the couch, sitting next to Beth. “What else! Did you see the gender? When did you see?Can I touch you to try and find out?”

“Whoa,” he laughed, shaking his head. “Please forgive me but I don't feel right doing that until Spook knows.”

She sagged a little, her smile still beaming. “Fine,” she surrendered then shot up. “Getting a text, excuse me!”

She hurried to the other side of the room and Beth smiled at Seer while opening her chips.

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