Chapter 19
Tillman looked at the still smoldering pile of rubble in the early dawn light.
It wasn’t time for him to meet for his daily morning meeting with Phoebe, but he’d been too restless to stay in bed. Once his eyes were open, he’d had to get up and do something, even if it was grab coffee and walk out to see the ruins of what had been a barn two mornings ago this time.
He was surprised that there were already people standing around and more cars coming down the driveway. A big diesel motor rumbled, and he looked over to see a tractor trailer hooked to a lowboy hauling a D9. Guys were already unstrapping it, and smoke puffed out of the D9’s stack.
Several dump trucks must have come in during the night. They sat lined up as though waiting to get filled with debris so they could haul it away.
Last night when he talked with Ezra, he had said that there were people in town volunteering to come out and help in the morning, but Tillman hadn’t realized how big that was going to look. Tractor trailers weren’t cheap, that was quite a donation. And a D9? Even as he thought that, headlights hit him as another tractor trailer turned, hauling another lowboy, this one with a track hoe on it.
He’d worked heavy equipment some when he was younger, and moving it from place to place was expensive. Operating it was expensive as well. And yet...Ezra had said volunteers were donating resources.
This must be the donations of resources, which was a lot more than Tillman had thought. He had imagined maybe someone was going to come with a hammer and help build a fence to keep guests away from the smoldering ruins or something.
He hadn’t actually thought people were going to donate their livelihoods, in such a huge way, coming to help clear things off so a new barn could be built.
Several ladies got out of the car that just pulled in, reaching into the back of their vehicle, grabbing casseroles, and carrying them to what Tillman could now see were tables that were set up in the yard of the big house.
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. “I had some phone calls after you and I talked last night,” Ezra said as he strode up beside him, coffee mug in hand, a pencil behind his ear, and his shirtsleeves already rolled up, despite the morning chill.
“I see. I wasn’t expecting all of this when I woke up this morning.”
“No. I guess I wasn’t really expecting it either, but Sweet Water is that kind of town. We have ladies bringing breakfast, lunch, and supper, and by breakfast, lunch, and supper, I mean there are at least six or seven ladies providing each, so it should be quite a spread. I wouldn’t miss it if I were you. It’ll be better than a church social.”
“I’m hungry. Bring it on.”
Ezra laughed. “I was just coming over to see if you have your CDL or can operate heavy equipment. The Powers family sent a couple of their trucks over and a few older buckets, but they couldn’t spare enough drivers today.” Ezra grinned. “Or maybe you have that little black book of yours that seems to be pulling this rodeo together out of thin air, and maybe you can get us some drivers out of that.”
Tillman figured Ezra was mostly joking, but he happened to be asking the right man the right questions.
“Got a buddy I can call, and I operated heavy equipment shortly out of high school for about five years until I saved enough to put a down payment on a little bit of land. I’ve got my CDL too, so put me where you need me. I’m here to help.”
“Those are magic words. Actually, magic has nothing to do with it. I just had a sense of peace when we were fighting the fire. I knew we were going to lose the barn and all the hay in it. I don’t think we’re going to replace that, since it was valued for about a quarter of what it was worth with the insurance company after hay prices went up last year. But I just figured God was going to work things out.”
“He has a way of doing that. I don’t know why it surprises me every time, because it shouldn’t.”
“Same. Throughout my life, He’s worked in so many different ways, I should just look for it, instead of wondering what in the world we’re going to do.”
Phoebe had mentioned a few times about the different ways God had provided for the farm, and Tillman figured that was what Ezra was talking about.
“Just let me know what you want me to do. I’m here to work,” Tillman said again, and Ezra nodded his head.
Then he grinned. “I’ll make sure you get food. The truck drivers often are the last to eat, since they’re not around when the food gets spread out, but I’ll make sure you get a nice plateful. Actually, I’ll put Phoebe on it. She can be quite a dragon when she wants to be.”
“Really? I haven’t seen that side of her.”
“Not a fire-breathing dragon, loud and obnoxious, but the kind of dragon that...doesn’t let anything stand in her way when she has her eyes on the goal. Kind of like this rodeo. I figured putting you and her together would make sure it actually happened.”
