“Yeah, no problem,” Colt said. “Conrad, what time is your other delivery coming?”
“Hey, fellas,” Brandon yelled, and they all turned in that direction.
Finn, Henry, and Colt conveniently slipped past her to go say hello to Brandon. When Conrad tried to do the same, Lenore shuffled and stepped in front of him. “You have another delivery coming?” she asked.
He looked at her in all seriousness. “It’s just a few things for the solar system,” he said. “And they’ll be here around one. So we’ve got to get the frames built and the wheel done, and apparently, a water container set, before then.”
“We do?” Lenore asked. “Why?”
“Because then we’ll be able to build the storage facility for all the power you’re going to get from the sun.” He grinned and took one of her hands into both of his. “I can’t wait to see you flip the switch in your house and be able to turn on the lights.”
Hope choked in Lenore’s throat, and she trailed off, at a loss for words.
“That’s going to happen today,” Conrad said. “Because if it doesn’t, I’m going to need to find a hotel room.” With that, he did manage to move past her and walk toward the others.
Lenore turned and simply watched him go—dumbfounded and yet also incredibly excited that today might be the day she turned on her kitchen sink and got water.
Or flipped a switch in her bedroom and got light. She wouldn’t have to power weak batteries with a gas generator anymore.
Lenore barely knew how to live with such luxuries, but she was willing to find out.
22
“Ithink we need to tip it a little bit more,” Brandon called down the row of solar panels.
He’d built the initial frames for the panels that Lenore had, and they’d made up about fifteen feet by ten feet of panels. But Conrad had ordered more, doubling the length of their power bank, and all Brandon had been able to think about all morning was how grateful he was for good food, good friends, amazing family, an abundance of lumber, and the extra wheels they needed for the extended panels.
It had taken most of the morning to get them mounted, and now he wanted to find the exact right angle to capture all of this fantastic winter sun.
His stomach clenched, though he’d eaten better today than he had in a while. Even after consuming a couple of breakfast sandwiches and a half dozen donuts, along with juice and coffee for breakfast, he’d eaten two lunch boxes at their midday meal.
Henry tipped the wheels on his side, and a glare came off the panels.
“Right there,” Brandon called. “Put a lock right there.”
Henry did, while Conrad did the same thing on the wheels he manned, and Finn did the same on the last set of wheelsbefore it reached Brandon. With everything locked, Brandon stepped away and looked at the thing that he hoped would power Lenore’s homestead.
It was glorious and shiny, black liquid power set among blond wood, with the wheels behind the long length of solar panels. Lenore would be able to move them anywhere to capture the power from the sun, but he had a particular place in mind for them.
“I think that’s it, guys,” he said.
“Let me measure it,” Colt said. “And we can put a notch in those wheels so it’s really easy for her to adjust.”
He took some photos, jotted a few things into a notebook he’d brought and kept pulling in and out of his pocket, and then moved along the wheels to mark where they needed to be notched.
Someone’s phone rang, and Conrad pulled out his device. “That’s me. I’ll be right back.”
The man had been on and off his phone all morning, hurrying off to take calls and then coming back with great news. Brandon fully expected this to be the call that brought batteries and inverters to the homestead, and quiet excitement drummed through him.
He let Conrad go, smiling at Lenore as she joined him out in front of the panels.
“What do you think?” he said. “Is this an okay spot?”
“I think it’s the spot that gets the most sun year-round,” she said.
And that was exactly why Brandon had chosen the spot of earth. Just east of the chicken coop, there were no trees here and plenty of open space until the fence behind him.
“And it’s not that far to your cabin,” he added. “We’ll only have to string the line about thirty feet.”
