red hill - jamie mcguire

Zoe tugged on his hand, and he went along with her as if she were too strong to resist. “He’s a
cow!”
“You mean a bull” Skeeter said, looking over at Nathan and feigning concern.
I laughed. “He seems like a good guy.”
“He is.” Nathan smiled, watching the two.
“Not at all like you’ve described Aubrey.”
“He’s nothing like her. But she wasn’t that way at first, either.”
Skeeter pretended to be too scared of Butch, and made a scene trying to break free of Zoe’s grip.
“He’s good with kids. Did he have any of his own”
“Not yet,” Nathan said, suddenly sad. “His wife was pregnant when this all went down.” He
looked at me. “Her name was Jill. She was the sweetest thing.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, kicking myself for bringing up the subject.
Nathan kissed my cheek. “We’ve all lost someone,” he said. “It’s just the way things are, now.”
Cooper and Ashley came outside, hugged and kissed like they did every time he started his patrol.
“See if you can’t talk Nate into grilling chicken tonight.” He winked at Nathan before slinging a rifle
over his shoulder.
I patted Nathan’s arm. “You are the best cook we’ve got.”
“I love you!” Ashley called.
“I love you more!” Cooper called back, holding out both of his arms wide, and then jogging off to
the east.
“Vomit,” I said, teasing Ashley.
She stuck out her tongue. “Don’t be jelly!”
“Jelly” Nathan asked.
“Jealous,” I said. “You’ll learn all this when Zoe gets older.
He nodded, mouthing Ah.
Skeeter jogged up to us, breathing hard from playing with Zoe. “He’s not all that scary. I think we
should just cook him.”
“That’s not funny!” Ashley said, even though she was grinning. She turned to go inside. “He’s a
pet!”
Nathan elbowed his brother-in-law. “You talk awfully big when he’s in a pen. Maybe we should
let him out and see who wins”
Skeeter sniffed. “I’d win.”
We all laughed, and then Nathan held up his finger, leaning his ear over like he was listening for
something. Then I heard it, too. Yelling. We all looked around, and then Nathan pointed, seeing
Cooper sprinting at full speed, pointing and screaming. At first I couldn’t make out what he was
saying, and then Nathan froze.
His breath caught. “Oh my God. Zoe.”
Nathan took off first, and then Skeeter and I followed behind. We ran south, the same direction as
Cooper, even though the barn was obscuring our view. To my horror, I saw Zoe, her arms stretched
out wide, turning in slow circles in the field, with a man limping toward her less than ten feet away.