Sunrise Point

boat… . But I do have a long history of not staying in one place for long.”
    “Or with one job? Luke mentioned something about your difference of opinion with the way the suits run things.”
    “Yeah, that,” Coop said with a laugh. “Luke thinks I turned into a tree hugger. I’m not, I don’t think. Just hate rape and pillage.”
    Colin laughed. “Well, I think I am a tree hugger… I only shoot animals if they’re about to eat me. And Jilly? She won’t even use pesticides on her vegetables. I wanna see the rest of this place.” He pointed to the stairs. “What’s up there?”
    “That’s the part of the trailer that sits over the truck bed,” Coop told him. “Bedroom and bath. Go ahead.”
    Colin took the steps and looked into a large bathroom that contained a shower and then a bedroom with a queen-size bed and a long wall of drawers and closets. There was a nice flat screen on the wall opposite the bed. “I might have to get me one of these,” Colin said.
    “Have a lot of toys, do you?”
    “Not yet,” Colin said with a grin. “Let’s fire up that Rhino of yours and I’ll take you on a tour of the forest. We might even end up at Jilly’s farm—really something to see.”
    * * *
    After all the employees had left the orchard on Wednesday afternoon, once the equipment was secured and the gate closed, Tom headed for the house. As he neared, he saw a little girl sitting on the back step, a large picture book in her lap, carefully turning the pages. Even if he hadn’t known Nora and her children would be joining them for dinner, he would definitely know this was her daughter. She had the same peachy complexion that would eventually freckle. Her brown hair was a lighter shade, but when she looked up at him he recognized those big brown eyes with the golden flecks.
    This would be Berry. Nora had talked about her often enough.
    Tom sat on the top step next to her. He pulled off the boots he’d worked in that day—they smelled of manure and Maxie didn’t allow them under her dinner table in that condition. Berry scooted away a bit. Shy. Nora had said Berry was very shy. He glanced over at the page that had her attention and asked, “What animal is that?”
    She didn’t even favor him with a look, but she said, “Cow.”
    “Do you know what a cow says?”
    “Moo,” she said in a very, very quiet voice.
    He chuckled. Berry was wearing a cute little lavender outfit, pants and a long-sleeved shirt with flowers on it, tennis shoes over her lace-trimmed socks. He had expected a ragamuffin in old, used, tattered clothes, not nice stuff like this. “If the cow was that quiet, the farmer would never be able to find her. What’s next?” he asked.
    She turned the page. “Guck,” she said softly.
    He laughed. “Or duck, depending on your preference. And what does the duck say?”
    “Guack,” she whispered.
    “You’re very smart. What’s next?”
    She turned the page and said, “Fog.”
    “And the frog says?”
    “Burbbet.”
    “I have a pond full of frogs. Do you like frogs?”
    She nodded.
    “If you come a tiny bit closer to me so I can see the page, I can read it to you,” he offered. She merely turned the page.
    But she said, “Kitty. Mow.”
    “Brilliant,” he said. And he moved a bit closer. He read, “‘This is a kitten and it says meow. The kitten likes to play with a ball of string or yarn.’” He put a little feeling into his meow and she glanced up at him with a shy smile. He wondered if Nora had been like this as a little girl, shy and sweet. She wasn’t shy and sweet now, but she was definitely fun at times. And he couldn’t deny she was nice enough. But she stood up for herself. She was proud. Too proud. She had bravado. He got the sense she was faking that, but he liked it. In fact, if she had to summon it and it wasn’t natural, he liked it even more.
    Berry turned the page and he read, “‘This is a puppy and he says…’”
    She looked up at him and said, “Woof. Woof.”
    “And do puppies like kittens and frogs?” he asked her. And she nodded. “I thought so,” he said. “I have a puppy,” he said.
    “Gook,” she proudly informed him.
    He laughed. Ah, so the d’ s were g’ s. “Yes, Duke. Not exactly a puppy. More of a gog.”
    “Don’t mispronounce,” came Nora’s voice from behind him. “I know it’s tempting, and fun, but really…”
    They both turned, looked at her and smiled.
    “She seems very smart for two,” he said. “Is