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“That sounds like a great project, but I haven’t had a lot of experience, yet.”
“You have to start somewhere,” Jesse said. “I know you can build.”
Olivia nodded eagerly. “At least think about it.”
“I will.” He nodded. “I should let you guys eat your breakfast.”
“Hannah lived here when Emma was a baby,” Olivia blurted, before he could duck out the door. “When I went to college and my mom married Sam, she left the farm, too, even though we asked her to stay. None of us wanted her to move out, but that’s Hannah. She can’t stand to think that she might be dependent on, or beholden to, anyone. It’s not personal.”
“What should I do?” Jake really didn’t know. Did he back off? Give her some space? Or did he show her that he loved her? “I want to marry her.”
Olivia beamed at him. “We want that, too.”
* * *
Two days after arriving at the nursing home, Joel Destin passed away. After Emma said goodbye, Hannah sat beside him and held his hand as he took his last breath.
Pastor Phil sat beside her and said a prayer. Maggie took Emma home, promising to send Olivia to help with the paperwork. Hannah had taken care of most of the details already, arranging for a cremation service and a small gathering at the farm.
She didn’t invite Jake. She didn’t know how. She just couldn’t imagine asking him, “Hey, would you like to go to my deadbeat drunk of a father’s funeral?” Especially after she had been so cool to him at the hospital.
She knew Olivia was on her way, but watching her father lie there, lifeless, was too much. She wanted so badly to call Jake, but she just couldn’t do it. Why did she always push people away, even when she knew she needed them? She kept her eyes on the floor, not able to move, not able to hold back her emotions.
Then she sensed his presence, even before she felt his hand on her shoulder.
She turned and jumped out of her chair and into Jake’s arms.
She buried her face against his chest and cried, deep, hollow, sobbing from the bottom of her heart. Jake said nothing, just held her close against him.
When she let go, she felt as though her tears had allowed the old poison to leech out of her, as though she might finally be able to move forward.
“Will you have a ride home?” Pastor Phil asked.
“Yes, thank you so much,” she said. Her heart was strangely serene as she took Jake’s hand into hers.
He would take her home.
Chapter 19
Olivia called Hannah at the house. “I found the will.”
“He actually left a will?” This surprised Hannah. She bounced Mae on her hip. “Does he have anything to his name?”
Hannah wasn’t sure if the house was paid for or not. He’d lived there for as long as she could remember, and always lived modestly. He wasn’t rich by any stretch of the imagination, but he always had a roof, heat, and food.
“I’m coming home right now,” Olivia said.
Emma was at school, Maggie out with some friends, and Mae didn’t seem at all interested in this new development. What would Joel Destin have to give away, anyways? All she had seen at his house was a lot of junk; old refrigerators in the garage, air-conditioning units, broken clocks and lamps and all kinds of furniture. There were several cars and trucks in the yard behind the garage, vehicles that hadn’t moved in years. He hadn’t done more than minimal upkeep on the house itself.
Olivia pulled up to the farm, and Hannah tried to clear her head.
“Have you read it?” she asked.
Olivia shook her head. “Should we go into the living room?”
She was so thankful Olivia was there to read it for her and help her understand what she had to do next.
“This was written just a couple months ago,” Olivia said, as she pulled out the documents from a manila envelope. “Would you like me to just read it?”
