Chapter 19
NAOMI GLANCED OVER at Levi as she guided the truck down the gravel road.
He sat stiffly in the passenger seat, his hands clenched into fists on his lap.
Ruby lay curled up at his feet, her head resting on his worn boots.
The dog’s quiet presence seemed to calm him a little, but Naomi could see the tension etched in his face, that line between his brows deeper yet.
“It’s been a while since you’ve been out here, hasn’t it?” she asked gently.
“Yeah,” Levi muttered, his gaze fixed on the horizon. “Not since … well, not since she passed.”
Naomi nodded, her heart aching for him. She turned her attention back to the road, guiding the truck past a weathered wooden sign that read The Turners. The narrow driveway was flanked by overgrown hedges, their tangled branches scratching against the side of the truck as they approached the house.
When they reached the clearing, Naomi parked and turned off the engine. For a moment, neither of them moved.
The house was small and unassuming, its white paint peeling and one shutter hanging crookedly.
A decent porch ran along the front, two weathered rockers filling the space.
Beyond the house, a small barn stood stoically, its red paint not yet faded.
The property stretched out behind the buildings—rolling fields covered in frost or clumps of snow, dotted here and there with bare trees and bordered by a thin line of forest. In the distance, a narrow creek glinted in the sunlight, its frozen surface sparkling like glass.
“It’s not much to look at anymore,” Levi said, his voice thick with emotion.
Naomi placed a hand on his arm. “It’s beautiful, Levi. It just needs someone to love it again.”
He turned to her, his eyes clouded with pain. “I loved it. Now I don’t.”
Ruby sat up, sensing the tension, and nuzzled Levi’s hand. He absently scratched behind her ears, his shoulders slumping as he stared out at the house.
“Will you show me around?” Naomi asked, her tone encouraging. “You don’t have to decide anything right now. Just … indulge me. I’m in the market for a farm, you know.”
Levi hesitated before nodding. “Yeah, Trent told me.”
Together, they stepped out of the truck, Ruby trotting ahead as if she owned the place.
Naomi followed Levi up the uneven path to the mailbox, which stood crookedly on a rusted post. He opened it and stared at how much mail was stuffed inside.
A small business card peeked out from the bottom of the pile.
He pulled it out and mumbled, “Nicole Hughes, realtor.”
Naomi glanced at it, her heart skipping a beat. “Selling it is an option,” she said carefully, “but have you thought about what this place could be? It’s got everything, Levi. I can see the potential.”
He looked at her, the conflict evident in his eyes. He kept his jaw clenched.
“I do,” she said firmly. “Imagine this place cleaned up. The house repaired, and the fields tended to. It could be a home again. For you … or for someone else.”
Levi swallowed hard, his gaze drifting back to the house. “She loved this place,” he murmured. “Every inch of it. Said it was where we were meant to grow old together.”
Naomi’s throat tightened, but she kept her voice steady. “Then honor that love, Levi. Either by coming back and making it what she dreamed of, or by letting someone else do it. Don’t let it sit here forgotten.”
They walked through the property together, Ruby darting ahead and then circling back, her tail wagging enthusiastically.
Naomi silently noted the things that could be fixed—the barn’s roof, the fences, the overgrown garden by the side of the house.
But she also saw the beauty—the fertile fields, the creek, the potential for a fresh start.
By the time they returned to the truck, Levi looked worn out but lighter somehow. He rested a hand on Ruby’s head and turned to Naomi.
“I can’t live there.”
“I understand,” she said with a soft smile. “But you don’t have to be homeless. Sell it.”
He nodded slowly, his gaze lingering on the house. “I don’t know if I can do that either,” he said quietly.
“Well, if you did … what would you ask for it?”
He made a humming noise and then named his price.
Naomi whistled. “Wow. Land is more expensive here than in Wyoming.”
She had another question but she didn’t press him further.
She knew he needed time to sort through the memories and the possibilities.
As they drove back toward the ranch, her mind raced with her own thoughts.
This place could be hers. She could see herself here, building a future on this land, making it her own.
No, that was an inane fantasy. It was far too pricey for her. She’d be better off nearer her father and brother anyway.
***
Trent drove to Naomi’s motel to pick her up.
He’d seen her briefly in the afternoon with Levi, Ruby, and a large bag of dog food.
Levi’s face wasn’t quite as hard as granite.
If Naomi could help give Levi a few moments of relief from the perpetual funk he was in, that would be great.
He liked the guy despite his constant sorrow.
He was a good listener and Trent had shared a fair number of his own feelings while they were milking cows.
He parked and discovered that Naomi was in a different room than before. He knocked and waited.
“Hold on,” she said, opening the door, motioning him inside, and continuing to hold her phone up to her ear.
He closed it behind him and waited as she finished up what sounded like a professional call. Perhaps she’d lined up her next consultation.
“There,” she said as she hung up, “I did it.”
“You did what?”
“I put in an offer on the Silver Road farm.”
“I thought you were going to think about it.”
She motioned him over to the bed and they sat down on it next to one another.
“I did think about it. I saw Levi’s ranch today.”
“Levi has a ranch?”
Trent sat open-mouthed as Naomi recounted her visit to the Turner farm. “…so he’s not really homeless and whether he sells or not, it made me realize what I want: I want that farm in Wyoming and I want you to come work it with me … and … um, Trent … Levi told me something else, too.”
“Yeah?”
“He’s memorized that whole section of the Bible about love. You know? Love is patient, love is kind, and on and on.”
He felt his face relax and a small smile flickered at the corner of his lips as she went on to softly say, “I … I have feelings for you, Trent. And I think you have feelings for me, too.”
He took her hands in his. He was afraid his voice might quiver, grateful when it didn’t. “I absolutely do, Naomi. I’d follow you back to Wyoming or stay here with you in Montana or take you to Oklahoma if you’d agree to that. You have my heart.”
“Oklahoma? Probably not. Not if I get the Wyoming property. But … I sure would like to experience an Oklahoma kiss.”
“Give me a moment to arrange that.” He turned to Ruby and said, “Turn around girl. You’re too young for this.” Then he took Naomi in his arms and gave her a kiss full of protection, trust, and a whole lot of hope.