had to get her up really early and completely ready for school. Then his next-door neighbor watched her until the bus came at eight-twenty, and he had to rely on his nine-year-old to text him and let him know she’d made it to school.
It had been very difficult to get time off, and he’d barely made enough to keep him and Hailey in a one-bedroom apartment. He’d slept on the couch, his long legs hanging over the end of it and the sound of the refrigerator coming on to refill the ice-maker waking him without fail near two a.m. every night.
Here, this cabin stood tall and proud, brand-new and brilliantly white against the stormy sky threatening to drop rain at any moment. He had a front porch and a back one. No garage, but that was fine. Two bedrooms. Two bathrooms. A living room with really nice furniture—brand-new. Everything here on this part of Shiloh Ridge was new, and everything broadcasted dollar signs.
August picked up the pace with bringing in boxes when the first rumble of thunder shook the sky. He’d just managed to get everything on the covered porch when the raindrops fell, and he and Hailey could get it all in from there.
By the time he thought to check his phone, he had four messages from Etta. Lunch at the homestead will be at noon.
You’re welcome to come.
Don’t think just because you live here now that you can just come up and see me whenever you want.
Or maybe you can.
They’d all come within seconds of each other, because they had the same timestamp on them, and she must’ve only been around the corner from him when she sent them, because they were a good forty-five minutes old.
If you can handle two extra mouths for lunch today, Hailey and I will be there.
I suppose that’s fine, Etta sent back, and August smiled at his device, at her ruse to make him think she wasn’t as interested in him as she was. He could see the interest light up her dark blue eyes every time he looked at her. He wondered if he put off the same feelings, and he suspected he did. Josie had told him he wore everything right on the surface, and while he’d tried to shelve things and hide them after her death, he wasn’t great at it.
Were you surprised to see me? He didn’t need to ask to know. She’d worn her shock as evidently as he did.
Yes, she said, and he hated texting when he couldn’t see her face. He’d spent some time with her in the past couple of months, and Etta had a quirky sense of humor buried beneath her more proper exterior.
I told you it was a good job and good move for me.
I’m glad, she said. I really hope that’s true.
I do too, he sent, and he looked up, only getting an eyeful of the ceiling. But it was a brand-new ceiling, with pristine, white paint and the canister lights only found in the nicest, newest homes.
“Daddy,” Hailey said, skipping into the kitchen from the hallway which led down toward the bedrooms and bathrooms. He even had a laundry room right here to do their wash. He’d taken so much for granted in Dripping Springs, and while he’d wanted to move to Three Rivers to give himself and Hailey a chance at a fresh start, he hadn’t realized how much it would cost.
Monetarily, emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally, it had cost him so much.
He once again paused and waited for the weight to come into his heart. When he thought of the farmhouse he’d left behind in the past, a load of bricks would settle on his chest. When he thought of how far away his wife’s grave was and that he couldn’t go see her whenever he wanted, someone pumped hot steel into his veins and his whole system turned to metal.
Today, however…it didn’t. None of that happened, and August’s heart kept beating blood through his body.
“I’m ready,” he whispered. Josie had died four years ago, and he’d lived long enough in the darkness hanging over the farm they’d run together in the Hill Country.
“Daddy,” Hailey said again, and he blinked himself back to the situation at hand.
“Yeah, sweets?”
“What do we have for lunch? I’m getting hungry.”
“You know what?” August asked, grinning at his daughter. Sometimes he swore he could see Josie when he looked at Hailey, and right now was no exception. “Miss Etta invited us up to the