Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Gilbert was still a little bemused the next day after he had sent the kids off to school.
He had checked in with his business, went over the recordings of the night before, checked the numbers, and decided that he would take a walk around the property.
He had just gone outside when Judd, his brother-in-law, pulled up to the porch.
Gilbert stood on the top step, watching him park, wondering what in the world he might want.
“Good morning,” Judd said as he got out of the truck.
“Good morning. Nice day,” Gilbert said, looking at the brilliant blue sky and feeling the gentle breeze, which did not feel chilly in the slightest, despite the fact that it was almost Thanksgiving.
“I thought I’d come out and see the place. I was going to wait for Terry, but she told me to go ahead and scope it out for her, and let her know what she needed to see.”
“You’re welcome anytime. You don’t need me to give you the tour. Although if you want me to, I can.”
“She thinks you should have an open house or something.”
“Maybe I’ll host Thanksgiving here.”
“That’s an excellent idea. I know Terry would get on board with that, and as long as your mom’s okay with it, I can’t think of any better way for the family to see the place.”
“All right then, I’ll…” He almost said he’d check with Summer, but he didn’t figure Judd probably knew he was going to be hosting her.
For lack of a better word. He hated to say that she would be living with him, because that made it sound like…
there was more there than what there was, although after last night, he almost wondered if maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched for him to hope that there might eventually be more.
She was one of the most interesting people he talked to in a long time, and he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of listening to her. She seemed interested in him, and they agreed on so many things, plus they made each other laugh.
It was far less than what he would have needed to date a girl back in the day, but…
He wasn’t sure that he and Summer would have that kind of relationship, even though it felt that way to him.
Maybe she saw him as an older man, even though there were only five years between them, but he had three kids, and that kind of put him in a completely different category than what she was.
“I think I can wait for my tour until Thanksgiving, if that’s what you’re going to do.”
“I think so. You want to hang here, sit down on the porch swing, and chat a bit?”
“Don’t mind if I do. It’s been a busy few weeks, and I kind of feel like a break is a good idea.”
“I don’t have tea or anything, but you can have a glass of water if you want.”
“I didn’t come expecting you to wait on me hand and foot. I just thought I’d visit you in your new digs. See if there is anything you’re doing that you need a hand with.”
Judd was just that kind of guy. Always willing to lend a hand, which was saying something, since the guy was handy and could fix pretty much anything.
They sat down on the swing together and were quiet for just a bit.
“What are your plans for the place?” Judd eventually said.
“There’s only twenty acres with it, so it’s not like I’m going to be able to farm it or anything.
And…” Was it okay to tell Judd what he was going to do?
Judd would tell Terry, but it wouldn’t go any further if he didn’t want it to.
But if the family was coming for Thanksgiving, they were going to see Summer there, and regardless, his kids were never going to keep it a secret.
Not that he thought it should be a secret.
“You know the woman who owned it before, Summer?”
“Sure, I’ve seen Summer a bunch, when Terry and I took your kids to their therapy sessions. Great girl. She was excellent with the children. If your kids have processed the death of their mother, I think you can really thank her.”
“I agree with you. They are attached to her, attached to the horses, and believe it or not, they cried when they learned that she was going to have to sell them.”
“I believe it. It’s funny, because Lucas has developed kind of into that strong, silent type, but he loved Thatcher.”
Gilbert was impressed Judd knew the name of Lucas’s horse. It probably said a lot about what Lucas had talked to Judd about and what Judd had observed when he was watching the kids at their sessions.
“He did. And that, along with a few other reasons, prompted me to see if Summer wanted to come back and stay here, and continue with her therapy business. She did so much for my kids and didn’t charge me anything. I felt like it was the least I could do.”
“Wow. Did she take you up on it?”
“She did. I talked to her about it last night, and I should be getting a text from her sometime today letting me know when she’s going to be moving in.”
“Is she going to be able to get her horses back?”
“She was very confident that she would be able to do that.”
“Is she going to be living here?” Judd moved a hand, indicating the house.
“There are six bedrooms upstairs, so plenty for her to choose from, so yeah. She’s going to pick a bedroom, and she will be here, buying groceries, cooking, and I’m not charging her rent.”
He added that last part because he knew that Judd might be latching onto the fact that they were unmarried and living in the same house.
It didn’t look the greatest, Gilbert knew, but the kids would be there as chaperones, and they weren’t staying in the same bedroom.
She was a renter. She was leasing the barn. It wasn’t a sin.
“That’s nice of you. Probably because she didn’t charge you for the therapy sessions.”
“Yeah. That was a great example to me. I…know, as a business owner, that you can’t just give away everything for free, but when you see a need, you can work to fulfill it and trust God to take care of you. So maybe he used her to take care of me, and now I’m taking care of her.”
“I see. It was probably really hard for her to give up this place, considering that it’s been in her family for so long.”
“Yeah.” He realized that wasn’t really something that they had talked about.
“You don’t think she’s taking advantage of you?” Judd said slowly after a while.
“What? Because I own her house now?”
“Sure. It’s probably hard for her to leave it, and then, hey, she found a way to stay on the family property.”
“But I still own it. She doesn’t have any say in it.” He wasn’t sure where Judd was going with that.
“I see. I guess that sounds fine, if you’re not sharing the property.”
“No. Nothing like that.”
“So… She doesn’t have designs on you?” Judd finally said.
Now Gilbert understood where Judd was going.
“You think that she’s trying to be romantically interested in me to get me to…marry her? So she’d get her house back?”
“Is that so far-fetched?”
“You know her. Would you say that she’s that kind of person?”
“No. I wouldn’t say she’s that kind of person at all, but I can see other people saying that.”
“I see.” He was so tempted to say that he did feel romantically inclined toward her, but he didn’t want to share that. Not really, not when she was going to be moving into the house, and it already looked not the greatest. But, he was interested in Judd’s opinion.
“What do you think of her?” he finally asked.
“I think she’s one of the best girls I know.
Terry and I both said about how good she is with your kids, how great she is with her job, how much she cares about people, and she doesn’t hesitate to go the extra mile, or two or three.
Just like she gave your kids therapy for free, she often went over the allotted time, and not just with your kids but with the kids who were there before them. She’s just… She’s an impressive woman.”
“Then why are you insinuating that she might be after me romantically to get the farm?”
“I just know that some people will say that about her, and I guess that was my way of warning you.”
“I am more concerned about what they are going to say when they find out she’s living here.”
“There’s that too.”
They didn’t say anything more, because Gilbert wasn’t sure what to do about it.
He’d already offered for her to stay, and he wasn’t going to go back on that offer.
But he knew that there would be some people in town who would frown on it, even if they said that they were sleeping in different bedrooms, and there was absolutely nothing going on.
The Bible did say that a Christian was supposed to abstain from all appearance of evil.
He’d have to think about that and see if he could come up with something, because he didn’t want there to be any appearance of evil, but he also wasn’t going to not offer her exactly what he had or take his offer back.
Just then, his phone buzzed with a text.
Sunny asked me to work the weekend, then I’m done. I can buy all of my horses back, and Thatcher arrives next week. I could move in on Monday, if that works for you?
Gilbert stared at his phone, thinking about what Judd had just said to him and knowing that there was some type of attraction on his side anyway, toward Summer.
But he would just have to be careful, and…
If it developed into something more, he was going to have to be honest and upright. However that looked.
He looked up to see Judd with his brows raised, waiting. “She’s coming on Monday.”