A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel by Alexis Morgan Page B

any tracks, and neither would the porch and steps.
    The two of them had also skirted the edge of the woods, looking for footprints or broken branches that would indicate someone had been there. No luck there, either.
    Despite the lack of hard evidence, Nick wasn’t yet ready to write it all off to some stray varmint setting off Mooch’s hunting instincts. The one thing they hadn’t done was to check Callie’s yard, and there was no time like the present. He called Mooch back to his side and did a slow circle along the edge of the woods, studying the ground as they walked.
    Again, the only boot prints were his. Feeling marginally better, he sat down on the swing while Mooch did some reconnoitering on his own. A few minutes later, the back door opened and Callie came down the steps carrying the bag of muffins and two steaming mugs of coffee.
    He let her come to him but wasn’t at all surprised that she sat down on the far end of the swing after handing him his coffee.
    She held out the bag of muffins. “You pick first since you bought them.”
    Rather than argue, he snagged the blueberry. “It was hard to choose. That shop has an amazing selection of pastries. I might go broke sampling them all.”
    Callie laughed. “I know what you mean. I went to high school with the owner. Bridey worked as a pastry chef in a big restaurant down in California before returning to Snowberry Creek to open her own shop.”
    Nick bit into the huge muffin, the burst of flavor from the fresh blueberries making him wish he’d bought more. He eyed the bag that still held Callie’s muffin.
    “You’d better eat that quick because I’m not sure one will be enough for me. Besides, how else am I supposed to find out if I like the blueberry or the peach better?”
    Callie immediately pulled her muffin out of the bag and held it out of his reach. “Too late, mister. By and large I’m not a violent person, but I’m not above smacking hands when it comes to defending one of Bridey’s pastries.”
    Then she relented and broke off a piece and held it out to him. It was every bit as good as the blueberry. “Next time I’ll know to buy two of each.”
    “I hate to tell you, but the raspberry and blackberry muffins and scones are every bit as good, so bring plenty of money when you go.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    Nick settled back into his corner of the swing, content for the moment to enjoy the rich coffee and the rest of his breakfast. It pleased him that Callie didn’t seem to be in a hurry to start her day’s chores, either.
    He stared up at the tall trees and the puffs of white clouds drifting across the blue sky. It didn’t seem quite real to him. He’d been back in the States for weeks, not hours, but some part of him had yet to accept that he didn’t need to be wearing body armor all the time.
    “How weird is it, Nick? Coming back home after months of living over there, I mean.”
    Good question, one he had no easy answer for. But for Callie, he’d try. “You don’t really live over there. You exist from one minute to the next, doing your best to get through one day after another. I tried not to keep count, but it’s hard not to think about how many weeks or months are left until you can come home.”
    “I bet it’s scary.”
    “Yeah, it is.” He washed the memory of all the dust and dirt away with a sip of coffee before working up the courage to look at Callie. “But it’s exciting, too. All that adrenaline pumping in your veins, living on the edge all the time. It’s addicting.”
    “That’s what Spence said, too.” She chuckled softly. “Lucky for him, our old police chief had been in the service, too, because it always took Spence a while to remember he couldn’t drive like a madman over here. I learned quickly to do the driving whenever the two of us went anywhere if I wanted to get there in one piece.”
    It felt good to be talking about his friend with someone else who’d known him so well. “Yeah,