Chapter 13 #2
Lenore tilted her head and studied him. “That was a weird segue into a new topic.”
“Jean didn’t make me pay for the skid steer rental,” he blurted out. “Or the power-washer. And Duke said you can keep the chainsaws.”
“Forever?” Lenore asked.
Brandon nodded and reached for his drink, sucking mightily on the straw.
Lenore waited, because he clearly had more. Though she hadn’t explicitly said that she didn’t want other people’s charity, he’d somehow picked up on it.
“Conrad offered to come help put in the solar panels,” he said.
“Okay?” Lenore phrased it like a question.
“And well…I know you’re not going to like this, but everyone seems to know that you’re really struggling out here, and they all want to help.”
No, Lenore did not like that. How did they even know about her?
“Conrad texted me last night that he’d be happy to bring any of the supplies and equipment that we don’t have. I asked him at least ten times if he was sure. And well…you can just see what he said.”
He whipped his phone out, typed in his PIN, tapped a couple of times, and thrust the device at her.
Lenore barely had time to put her hands up to get it, and she fumbled it before righting it and looking down. She scrolled up a little bit, and sure enough, Conrad had started texting about the solar powered system and coming to help with it.
Brandon had told him that he’d been looking up ways to build the frame around the solar panels and a tilting system with the wheels so that she could move the panels and collect the most amount of sunlight no matter what time of year it was.
Conrad had said, That’s super smart. You should get one of those storage containers to house all the batteries and wiring.
Back and forth they’d gone, the conversation flowing around how much things cost—including a storage container, which Brandon said could be up to five thousand dollars even for a used one.
I can get it all, Conrad said.
Lenore sucked in a breath with just those five words.
I’ve been wanting to build a system like this on my own property, and this will be good practice. Maybe I can convince Glory Rose that we can live more off-grid if I show her I know what I’m doing by helping with the solar out there.
Are you sure? Brandon had asked. And then he asked it again. And again.
Conrad answered in different ways every time, until finally he said: Brandon, I’m a billionaire. Billion with a B. Paying a few thousand dollars for some solar batteries and equipment is nothing to me. Of course I’m sure. Will you please just talk to Lenore about it?
She looked up and across the device to Brandon, her eyes feeling like someone had opened them too wide and somehow glued them in that position.
“So I’m talking to you about it,” he said gruffly. “And I hate it, and I don’t want to talk to you about it.”
He reached across the table and took his device from her. “But Lenny….” This time, he stretched forth his hand and spread his fingerst through hers. “This could just be the Lord orchestrating another miracle in your life.”
Tears pressed into Lenore’s eyes, and she looked away. She pulled her hand back, so she could clench her arms across her chest in an attempt to hold everything in.
“Is he really a billionaire?” she asked, unable to comprehend such a thing.
Brandon chuckled. “That’s what you got out of that?”
Lenore looked at him with a withering power emanating from her. “Yes.”
“The Walkers are all billionaires.” He swallowed hard. “And you know who else is? Arizona. She’s a Glover, and all the Glovers are billionaires. You know that, right?”
Lenore gave a short burst of nods. “Yeah, I knew that.”
“All right. Here we go.” He sighed, and he reached up and touched the gauze at his neck. “Arizona wants to pay to drill the well.” He dropped his hands back to his lap in a somewhat defeated gesture “There. I said it.”
“She—That’s—” Lenore had completely forgotten how to formulate sentences.
“I told her I wasn’t going to tell you,” Brandon said. “I was going to let her offer this weekend. But I can’t do it. Arizona can be a lot.”
Lenore had only met her the one time, and she’d seen Arizona’s heart and knew she meant well. But…. “Arizona is absolutely not paying to drill a well on the homestead.”
Fire licked in Brandon’s eyes. “You know what, Lenny? You’re gonna have to tell her that yourself.”
Lenore scoffed, as if that would be hard. “I can deal with Arizona.”
Brandon grinned just as his root beer float arrived. “Ah, here we go,” he said. “Thank you.”
The waitress barely acknowledged him before she walked away, and Brandon spooned up a big bite of the thick, creamy shake and took a bite. He smacked his lips and looked at her. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into when it comes to Arizona.”
“I’ll take my chances,” Lenore said.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Lenore waved him away, and thankfully, their food arrived soon after. She stewed over the conversation—first from him needing so much time off in the next several weeks, to all the people he knew trying to step in and help her.
She wasn’t sure why she was so resistant to it, only that she wanted to be self-reliant and live off the land on her own.
Yeah, and look how well that’s worked out for you, she thought.
The conversation turned light, and Lenore did love a good plate of fettuccine Alfredo. Finally—way past her bedtime—Brandon pulled up to her cabin, and they both sat in the truck and looked at her front door.
Then Brandon got out and came around and opened her door for her. She dropped to the ground, and he took her hand in his.
“I had a real nice time tonight, Lenore,” he said. He paused at the bottom of the steps, with Admiral and Susie-Q as an audience. “I really like working out here with you. This land has a good spirit, and that comes from you.”
Lenore didn’t know what to do with the compliment, and her mind seemed stuck in a loop—all focused on whether Brandon would kiss her or not.
He leaned down and swept his lips soft across her cheek, and then lifted her hand and placed a searing kiss to the inside of her wrist. Lenore felt like she’d boarded a roller coaster, and she’d just reached the highest high, with excitement burning through her veins.
But earlier, she’d been angry, her pride getting the best of her as they talked about having Conrad and Arizona help with huge financial projects at the homestead.
“I’ll see you in the morning,” Brandon whispered, and he leaned down one more time and placed a soft, warm kiss to her other cheek. Then he nodded like that was that and turned and walked slowly back to his truck.
Lenore moved up onto the first step and watched as he backed onto the road. She lifted her hand in a wave, and he returned the gesture as he trundled down the lane to his cabin.
Oh, she was definitely on a roller coaster, and it had sharp turns and deep dips. But the highs were oh so high.
As Lenore went into the cabin, she decided that she kind of liked this roller coaster—especially if she got to ride it with Brandon Rhinehart.