Deadly Row to Hoe by Cricket McRae Page A

through my overtired brain before I could marshal any defense. What was I thinking? Maybe Barr and I were just fine without progeny.
    Together, mother and daughter began clearing dishes. I watched as they stood hip-to-hip at the sink. Meghan leaned down and murmured something into Erin’s hair, and Erin giggled.
    I turned my head to find Kelly looking at me as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. A slow smile spread across his face. That was why Barr and I were trying to get pregnant. There is always the threat of sorrow in life, but there is also real joy to be gleaned from our short years on earth if we’re brave enough to go after it.
    _____
    I helped with the cleanup before leaving Meghan and Erin and Kelly to what was becoming more and more like regular family time. Down in my workroom, I worked on the books for a while, but my mind wasn’t all that interested in invoicing and accounts. I did manage to order bulk ingredients for the new line of body oils before I hit the Internet.
    Searching for “Darla Klick” netted me a professional page on a social network that I didn’t belong to (who had the time for such things?) and a five-year-old reference in a research paper from the University of Alaska. I was just considering joining the social network despite my tendency to shy away from such things when I heard the door shut upstairs, voices, and soon after footsteps on the stairs from the kitchen.
    I met Barr in the door to my office/storeroom. “That didn’t take long.”
    “That’s because no one is home at the farm.”
    My eyebrows rose. “I sure got the impression Nate, at least, was expecting you. Maybe he thought you’d talk to him tomorrow?”
    Irritation flickered across his face. “Looks like I’ll have to make the trip again.” Then he grinned. “But maybe it’s not so bad that I got home early.”
    I grinned back. “Are you thinking about a little dessert?”
    “Yes, ma’am. And I’m not talking about apple strudel, either.”
    _____
    I slept hard and awoke refreshed shortly after dawn. No bad dreams—no dreams at all that I remembered. Apparently taking action had helped to assuage my horror over how Darla Klick had died.
    A detail I hadn’t shared with Nate or Daphne the night before.
    Stretching like a cat, I turned toward the bedroom window. A hint of bright blue peeked around the edge of the curtain, and the sounds of chickens clucking contentedly to one another drifted in. Beside me, Barr stirred, and then he had his arm wrapped around me and was pulling me toward him.
    “Feel like a little reprise?” he murmured in my ear.
    I turned in his arms. “Someone’s making up for lost time.”
    “Just trying to be efficient, is all.”
    “Well, by all means, then. In the name of efficiency and all.”
    _____
    An hour later I slipped a spatula under the potatoes browning on the stove. A few more minutes and they’d be perfect. A plate of sausages warmed in the oven, and I cracked eggs into a bowl of freshly snipped chives. Barr sat at the table sipping coffee.
    I’d tried out the thermometer again before coming downstairs. 98.1°. My basal body temp chart might be flat lined, but I didn’t care. I smiled over at my husband.
    Meghan shuffled in, tying her bathrobe and yawning. A sleepy-looking Kelly followed right behind her, wearing the same clothes he’d had on yesterday. I raised my eyebrows and looked at my husband, who mirrored my expression, then ducked his head and took another sip of coffee.
    “Good morning, you two.” I grabbed three more eggs to add to the mix. The shells were differing shades of light green and blue, so I knew the Araucana hens, Molly and Emma, had laid them.
    “Morning,” they mumbled in unison.
    “You’re up bright and early. Sit down. Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes.”
    Soon we were digging in and making small talk, no one mentioning the elephant in the room. Meghan and Kelly had dated for well over a year, he’d uprooted his entire