Interesting.
“So we’re both dragon people.” He sighed. “If that’s how you talk about your friends, I can’t imagine what you say about your enemies.”
“I say that about people I like.” Ezra winked as he walked away, and Tillman grinned.
Phoebe wasn’t a dragon. She was sweet and soft-spoken, but he supposed Ezra was right, she was a determined woman and worked as hard and long as anyone. If that made her a dragon, working toward a goal, putting her whole heart and soul into it, then yeah, Phoebe was a dragon lady. He could get used to that idea, and he definitely liked it.
He found himself working the bulldozer to begin with, which was slightly bigger and newer than the one he had used when he was a teenager, unsurprisingly. It wasn’t hard to figure out. Bulldozers weren’t exactly complicated pieces of equipment, although this one was more electronic than what he had been expecting.
Regardless, he was able to move some of the debris so the track hoe could scoop it up. After a few hours of that, he ended up in a truck hauling the debris.
He couldn’t believe the people who had shown up to help, and it made him grateful to be part of such a welcoming community. People didn’t just peek out of their curtains to see what was going on, but they actually went over and offered to lend a hand. A great hand, it turned out, since as he was going back for his second load, he got out of his truck in time to see Phoebe walking over, her hands underneath a big plate of food.
“So, there was a lot to choose from, but I tried to remember all the things that you seemed to like over the last five weeks, and I grabbed what I thought you would enjoy. It’s a good thing too, because you see the Swedish meatballs? They’re gone.”
“Swedish meatballs? Man, it’s been years since I’ve had those. I hope they taste as good as what I remember from my childhood.”
“Oh, it’s Mrs. Humphrie’s recipe, and it is amazing. They’re always the first thing to go at the church suppers. You can thank me later.”
“Looks like they’re loading me up right away. Want to come along with me this time?”
He wasn’t sure where those words came from. He hadn’t been expecting to ask her, maybe just wanted to say thank you for the food, which he truly did appreciate, since his stomach had been growling for the last hour and half.
“Well... I hate to leave when everybody else’s working, but there really isn’t any need for me. Lunch is over, and the ladies who are bringing supper haven’t shown up yet.”
“We’ll be back before that. Unless we get caught up somewhere. It only takes four hours round trip.”
“All right. Let me text Priscilla and let her know. It looks like they have you almost loaded now.”
“It doesn’t take much to get the weight on with this kind of thing.” It made him a little bit sad to think that they were hauling her barn away, but she seemed okay with it. It was a very practical way to look at things. After all, there wasn’t anything they could do about it except go on. If someone had died in the fire, he was sure things would be a lot different.
“Did they figure out how it started?” he asked, knowing that he hadn’t been around to hear any of the news that might have spread while the men were standing around waiting to be useful.
“One of the kids who were at the dude ranch was smoking a cigarette behind the barn. I heard that yesterday, but it was confirmed last night by the fire marshal. I guess he was with a girl, but it doesn’t really matter. She wasn’t smoking and didn’t touch the cigarette. It was all him.”
“Now what?” he asked, digging into the food that she had brought, closing his eyes as the meatball hit his tongue and reminded him of the joys of childhood.
Some of them anyway. His childhood hadn’t been great, but Swedish meatballs were a bright spot.
“I’m not sure. I... I guess our farm insurance covers the dude ranch aspects, but I’m not sure what the fine print says about fires our guests start. I guess we’ll find out.”
“On the bright side, you don’t have to worry about paying for any of this.”
“Exactly. We don’t. Everything here is donated, and even the demolition place where you’re dumping is giving us a discount on taking the debris in. I mean, obviously they still have to pay to take it somewhere themselves, so they can’t really do it for free, but it’s just overwhelming sometimes how generous and considerate and compassionate people can be. It makes me want to be a better person, you know?”
That was exactly right. That was what he had been thinking all day. As people pitched in, it wasn’t even his farm, but he saw them giving sacrificially. It wasn’t nothing to donate a truck, let alone heavy equipment. And yet people did it anyway.
If push came to shove, Tillman had wondered exactly what kind of person he would turn out to be. The kind who took or the kind who gave, without question, out of love.