“All right,” Brandon said. “We’ll get out of your hair, then. Come on, Colt.”
The little boy reluctantly got up and left the trucks and trains he’d been playing with. Link had two little boys as well, and they got along great with Colt.
“Maybe I can come tomorrow,” Colt said, and Misty said, “Yeah. I’ve got your uncle’s number.”
Brandon nodded his thanks at her and herded the little boy out the front door, knowing Colt wouldn’t be coming to play tomorrow. School started up again on Monday, and her oldest son would be out of the house. Brandon also knew Link worked limited hours on the weekend, so he could be a father to his kids and a husband to his wife.
It only took about eight minutes to get the kids loaded up, over the hill, and onto the ranch to his brother’s house. He pulled in the driveway and killed the engine. The wind buffeted the truck as he twisted to look in the back seat.
“All right, guys. Have you had lunch?”
“Yeah,” Colt said. “Misty gave us sandwiches and chips.”
He looked at Joy. “Did Joy eat?”
“I don’t know,” Colt said.
Brandon grinned at both kids. “All right, now I know your momma’s got a schedule, so I’m gonna stick to that, and I don’t want any crying until they come home. You got it?”
“Yes, sir,” Colt said, oh-so-sober.
Joy kicked her feet and grinned at him.
“Come on, baby, you say it too.” He grinned at her, because Joy was his dream baby. She loved him, and Brandon actually hoped they could take a nap together later today.
“Yesshur!” Joy chirped, and Brandon laughed. He got Joy out and helped Colt down to the ground. He punched in his brother’s code for the garage and took the kids inside. Sure enough, Caroline had a schedule stuck to the fridge. She’d gone over it with Brandon when he’d come for New Year’s Day breakfast, a journey he’d made alone as Lenny had wanted to stay on the homestead and attach her two-hundred-gallon water catchment tank. She’d bought it with some of the proceeds from the lumber. The rest she’d put in savings, hopefully to drill a well or buy seeds to plant more produce.
Just renting equipment cost money too, but Lenny had been looking at turning all of her overgrown land into hay grass, which she could sell this winter. She’d need a swather and baler for that too, and that meant more in rental fees.
Brandon set Joy on the couch and said to Colt, “I’ll get you a snack. Come sit on the couch and let’s watch TV.” Then he could go over Caroline’s schedule again and make sure he knew what to do for the next few days.
An hour later, Brandon had both kids down for their afternoon naps, and he stepped into his brother’s huge master shower. A groan of pure delight pulled through him, and he took a long time scrubbing and cleaning and just standing in the warm water.
He really wanted a hot shower in his cabin on the homestead. Not only that—he wanted it for Lenny.
They had no idea how deep they would have to drill to reach water, and Lenny wanted to have five thousand dollars saved before she scheduled the well-drilling truck. But as Brandon got out of the shower, the idea that Arizona could finance Lenny’s homestead improvements came forward yet again.
He knew his sister-in-law would pay for the drilling of the well and all the associated costs: the pump, the hosing, all of it—and not even expect a repayment. He also knew Lenny would never take that much charity again, but perhaps they could meet in the middle.
He brushed his teeth and got dressed and checked on the kids. With both of them still snoozing soundly, he picked up his phone and called Duke.
“Hey, we heard Dawson and Caroline went to the hospital,” Duke said.
“Yeah,” Brandon said. “I’m at their place with the kids. Haven’t heard anything else yet.”
“I’m so excited to meet that baby,” Zona called.
Brandon took a deep breath and said, “Put her on speaker, Duke. I want to talk to you two about something.”
“This sounds serious,” Duke said—and he was the poster child for Serious.
Brandon chuckled, his default nervous reaction. “I mean, I guess so.”
“Well, you’re on speaker now,” Duke said. “With all of us, actually. We went the lake today, and now we’re driving back to the rental.”
“All right.” Brandon took another moment to organize his thoughts. “I’m wondering how you guys feel about loaning me some money.”
No one said anything, not even Zona. So maybe this wouldn’t go the way Brandon had imagined.
