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“For how long?”
Her eyes widened as if she just realized something. “Um, awhile,” she said vaguely. “Excuse me,” she said, pulling her cell from her back pocket.
I stayed planted by the door with the little glass windows and watched the white attack every inch of Yellow Creek with Eugie at my feet.
“Are we going to be here all night, boy?” I asked him, to which he licked my hand.
“I take that as a yes then.”
“Hey,” she spoke into her phone, “yeah. Yeah, I know, Ethan.” She blew at her bangs. “Let me talk to Pop.” There was a brief pause. “Hey, yup. No, I didn’t see it coming. We were in the old schoolhouse waiting for Faye’s sister Helen.” Another pause. “I know. We’re not going anywhere.” She looked around. “It still has power, but we’ll start rummaging for provisions here in a second, just in case. Uh-huh. Okay, yup, tell her I said I loved her too. Yeah, sure.” A longer pause. “I know, Ethan. I know.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You’re just going to have to trust me then, Ethan, all right? Okay, I will. Love you too. Bye.”
She hung up then rounded the foyer. “Got anything in your truck worth retrieving?”
the next few days, Jonah and I made that ranch so clean, so organized, so efficient that I couldn’t help but be a little proud of myself and the jobs we’d completed. Faye was so appreciative, by the third day, she was sending home enough baskets of baked goods to feed a small army. We kept trying to insist that it was not a big deal but she would have none of it.
Other ranches had followed our lead and sent hands to help out on the McAllen Ranch. We were all toggling a week at a time, and Jonah and I weren’t due back there for another six weeks. Although, the McAllen’s son suspected they’d have a permanent hand there by then.
The following Friday morning, I had to admit it was nice to wake up and not have anywhere to be but the Hunt Ranch. The day went by uneventfully. I hadn’t seen Cricket or Ethan for more than a week, and the separation from Cricket was a torment, but I was happy for it all the same. I needed to clear my head, and Jonah helped me do that by keeping me busier than I’d ever been in my life.
Before dinner, Ellie dragged Jonah and me over to the old Hunt buildings, the ones Cricket worked out of. I tried not to let that affect me, but being near her sculptures hurt my stomach.
“Here,” Ellie said, prying open a large sliding door to an abandoned-looking barn.
“What are we doing out here, Ellie?” I asked.
“There’s an auction tomorrow evening in Yellow Creek for Amos McAllen.”
I looked at Jonah, addled. What more could they need? I thought.
“Amos needs a prosthetic,” Ellie explained, rummaging through a carefully organized shelf at the back. “We’re going to see if there’s anything in here worth donating.”
“Isn’t this all family heirloom-type stuff?” I asked
“Yes, sir.” She winked.
“You’re going to give a family heirloom to strangers?”
“Does this surprise you, baby?” Ellie asked, setting aside a tool that looked very old.
“Frankly, I’m shocked, Ellie.”
She smiled at me and patted my cheek. “This is what we do for our neighbors, honey. We take care of each other.”
But they’re strangers! I thought, then I remembered the day Bridge and I came to ask for their help, how open and generous they were with us, how they welcomed us without any expectations of a return, and how they didn’t judge us. I felt utterly ashamed.
“I see,” I said, lifting something off the wall for Ellie.
Just then, the doors slid open behind us and Ethan and Cricket walked in. I smiled kindly at Cricket, then turned back to helping Ellie.
“Hi, Grandma,” Cricket chimed, and Ellie turned around.
“Hello, darlin’.” She smiled. “Hi, Ethan honey.”
“Ellie,” Ethan greeted, making my fists clench.
Ellie picked up a pile of old papers and a photograph slid out from underneath. She gasped and we all turned her direction.
“Oh my word,” she said, bending down and picking it up. She dusted it off and studied its subject with glassy eyes. “It’s my mama,” she said, running her fingers reverently over the surface. She turned it toward me and I almost choked.
