Chapter 7
L enore didn’t know what to do with the woman in her house.
Arizona Rhinehart was probably fifteen or sixteen years older than Lenore. It was very apparent that she was used to being in charge. Or, at the very least, she didn’t mind taking charge and telling other people what to do.
Lenore remembered from her conversation with Brandon at lunch last Saturday that Arizona had four children and was married to one of Brandon’s brothers. They both had names that started with D—Duke and Dawson—and in that moment, Lenore couldn’t remember which one Arizona was married to.
The woman straightened from the fridge, her smile pretty, though she wore no makeup. Lenore couldn’t believe the fridge was actually cold right now, as it was old and only worked half the time. She used a cooler instead, but she wasn’t going to say anything to Arizona about it right now.
“All right,” she said. “That should do for a while. This is actually really great, because I don’t think Brandon’s place has electricity.
” She tilted her head ever so slightly, as if asking Lenore a question, though her voice hadn’t pitched up at the end of the sentence. “But you seem to have electricity.”
Lenore indicated the shoe racks she’d butted up against each other.
They ran the length of the front wall under the windows, and she hated the sight of them.
“I run on a battery system right now,” she said, actually surprised that Arizona hadn’t seen the ugly array of batteries the moment she’d walked into the cabin.
Her eyes moved to them now, and a gasp filled her throat. She quickly cleared it and said, “Wow,” as she walked toward the display of batteries. “Is this safe?” She turned toward Lenore with genuine concern on her face. “Don’t they get hot?”
Lenore wasn’t sure if she felt like crying or screaming.
Probably a combination of both. It had a name—humiliation—and it ran hotly through her blood.
Lenore wished the cabin would catch on fire right then and blaze into an inferno that would eliminate this feeling as it brought her lower and lower.
“They get a little warm,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “I don’t notice it much unless it’s summertime.”
Then, the batteries were downright hot, and so was every square inch of her cabin. In the winter, she actually really liked it, as they lent a little bit of warmth to the otherwise drafty dwelling.
Arizona looked like she might have more to say. She even opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
She’d been in Lenore’s cabin for about a half-hour. First, just chatting in the doorway, and then somehow, she’d gotten inside the cabin and unpacked the enormous picnic basket she’d brought for Brandon.
She hadn’t said she brought it for Brandon, and Arizona claimed that she’d brought the food for Lenore. But Lenore knew better. This woman didn’t even know her. Why would she be bringing her a few week’s worth of groceries?
Out of pity , she thought, as Arizona’s gaze swept around the living room once more.
Lenore wasn’t the neatest person on the planet to begin with, and trying to run the homestead had only exacerbated the clutter and mess inside the cabin. She’d thankfully found the source of the rotten smell, so at least her cabin smelled faintly fresh.
Arizona’s eyes came back to hers, now filled with concern. Before she could say anything, a heavy knock sounded on the door, and a man called, “Zona? Are you in there?”
“That’s my husband,” Zona said, rushing toward the door.
Relief flowed through Lenore as Zona opened it wide and stepped back, as if welcoming them all inside to her house.
“Howdy,” she said. “I was just unpacking the food we brought for Lenore.”
The man who stood on the front porch had to be Arizona’s husband. He frowned mightily at her and then switched his gaze to Lenore.
“This is my husband, Duke,” Zona said. “Duke, this is Lenore. She owns the homestead and will be working here with Brandon.”
Duke’s eyes hooked into hers, and Lenore did her best to put a smile on her face and go to shake the man’s hand. She met one of Zona’s daughters—April—and then Brandon’s brother, Dawson.
And then finally, Brandon framed himself neatly in the doorway, half in the cabin and half out.
“Hey, sorry about her,” he said in a low voice, the words a rumble that came from his chest rather than his mouth.
Lenore gave her head a quick shake—once, twice—and kept the smile hitched to her face out of sheer determination.
Brandon finally took a step into the cabin and said, “Hey, thank you, guys. I really appreciate you driving all this way to help me, but I think we’re done now.”
His family’s eyes came to his, and Dawson moved forward to pull Brandon into a hug. “You let me know if you need anything out here,” he said. “Anything at all.”
“I will, Daws. Come on, guys,” Brandon said. He led the way outside. Thankfully, they all left with him, and while Lenore wanted to slam the door behind them and escape to her bedroom, she didn’t. Instead, she followed them out onto the porch.
They all went down the steps, while she migrated to the corner and leaned against the pillar there.
“I can’t believe you, Zona,” Brandon said. “What are you doing over here?”
“Nothing,” Zona said. “I just brought her the food.”
“Now he has no food,” Duke said.
