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He still hadn’t figured it out when a knock sounded at the door.
“Come on in,” he said, trying to make the tension release out of his shoulders and put the problems out of his mind.
His sister Phoebe walked in. Phoebe was the older of the twins which came in line directly after him. They were just about two years younger than he was, and he’d grown up with them dogging his every footstep.
When he’d been thinking about going to North Dakota to try to make a go of the Sweet Water dude ranch, he wouldn’t have done it without Phoebe and her twin Priscilla coming with him.
Since their parents had died, they had banded together to raise the younger children. Phoebe had put off marriage and lost a long-time boyfriend because of her move.
Priscilla had been married, but it hadn’t worked out.
As soon as she saw his face, her brows came down.
He should have known that he wouldn’t be able to hide anything from Phoebe.
“What’s wrong?” She stepped in, putting both hands behind her and leaning against the door, pushing it closed carefully, all the while studying his face.
“I told Ford Hansen that we would give Alaska a place to stay safe. But Asher feels like not only whoever is after her could be a problem at the ranch, but he also feels like...like she’s been with some unsavory people and she might bring those to the ranch as well. He thinks it’s unfair of me to keep her here and wants her to go.”
“Well, he’s not wrong.” Phoebe’s words were matter-of-fact. He wouldn’t expect anything less from her. Priscilla was a little more dreamy, with her pie-in-the-sky attitude and her tendency to look at life through rose-colored glasses. That tendency had faded a bit with the dissolution of her marriage.
“I know,” he said, striding around his desk but too restless to sit down. “But that’s not why you came in here. What do you need?”
“I wanted to make sure that we had all the vaccines and wormer we need for tomorrow. I was doing some inventory and have to run into town for some groceries and supplies. I could pick those things up if you need me to.”
“Let me check with Tobias,” he said, naming the brother who typically was in charge of the health of the cattle herds.
He pulled his phone out and sent off a quick text.
“It’s not like you to waffle about decisions. But you look kind of torn up about this one.”
“I guess I just feel bad for her. She’s had a rough life. You can tell that by looking at her. But Asher is right. A person who has those kinds of friends could bring those kinds of friends around and could jeopardize everything that we’re working for.”
“What? Do you think we’re all suddenly going to become drug users?”
His lips did not twitch, but he allowed the humor to show in his eyes. “I might be a little concerned about you. Youalways did waffle a bit.”
That time, his lips did curl up. Just one side.
“Right. You know I always have a tendency to walk on the wild side.” She rolled her eyes. Of all of them, Phoebe was the one who was content to be at home, to be...boring. It bothered her some, he knew. That she wasn’t more exciting, didn’t have any desire to leave the ranch or to live a big life. She just wanted to serve her family, and she took a lot of flak about it from friends who thought she was way too old to be still living at home. That she had too much talent to waste it on working for her family.
He couldn’t disagree about her talent, but he did disagree with everything else. Phoebe was doing exactly what she thought God wanted her to do, and that was never a waste. Even if it didn’t look like what the rest of the world thought a person was supposed to be doing. Just because society said a person had to move out of their house and go to college at eighteen and then get a job, work for ten years before getting married, buying a house, and having kids...if that was still what the world said, that didn’t mean that if they lived according to the world’s standards rather than the Bible standards, a person wouldn’t miss out on a lot in life that was more important. It was always better to follow the Bible.
His phone buzzed, and he looked down. “He sent me a list. I’ll copy it and send it to you.”
“All right. Thank you.” She turned to go. But then she stopped and turned around, with her hand on the knob. “Ezra?”
“Hmm?” he said, already trying to think about how many weanlings they would have and which of the three places he’d gotten prices from would be the best ones to send them to.
Chapter 3
“We can’t save everyone. You know that.” Phoebe’s face held concern.
“I know.”
Boy, did he ever. But he had always been grateful that he had grown up with a stable home. Parents who loved him. Parents who stayed together. A mom and a dad in his house. So many of his friends didn’t even have that much. It seemed like a small thing, but it was a major part of a person’s childhood, whether or not they had a mom and dad.
Then, when his parents died, and his younger siblings were left without parents, of course he had stepped up for them. And he’d often thought that if his siblings hadn’t had him or the rest of their family, who would have taken care of them? Would someone else have stepped up?
