Dawson and Caroline lived down a side road, near the border of the ranch with Shiloh Ridge, and Brandon’s cabin sat down the road where they’d parked, past the silos and barn.
“It’s incredible.” Lenny smiled over to him. “I like the big trees in your parents’ yard.”
Brandon nodded and released the brake pedal. The truck eased forward again, and Brandon went right on by Duke’s house. When he reached the road that led north, he nodded to it. “Dawson and Caroline live down there.”
He continued on, taking the quick jog around the barn and ranch buildings. “And this here is my cabin. Me and Dawson shared for a long time. Now, my nephew lives with me, but I confirmed that Dwayne is going to be staying with his parents this weekend.”
He pulled into the gravel area in front of the cabin that acted as the parking lot. “Do you want to take your bag in? Then we can head over to Zona’s.” Brandon was sure his sister-in-law had tracked him driving past her house already, but she hadn’t texted yet.
“Yep, and we’ve got the animals.”
Brandon twisted to look at the orange tabby on the floor behind Lenny. He didn’t particularly like the carrier, but if Dumpling could see him, he didn’t yowl the whole drive. Sure enough, Dumpling looked at him with an expression that said,Help me. Get me out. We’re not even moving.
Brandon grinned at his cat and got out of the truck. “I’ll get your bag and my cat.”
“I’ll release the hounds.”
He rounded the truck to do that, while Lenny got out and lowered the tailgate to let Admiral and Susie-Q out. They jumped down and started sniffing around, the way good dogs did.
Lenny moved to stand near the hood, where she took in the log cabin that Brandon knew so well. “What will you do after your job at my place is done?”
Brandon carried her bag in one hand and his carrier in the other, moving past her with, “I don’t know. I’ll start looking for something when it’s closer.”
He didn’t like thinking about having to get another job come February first. He didn’t want to spend any time thinking about when he’d see Lenore if he got a job a couple of hours away. The fact was, he wouldn’t.
When he’d first driven onto the homestead, he couldn’t imagine living there. But now that he’d been there for a month, he’d found he didn’t mind it. The land held a gentle spirit, and Brandon sure liked working alongside Lenore. It helped that such drastic changes could be seen, and Brandon could admit the massive improvements reminded him of his own worth.
And when she’d asked to go to church with him? Brandon could still feel the swelling of his spirit. It had been a while since he’d felt anything like that, and he knew his own faith had become dormant. Yes, he did the outward things, like attend church and pray, but they didn’t take root in his soul.
They didn’tmeananything, and he had lost some of his belief that his life held meaning, or that God truly cared about him and what he did with the life he’d been given.
Working with Lenny had started to rekindle some of that, and with every new thing she allowed him to do—like bring in his friends to help her—helped him to want to take new steps in his own life.
In short, her bravery inspired him, and Brandon’s emotions lodged in his throat as he set down Dumpling to open the front door.
“Go on in,” he managed to say as Lenore’s footsteps came up behind him. “I’m going to let Dumpling out here. He likes to sun himself on the bench there.”
Lenore sighed as she framed herself in the doorway. “Oh, the AC is nice.”
Brandon smiled at her, passed over her bag, and bent to release the latch on the cat carrier. Dumpling stalked out with a dignified “Yow,” and after a few kingly steps, broke into atrot. He lightly leapt up onto the bench, circled in the patch of sunlight the eaves didn’t block, and curled into himself.
Brandon smiled at him, said, “We’re going to Zona’s in a few minutes, so don’t get too comfortable,” and went inside.
He wouldn’t take Dumpling to Zona’s, and the cat was used to going in and out of the cabin here. He wasn’t much of an outdoor cat, and if Dawson’s chickens or ravens came around, Dumpling would hiss, cry, and retreat to Brandon’s bed.
Inside, he didn’t see Lenore standing in the living room, dining alcove, or kitchen. “Len?”
“In the bedroom,” she called, and Brandon went down the hall to Dwayne’s room. He’d asked his nephew to change the bedding and make sure the room could be used by Lenore for a night, and he found Dwayne had done just that.
In fact, the comforter boasted a soft lavender plaid, and a vase of fresh flowers had been brought in. Those touches screamed Zona more than anything, but Brandon simply smiled.
“It’ll do, right?”
Lenore turned from the window, a pretty smile on her face. “It’s great. I can’t believe you don’t like it here.”
“I like it here,” Brandon said, his defenses up immediately. “I’ve never said I don’t like it here.”
Lenny tilted her head and walked over to him. “You hire yourself out.”
