Lenore arrived and immediately dove into the conversation with Shiloh and April as they showed her how to construct the coverings. Then Duke and Arizona erected one over the raised bed where they’d plant the strawberries, as they tag-teamed the explanation of how to do it.
Brandon stood there and glowered while Lenny worked with the girls to do the second bed, and then the four women dove into the dirt and started planting strawberries.
Lenore seemed so happy, and when she finished planting and hugged Arizona and then April and Shiloh, he decided he couldn’t be unhappy about this.
“So, I’m going to say something,” he said as they all turned to face him, like he had a schedule and they needed their next task given to them. “You don’t have to invite Lenore to Thanksgiving. I already did it, and she’s going to come with me.” He looked around at everyone in his family. “As my girlfriend.”
He couldn’t quite meet Lenore’s eyes, because they hadn’t really defined their relationship yet. Nor had he checked with her before calling her his girlfriend. Nor had he truly invited her to Thanksgiving. He simply didn’t want Arizona to be the one who did.
“Oh, that’s great,” Arizona said easily, as if she hadn’t bullied him into this position. Of course, she didn’t see it that way, and even when Brandon tried to explain things to her, she didn’t get it. She was wonderful in so many other ways, though, that Brandon had to overlook this one.
“And now I have one obvious question for you.”
Arizona met his gaze with a coolness in her own, but Lenore watched him with open vulnerability and hope.
“Strawberries require alotof water,” he said. “Everything we’ve done this morning requires a lot of water.” He spread his arms wide. “You now have fifteen chickens that need water, and I don’t know how many strawberry plants you just put in, but I think it was close to two dozen. And you haveno waterhere.”
Lenore’s eyes burned with blue fire, and she settled her weight on one hip too.
He gestured to Arizona. “There you go. I opened the door for you.”
Arizona swallowed and cleared her throat, then turned toward Lenore. At least she had the decency to look a little afraid. “Duke and I want to schedule the drill truck to come and see if they can find water here. Then you’ll have a well, and it won’t be a problem at all how many strawberries or chickens you have.” She shot a glance to Brandon. “You’ll be able to get waterfor your house, the chickens, and easily run pipes to everything going on out here in the garden.”
Lenore nodded, but Brandon knew that wasn’t permission for Arizona to schedule the drill truck. “It’s something Brandon and I have talked a lot about.”
To Arizona’s credit, she didn’t immediately jump in with a rebuttal. In fact, no one said anything. The tension rose through the air with every second that passed.
Brandon wanted to shout at Lenore that sheneededsome sort of water system here—be that a well, or a five-thousand-gallon tank, or a rain catchment system off the roof.Something.She had to havesomethingmore than buying ten-gallon buckets at the hardware store.
Chickens didn’t need artisanal water, after all.
“Can I think about it for a little bit?” Lenore finally asked. “I want to explore some other options before we go straight to the most expensive one.”
“Of course,” Arizona said, and she moved in to hug Lenore. She looped her arm through Lenny’s and towed her back toward the house. “Now, I typed up a quick reference sheet for how to take care of these strawberries….”
The girls followed in her wake, leaving Brandon with his brothers. He sighed, though he wasn’t truly upset. More like irritated, and yet grateful too. He honestly had no idea how to feel and how to process those emotions.
“Come on,” Dawson said. “Let’s finish the barn.”
“I’ll send Zona to town for hamburgers,” Duke said. “She means well, brother.”
“Yeah.” Brandon sagged into his oldest brother’s side. “I know she does.” He cast one final look toward the cabin where Lenny had gone with the other females. “Can you just tell her…Ireallylike Lenny, and I don’t need Zona to be the hero whenIwant to be the hero.”
Duke’s eyes filled with fire. “I’ll talk to her,B.” He grinned at Brandon as they left the garden behind. “Yeah, I heard that.”
“I heard it too,” Dawson said, almost under his breath, the way he usually did to throw in that last jab.
Brandon smiled with his brothers, because he knew they’d champion him as much as possible. He could only hope when Lenny thought of the person who’d helped her the most, his name would be at the top of the list.
Brandon acceptedthe brown bag of fast food from the woman leaning out the window and passed it to Lenny. “Thanks,” he said before he eased away from the drive-through. “I want one of the bacon ones, please.”
Lenny opened the bag. “Let’s see….” She pulled out a couple of the hand pies he’d just ordered. “This one is bacon.” She handed him the white-paper-wrapped package with a smile, and Brandon really enjoyed this part of a relationship.
He could be himself, and he’d shared an intimate thing or two about himself, and he’d already broken the physical barrier between them. He didn’t have to fill every moment with conversation to learn about her, as she’d ordered the raspberry cheesecake hand pie—something he would never eat for breakfast. Savory all the way for him.
He pulled up to the IFA farm supply store and parked so they could finish their second breakfast. Brandon didn’t normally arrive early to the small ranch owner’s meetings, but when he’d proposed they get breakfast beforehand, Lenny had seemed excited about it.
Perhaps she liked to get off the homestead more than she’d ever admit.
