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two do know that it isn’t safe to go in the barn or around the bulls, right?” Willow knelt in front of them, her heart catching.
    They nodded. The smaller boy tried to hide the thumb in his mouth by covering it with his other hand. Their twin gazes slid from her face to something behind her. Clint?
    She stood and turned, ready to greet him and his sister. The little boys scurried to the side of their mother, their hands reaching for hers.
    â€œClint.” Willow didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t know that she wanted to say more.
    â€œWillow, these two rowdy guys are my nephews. This is my sister, Jenna.”
    Jenna, brown hair streaked with blond highlights and petite frame clothed in shorts and a T-shirt, held out her hand. “Nice to meet you. And I’m really thankful to you for giving Clint a place to keep the boys.”
    â€œYou’re welcome, Jenna. We’re glad we can do it.”
    Willow squatted to put herself at eye level with the two little boys, matching bookends with identical looks of sadness and fear. Their mother was leaving. Willow fought the urge to pull them close, to promise that everything would be okay.
    She thought about her own fears, her own longings. It all paled in comparison to what this family was going through.
    â€œMy name is Willow. What are your names?”
    â€œTimmy,” the bigger of the two pushed at his brother again, “and this is Davie.”
    â€œDavid,” the boy mumbled, looking down at the ground.
    Insecure? She understood insecure, and how it felt to not know where she was supposed to be, or what she should do.
    Janie had joined them, and she was hugging Clint’s sister, holding her tight for a long minute while the boys held tight to their mother. When Janie turned back around, tears shimmered on the surface of her eyes.
    â€œJenna doesn’t have a thing to worry about, does she, Willow? We’ll be here to help Clint with the boys until she can make it home.”
    Willow smiled at the boys again. Just little boys, and they were going to have to say goodbye to their mother. She’d been ten when her parents sent her away, forcing her to leave their home in Europe and attend a special school in the States.
    She knew how hard it was to let go of what was familiar. She also knew that Jenna’s heart had to be breaking, because nothing hurt a mother worse than letting go of a child.
    â€œOf course we’ll help.” Willow ignored Clint, because she couldn’t look into his eyes. She couldn’t acknowledge, not even to herself, how hard this was going to be.
    Janie smiled, her brown eyes soft. Janie knew.
    Time to escape. Willow ruffled the blond hair of the smaller boy, and he looked up at her, gray eyes seeking something, probably answers. She didn’t have any. She could pray, but a child didn’t want to hear that, because he wouldn’t understand what God could do. At his age, the little guy just wanted his mom to stay with him.
    â€œI need to get my shoes and get some work done.” Willow smiled at Jenna, who seemed unsure and probably needed reassurance. “Don’t worry about the boys, or Clint. We have plenty of room here.”
    â€œThank you.” And then Jenna hugged her.
    â€œI’m sure we’ll see you before you go.” Willow pulledaway, from Jenna and the situation. “Boys, remember, stay out of the pens.”
    Clint started to follow her, but she stopped him. “I can handle this. You spend time with your sister.”
    â€œYou’re sure?”
    Positive. What she needed was time alone, to think about how her life had just changed. What she didn’t need was Clint Cameron invading space she had carved out for herself. And what she couldn’t do was look into his gray eyes, eyes like those of his nephews, but seeing so much more.
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    A few hours later Jenna drove down the road, and Clint could only pray that God would keep