Brandon got to his feet and offered her both of his hands. “I want you to stand up and walk around,” he said. “You can keep talking.”
She wore her soft, worn yoga pants and a T-shirt with an American flag on the front. She remembered that this was what Brandon had dressed her in after he’d found her soaking wet andpassed out in front of the fire. She put both her hands in his and relied on his strength as she tested her own weight on her feet. She managed it, but a certain weakness still trembled in her legs.
“Just go to the front door and back,” Brandon said. “And you can keep talking.”
He took her hand and gently led her toward the door and into the hallway. With every step and every breath Lenore took, strength returned to her muscles, mind, and lungs.
“I’ve been brainstorming ways that I can get the money I need for a bigger water tank,” she said. “Or to drill a well. I’ve been selling eggs, but I only make a couple hundred dollars a month from that. I have to use that for gas and insurance and water. I can’t save much.”
Brandon hummed, not really committing to saying anything outright. When they reached the front door, he opened it and stepped onto the porch. Lenore followed, because the fresh air revitalized her further. The storm from a couple of nights ago had completely gone, and everything on the homestead seemed exactly as it had been before.
“I can keep selling eggs,” Lenore said, her eyes landing on the chicken palace across the street. “But I thought of all that lumber that we’d cut and planed. I thought if I could sell that, I might be able to buy myself a fridge and a bigger water tank.”
“It’s a good idea.” Brandon turned around and led her back into the house. She went with him, grateful for his steadiness and security and the strength of his hand in hers.
Lenore could admit that she had started falling in love with Brandon. Not only because he’d come to help her, but because of who he was.
She noticed the papers on her table had been organized and stacked back where she normally kept them. The kitchen was spotless, and nothing in the living room would ever suggestshe’d passed out there, he’d moved the couch, or they’d spent the night together in front of the fire.
“My dad used to sell turkeys,” she said. “I think that’s a big goal of mine. I think I could raise bees and sell the honey. And maybe with honey and turkeys and eggs and lumber, I could have a way to make enough to buy new shoes and clothes and maintain the homestead in a better manner.”
She drew in a breath, trying to calm her thoughts and slow her tongue. When they reached the back door, she was the one to twist the knob and open it. Somewhere around the corner, Arizona sang softly to herself. She watched as Susie Q ran after a bird before it took flight and left her on the ground.
Lenore smiled at the simpleness of her life. “It wouldn’t be much,” she said. “I know I can’t cut down every tree on my property. But the lumber we already have would give me a good start. I even thought about going to the bank to get a loan to get the water done. But I need to show them that I have a way to repay it.”
“Yeah,” he said. “You could probably use the homestead as collateral. The land itself.”
Lenore swallowed, because that idea terrified her. If she couldn’t pay back the loan, she’d lose the land.
Brandon took her down the steps, and Lenore tilted her head back toward the sun, the warmth of it glorious and life-giving.
“Hey, Zona,” Brandon called, lifting his hand.
Zona came around the side of one of the wagon wheel beds, saw them, and rushed forward. “Lenore! You’re awake!” She came right into Lenore’s personal space and hugged her.
“I am so happy to see you.” She stepped back, her face bright and full of smiles. “I sold your lumber. I hope that was okay.”
The idea of someone else going through her phone unsettled Lenore, but she figured Zona had been throwing her off balance since the moment Brandon had come to the homestead.
She grinned at Zona. “I suppose it depends on how much you got for it,” Lenore said.
Zona laughed. “I am a super tough negotiator,” she said. “Come with me.” She took Lenore’s hand, and the three of them went back into the cabin.
Zona went over to the stacked filing trays where Lenore kept her very important documents. From the one on the bottom, she pulled out a nondescript, plain white envelope, turned, and beaming with all the joy and goodness in the world, extended it toward Lenore.
“See for yourself.”
Lenore took the envelope, surprise running through her at the thickness of it. Hope began to build beneath her tongue, but she really didn’t want to let it out.
Hope crushed so many dreams.
She drew a breath and closed her eyes and whispered, “Whatever it is will be enough.”
She hadn’t been able to attend church with Brandon on Sunday, mostly because her pride wouldn’t allow it. She’d pulled out her dress and found that something had chewed through it. And the only skirt she owned had been too small. Brandon had insisted she could wear pants and that no one would care at all. But her embarrassment had kept her home.
Maybe with some of this money, she could buy a new skirt and attend church with him in a couple of days.
She flipped back the flap and reached inside. She pulled out the wad of money, gasping when she saw twenties and fifties and hundred-dollar bills. With wide eyes, she looked at Zona.
