“I think he just wants a reason to come out here.”

“Then he has one,” I said.

The afternoon sun warmed the front porch.

I sat on the wooden steps beside Luke with two heavy mugs of black coffee.

Our children were running across the grazing land behind the red barn, chasing each other through the tall grass.

“They’re going to trample the alfalfa,” Luke said.

“They’re just playing,” I said.

“The grass will grow back.”