They reached the barn, and Lenore didn’t have to open the door, because it hung sideways on its hinges. “This got broken last week,” she said. “When we had that terrible wind.”
“Sure,” Brandon said once again, keeping his answers short and clipped.
She led the way into the barn and found it easier to confess her lack of skills when she wasn’t looking directly at such a handsome man. She told herself she would have trouble admitting this to anyone, not just Brandon. But he’d shown up in jeans and a gray t-shirt with a hiking boot print on the front, the biceps far too tight around his muscles. He wore a dark brown cowboy hat and boots, and she actually couldn’t wait to see him really dirty.
She tamed her thoughts and continued. “I’m not real great with a hammer and nails,” she said. “So repairing structures and building new ones is difficult for me. I need help organizing the barn and making it more functional, so that I can bring the animals inside during storms. I need the chicken coop redone and fenced, so that the birds can’t get in through the top from overhead. I want a turkey enclosure, goat pens, and a pasture properly fenced. I may not be able to afford the animals for a while, but that would give me physical facilities for them, and….”
She trailed off, so many things already having been spoken. She turned to face him, fierce determination coming into her body and soul. “And I can’t do it. I’ve tried and I’ve failed multiple times. My daddy got hurt about a year before he died, and me and my momma did our best, but neither one of us could keep up with the physical demands of the homestead.”
Brandon wore sympathy in his gaze too, but also something strong and fierce in the set of his jaw. “Yeah, my daddy got old real fast,” he said. “So I understand what that’s like.”
“Yeah, but you’re able to help,” she said. “Actually help.”
“I’ve got two brothers as well,” Brandon said.
Aha, Lenore thought.That’s why he doesn’t want to work his family ranch.She’d intended to ask him why he wanted this job, but now she didn’t have to.
“How good are you at building things?” she asked. “And with a chainsaw?”
“I can do all that for you, so it won’t be a problem.” He gave her a tight smile and added, “My brother is excellent at farm management. I can ask him what he would do out here to make things easy for you, getting animals in and out, storing feed and supplies.”
She nodded, not quite daring to hope that his offer to ask his brother meant that he would take the job. She didn’t want to waste either of their time, and she turned back to the entrance of the barn as she asked, “Are you considering the job, or are you offering so you won’t feel guilty when you drive away?”
“Wow, someone’s honest,” he said from behind her, a light laugh following. “I’ll join you there, Lenore—this place needs a lot of work.”
“Don’t I know it,” she grumbled, barely loud enough for herself to hear.
“I’m not sure the two of us can even get it where you want it in three months,” he said.
Lenore wasn’t sure of anything other than the fact that she couldn’t do this herself. She only had enough money to pay him for three months, and then she’d have to hire herself out to other operations, so that she could feed herself and keep the land. She’d toyed with that idea plenty already, because there were always places looking for good people.
“You said you had the capability for solar?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said. “My daddy had these big wheels from an old sprinkler system, and we got the solar panels for free when a neighbor threw in the towel and left their homestead.”
“Oh, that’s nice,” Brandon said.
“Yes.” It had been nice, but the solar panels had been leaning up against the side of the barn for years now. She led him outside and around the corner and indicated them. “Daddy’s idea was to build a rotating panel with these that we could adjust to the angle of the sun throughout the year that would feed our generator and store power in batteries as well.”
“You got the batteries?” he asked.
“Two or three is all.” She kept it to herself that eventually, if she could get this place more operational, she’d be able to afford more. “I’ve been charging my phone in my truck,” she said. “By driving to the truck stop and back.” She cleared her throat. “That’s where I shower too.”
She found herself drawn to him again, and their eyes met. “Full disclosure, there’s no running water here. I have to haul it all in for drinking, and it makes bathing a little bit difficult.”
“Shower at the truck stops only—what?” he asked. “Four-fifty?”
She nodded, her jaw tight because it was four-fifty to take a shower.
“How far is the truck stop?” he asked, though he had to have passed it on the way up.
“Thirty-five minutes,” she said. “I get all my potable water there as well, and they have a pretty decent little grocery section that I buy meat out of.” She turned away from the solar panels. “Your cabin is over here.”
She led him across a parched piece of land that could probably be brought back to life. But Lenore poured all of her energy into the greenhouse and the garden, and she let the rest of the land do whatever it wanted. The second cabin on the property sat nestled back in the trees, about fifty yards from the barn, and closer to where Lenore thought she might be able to drill for water. She’d keep that to herself for now, because she didn’t even know if Brandon would agree to come work for her.
“I’m afraid it’s as neglected as a lot of the other parts of the homestead,” she said. “I lived here for a little bit, and the cabins are at least the two things that won’t fall down.”
Brandon said nothing, which actually said a whole lot. She could feel his doubt kicking up behind her as she walked up the front steps. His boots clunked against the solid wood as he joined her, and he actually stomped on the porch and said, “Huh, you might be right.”