“I’m fine,” Brandon said. “I told you guys a thousand times, I’m fine . I’m a grown adult, for crying out loud.” He threw Arizona a dirty look, and his stride lengthened.
Lenore cataloged the movement, now knowing how Brandon sounded and looked when frustrated.
“I’m going to get you some more,” Arizona said. “It’s just a quick trip to town.”
Lenore turned away then, smiling to herself.
Nothing was a quick trip to town from the homestead.
After a few seconds, she dared to peek around the pillar again.
Brandon and his family had moved out of earshot, but he turned and looked over his shoulder at her.
Their eyes locked for one horribly wonderful moment before he ducked his head to Dawson and said something else.
Lenore eased back into her cabin, whistling for Admiral and Susie-Q to come with her. Then she softly closed the door and forced herself not to turn the lock or run into the bedroom.
In fact, her stomach growled. She faced the kitchen, wondering what Arizona had packed for Brandon that she would also like.
Lenore had been awake for about thirty minutes on Monday morning before the light of the day turned from gray to golden. She’d fried a couple of eggs and made a pot of coffee, and she loved this soft time in the morning before she left the cabin and had to face the reality beyond.
She glanced at her phone as it chimed and noted the time—seven-fifteen in the morning. She had no idea who it would be, as she didn’t get a lot of calls and texts in the first place.
Her breath caught in her throat when Brandon’s name popped up. She quickly abandoned her last few sips of coffee in favor of reading his text.
I know I don’t technically start until tomorrow, he said. But I’m here and I’ve got nothing else to do. If you want, we could walk around and I can start to make some notes and formulate a plan?
A plan sounded like exactly what Lenore needed, as hers for the day was to go feed the chickens and dogs, and then try to repair anything that had broken in the past couple of days.
She honestly didn’t know what she did all day, but she worked hard. However, at the end of the day, it felt like she had very little to show for it.
Yes, a plan sounded heavenly.
Are you sure? she typed out. It’s Halloween. Do you have anything going on with your family?
I did all that yesterday, he said.
She had seen him leave the homestead around nine-fifteen in the morning.
She’d assumed it was to attend church, and perhaps he had.
He hadn’t returned until about seven o’clock last night, and Lenore had done her absolute best to stay in her cabin and not go see what, if anything, he unloaded from his truck.
Part of the man’s pay was a private cabin, and Lenore wasn’t his momma or his landlord. He didn’t have to tell her where he was going, who he spent time with, or when he’d be back.
Another message from him came in. I’m all yours now, Lenore.
Warmth shivered through her veins. “I’m all yours now, Lenore,” she whispered to herself, letting the words wash through her, cleanse her. She let her eyes drift closes as she imagined what it would be like to be Brandon Rhinehart’s.
How would it feel if she really was his—and he was hers?
“Don’t be stupid,” she muttered, her eyes flying open and reality settling into her retinas.
He wasn’t hers, and she wasn’t his. They simply worked together.
Or they could, if she would text him back and tell him she’d very much like to walk around the homestead and start formulating a plan.
She did that. Then she said: You’re up early.
Nerves, I guess , he said. I want to call my brother real quick. Let’s meet at the chicken coop at eight. Sound good?
Lenore could get to the chicken coop in a three-minute walk, so she texted back, Yep. See you then.
Her own nerves wouldn’t allow her to sit at the dining room table any longer. She got up and cleaned her dishes and then set about feeding the dogs on the back porch.
Her cabin faced the road, with her back porch pointing toward the uncultivated fields she’d never been able to get to produce.
Brandon’s cabin sat another hundred yards down the road, at the end of it, and faced her front porch. And since Lenore knew every inch of this land, she knew he couldn’t see into her backyard.
She wasn’t sure why that mattered. Everything in her life had been laid bare in front of Brandon. She had no pride left.
“No time for pride,” she muttered, repeating something her daddy had told her a hundred times if he’d said it once. She grabbed a big sun hat and stuffed it over her head. “It’s time to get to work.”
As she went down the front steps of the cabin, she looked up into the sky as she did every time she left home. She may not have the time or energy to attend church, but Lenore sent a quick prayer toward the heavens the way she did every morning.
Bless me to be safe today. Guide my hands to do the most important work. Help me make my momma and daddy proud.
With the plea to the Lord ascending into the sky, Lenore added one more thing—this time in her voice, not just in her mind. “Bless Brandon with the patience he needs to see this job through to the end.”
Because Lenore would be lucky if Brandon didn’t pack up everything he owned and move back home after their walk-through. After he realized the extent of the work that truly needed to be done here on the homestead.
After he realized just how inept Lenore had been at nearly everything on her own property.
“Please don’t let him leave me,” she whispered. Please, please, please.