Chapter 63

Ward gave Joe a slap on his bare ass as he passed.

The lightness in Ward’s mood changed immediately when he reentered his bedroom. He caught sight of the long envelope laying on his small desk. It was stamped and addressed to the army recruiter. Ward picked it up and looked at it.

He’d filled out his application for reenlistment online. However, when it came to pressing the submit button, he’d hesitated. Instead, he decided to mail it in. He’d printed it off and put it in an envelope.

Ward knew he was procrastinating by doing it by snail mail. He’d convinced himself he was doing so because he didn’t want to do anything rash. Ten years before he’d stormed into the recruiting office in Westbrook and enlisted the day after Tyler told Ward he would be marrying Tiffany.

A week had gone by and Tyler had made no attempt to contact Ward and had not come out of the office to work in the mill. Ward concluded that the best course of action would be to get away from the situation altogether. Otherwise, neither he nor Tyler would be able to get on with their lives

He dressed and put the letter in the back pocket of his jeans. He would put it in the mailbox for pick-up later when they were done with the milking.

Ward came downstairs. He was greeted at the bottom by a roly-poly ball of growling grey fur which attached itself to the cuff of his pants and shook its head vigorously.

Ward picked up the pup and nuzzled her. “G’morning, Addy.”

She wiggled all over and licked his nose.

“Glad to see you’rehappy and chipper this morning.”

He put her down. She immediately latched onto his pant cuff once more, making it difficult for him to walk.

Dragging the pup along, Ward went into the kitchen. His mother was busy getting things ready for breakfast. The aroma of coffee and warmed cinnamon rolls filled the room.

“Good morning, Edward,” she said, walking over to him and giving him a peck on the cheek. “There’s coffee and rolls to tide you over until breakfast. Your father’s already taken Zeta and Teller to get the cows, so you boys need to get a move on. By the way, is Joe up?”

“In a manner of speaking, I guess you could say he’s up,” Ward said with a grin. “He’ll be down in a minute.”

Little Addy was continuing to worry Ward’s pant cuff. “Addy, dear, that will be enough,” Ward’s mother said.

The puppy let go of Ward’s cuff and sat looking expectantly. She was rewarded with a tiny piece of cinnamon roll.

“Thanks,” Ward said and poured himself a cup of steaming coffee, took a roll, and sat at the table.

A few minutes later Joe came into the kitchen, whistling. “Oh, what a beautiful morning,” he said, looking at Ward. He winked, and behind his mother’s back, gave his crotch a surreptitious pat.

Ward just shook his head.

Addy immediately grabbed Joe’s pant leg and resumed her game.

Their mom and Joe laughed. Ward smiled.

“Addy’s ready to go to her new home. You can take her to Tyler and the boys whenever you’d like,” Ward’s mother said, turning her back to him as she did something on the counter. “Have you got time today?”

She didn’t know about the situation between him and Tyler. Ward hadn’t shared how his week at work had gone. How would Tyler react to Ward suddenly bringing the puppy to him and the boys when he and Ward hadn’t talked things out?

“Um, don’t you think we should let Tyler know first?”

“Call him,” Joe suggested.

“Uh, maybe it would be better if you did that, Mom. You could invite ‘em to come and pick her up,” Ward said, thinking it’d be easier if he faced Tyler with the family around him. “You know what to tell ‘em about taking care of her,” Ward suggested hopefully.

“Nonsense,” she said, turning back to face him. “I can write everything down and go over it with you. I’ve got tons to do today and don’t need company coming.”

His mother’s abrupt response puzzled Ward. She was usually very willing to have the Hugheses visit the farm. However, before he could say more, Joe asked, “What about Pedro and Panda? You got homes for them, too?”

“Not yet. If your father has his way, we’ll keep them. You know how attached he gets to his dogs. He can barely stand the thought of Addy going, even though he knows he’ll be seeing her often since she’ll be with Tyler and the boys. They’ll probably bring her with them when they come out to the farm.”

Ward felt a twinge of sadness.