Taking a deep breath, Becky gathered her dark thoughts. “I’m worried Edith might do something daft like take Mary to Milwaukee.”
“Edith is a tortured spirit, to be sure. But why would she be so foolish as to break the law?”
“She took Jamie away from his dad while they were going through a bitter divorce. Why wouldn’t she do the same thing to our little girl?”
“Does Adam know of your concerns?”
Becky nodded. “I told him everything.”
“He must know what he’s doing. It won’t be the first time he’s dealt with someone who has a warped and twisted mind.”
“I hope not.” Opening the door of the café, she breathed in the delicious scent of roasted nuts, fresh coffee, and rich chocolate. “I wonder if Tess sells ice cream.”
Molly’s eyebrows rose. “Since when have you ever eaten ice cream at ten o’clock in the morning?”
“Since a handsome cowboy showed me how good it tastes when you’re stressed.”
“We’d best be ordering two bowls, then.”
Ten minutes later, with their cups of tea forgotten, they began eating two bowls of raspberry ripple and lemon sorbet ice cream.
Molly sighed. “Tell your handsome cowboy he’s right. I feel better already.”
With a mouthful of sweet berry ice cream sliding down her throat, so did Becky.
“Sorry I’m late.”Sean hurried into Todd and Sally’s barn. He was supposed to be here an hour ago, but a callout with the search and rescue team had taken longer than he’d thought. “How can I help?”
Matthew consulted his clipboard. “Nathan needs a hand with the hay but, be warned, there’s lots of it.”
“That’s probably because it’s a barn,” Sean joked.
Matthew’s lips didn’t move. “Not funny. We’re already running behind schedule and two of our helpers have had to leave. At this rate, we’ll still be here on the morning of the wedding.”
Sean placed his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “Take a deep breath and relax. We allowed ourselves an extra day to get everything ready. It will be okay.”
“But Liam said—”
“Don’t listen to our brother. He’s a lawyer. What does he know about decorating a barn?”
“About as much as you do,” Liam said from behind Matthew.
Sean’s eyebrows rose. The last time he’d seen Liam wearing jeans and a T-shirt was after he was drenched in a downpour last spring. “Where are your pressed trousers and pin-striped shirt?”
“I’m dressing for the occasion.” Taking a baseball cap out of his back pocket, he pulled it on and turned to Matthew. “The sheep are in Todd’s other barn. What can I do next?”
“You moved the sheep?”
Liam wasn’t amused. It looked as though Matthew’s nerves were rubbing off on everyone. “It hasn’t been that long since I did some work around the ranch.”
Matthew cleared his throat. “Both of you can find Nathan. We need the rest of the hay bales moved to Todd’s truck.”
As they made their way toward Nathan, Sean was still having a hard time imagining his brother herding the sheep. Even when he came home for vacations, he preferred to keep away from the daily running of the ranch.
“What was the callout?” Liam asked.
“Someone rolled their truck. It was more of a medical assist than an extrication. Have you seen Becky?”
“She’s unloading the decorations from her truck and putting them in a shipping container at the back of the barn.”
