Page 57 of Harvest Moon (Riverbend 3)

“Had a call down the road and saw your truck.” He scanned the space. “This is coming along. Last time I was here there was nothing but a foundation.”

“Owners want to be in by Christmas.”

Cooper’s brows hiked up. “You’ve got a lot on your plate right now: this house, Emma, the orchard, and an ex-wife to boot.”

Gavin rolled his eyes. “I’ll manage. Emma’s aunt checked in yesterday for what it’s worth.”

Cooper folded his arms over his chest. “How’d she take the news? Is she coming for Emma?”

The loudzipof screw guns started again, so Gavin gesturedto Cooper to follow him outside. Once on the front porch he continued. “She was pretty shaken up, man. I had to tell her that her niece died and the funeral was already over . . . it was a lot to dump on the woman. She’s calling back when she’s had time to process everything.”

Cooper frowned. “I get it but... that doesn’t sound too promising.”

“Give her some time.”

“What will you do if she doesn’t want her?”

Gavin should probably give some thought to that. “We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.”

His brother was too perceptive to miss thewe.Next he’d probably warn Gavin off Laurel like their mom had. Or at least tell him that sitting with her at church had been a bad move.

But Cooper did neither of those. “Hey, I know you guys are busy with the orchard and your business and everything. Katie and I were talking... we could pick up Emma some evening this week, take her for a little hike. I know Mallory and Mike used to do that with her—posted pictures on Facebook. They have one of those carriers.”

“Thanks, Coop. I’ll keep that in mind. It’s really one day at a time right now. Patty could show up tomorrow and take her off to Florida.” His gut clenched at the thought. He really didn’t want to see the child ripped from her home, from a community who cared about her. And the thought of not seeing her anymore... it made a spot inside ache—a spot that had long since been numb.

“Right...” Cooper said. “Well, I did come by to deliver some news I got this morning.”

Gavin’s gaze sharpened on his brother. “What’s up?”

“It’s about the plane accident. I got a call from the NTSB thismorning. They determined that the plane went down on account of a mechanical issue—not a pilot error.”

Gavin let that sink in. “It wasn’t Mike’s fault then.”

“I’ll spare you the explanation I didn’t even understand. The gist of it is, it wasn’t even something he could’ve missed in preflight.”

Gavin exhaled, long and slow. As someone who’d been guilty of negligence, he was glad his friend—even dead—wouldn’t have that on his record. It didn’t change anything, of course. Mike and Mallory were still gone, and Emma was still an orphan.

“It’ll be in tomorrow’s paper, so I wanted to give you a heads-up.”

Gavin would clip the article as he had all the others regarding the accident. Someday Emma might want to read them. And now she’d know her father wasn’t to blame. Gavin wished he could say the same about his son’s death.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

Cooper squeezed his shoulder. “Of course, buddy. Listen, I have to run out to the Hollister farm.”

“Edith’s cat up a tree again?” The widow had 911 on speed dial, but since she had no family, the department accommodated her.

Cooper gave a wry grin. “You know it.”

***

Laurel picked an apple off the ground and bagged it. The scent of freshly mown grass mingled with the earthy smell of apple trees. She loved fall. Today’s high was a mild seventy-four degrees, and the sun peeked out from the clouds only occasionally. She loved working outdoors in weather like this, and she hadn’t realized how much she’d missed living in the heart of the mountains.

“Over here, Emma,” she called. “Get that one.”

Emma scampered toward the apple and Sunny followed, tail fluttering behind her like a furry flag.

The harvest crew had arrived at dawn and dispersed into the orchard. The migrant workers moved efficiently, bagging apples, then rolling their filled bags into the big bins sitting in the grassy rows.

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