Guitars and Cages Part 2: Ranch Days

 

“Tag!” Rory yelled, smacking his uncle’s arm and swiftly running away.  “You’re it!”

 

Asher laughed and lunged at the little boy, but he was too slow to catch him, so he chased Alexia instead. Laughing, they ran around an oak, scaring a squirrel up the tree. Conner stuck his tongue out at him, so Asher changed directions, chasing him past the grill where Morgan stood cooking and watching them all play.

 

“Tag!” Asher gasped as he tackled Conner, the pair rolling along the ground.

 

Conner ended up on top, laughing as he tickled a wiggling, squirming Asher.

 

“Nope, you’re it,” Conner said as he took off.

 

Asher lay in the leaves laughing as he watched them all huddle and conspire against him. “Morgan,” he whined like a little kid. “They’re ganging up on me.”

 

“No fair tattling!” Rory declared from across the field.

 

Morgan chuckled. “Guess you’d better do less whining and more chasing.”

 

Asher rolled back to his feet and rejoined the game, laughing as he chased his sister.

 

Flipping burgers on the grill, Morgan watched the three older ones playing with the younger, seeming as carefree as children themselves. It reminded him of Asher and Alexia when they were little; the way they’d chased one another and their dogs over the fields and hills. It was hard to stop smiling as he watched Alexia pick up Rory and teasingly use the little boy as a shield against Asher while Connor tried to load water balloons in the fountain without being seen.

 

They’d come a long way in the past two weeks, and while he knew the wounds they’d suffered weren’t fully healed, it was moments like this one that gave him hope that one day they would be. He roared with laughter when Conner pelted Asher, Alexia and Rory, the balloons bursting and drenching them. The trio shared conspiratorial looks and started closing in on Conner, a half-circle of menace determined to get their hands on him. Until Morgan bellowed “Dinner!” and they all turned to race towards the grill.

 

The first few minutes at the table were chaos as everyone grabbed sodas from the cooler and Asher and Alexia both attempted to help Rory with his plate.

 

“I can get it,” the little boy piped up, standing on the seat to try and reach over them for the potato salad and deviled eggs.

 

Somewhere in all the chaos, Conner had started taking pictures and Alexia had seemingly decided to skip the meal and reach straight for the cookies. Morgan saw Asher go still, his green eyes sweeping over the field and the path and playground beyond. Though he went right back to joking with the others, Morgan hadn’t missed the flash of hurt in his eyes or the way his smile seemed just a little bit strained.