Page 59 of Hometown Girl

Drew’s first night sleeping in the farmhouse was restless and strange. His mind played tricks on him in the darkness, and the house creaked in the wind. In the morning, he’d given his chore list to Beth and went outside to work while she looked it over.

She’d brought coffee and pastries again, and he thanked her, unsure how to process her kindness.

He’d started the week expecting Fairwind to yank away every brick he’d carefully built around his heart, but as the days wore on, something unexpected happened.

Yes, the nightmares still plagued his sleepless nights, and yes, he spent too much time trying to force the memories he’d worked for years to forget, but his days weren’t spent in quiet solitude the way they usually were.

At Elkhorn, he’d been pretty much left alone, with the occasional interaction with guests or other ranch hands. Here, though, there were always people around. Molly, Beth, their friends.

By the end of the week, he knew all their names. They drank coffee and ate scones before spending their days or evenings tackling the chores he’d listed out and prioritized. At night after he finished working, despite his sore muscles, he walked the perimeter of Fairwind with Roxie, surprised to find an unexpected peace strolling through the rows and rows of trees in the orchard.

Now a full week had passed, and while he’d originally been driven by an aching need for closure, he’d found a different purpose in the work he was doing. For the first time in his life, he felt like he was a part of something—he hadn’t even realized that was something he wanted.

Tonight, before he started his walk out toward the orchard, he admired the work they’d accomplished on the main barn. Both he and Beth agreed it was the top priority, and after just a week of volunteer labor, they could see marked improvements.

Maybe they had a shot at making that open-by-fall deadline the Whitaker sisters had given him after all.

He whistled for Roxie, who fell into step beside him, and started walking toward the orchard by way of the woods behind the house.

Once upon a time, the creek that ran through the property had been a great little fishing hole for two adventurous kids, and while that memory would’ve upset him only weeks before, he’d begun to make peace with the place that had stolen his friend.

The weight of his burden hadn’t lifted, but he’d still found a way to enjoy his new surroundings—despite the fact that if he stayed even one more week, he’d likely be replaced at Elkhorn Ranch.

Maybe that was okay.

Maybe it was worth it to see the progress he made in bringing the old farm back to life. Maybe that was the way to make amends with his past. Do good in the present.

Or maybe he simply liked the view.

He turned back and allowed himself a few stolen seconds, watching as Beth swept the wraparound porch of the old farmhouse. She wore a pair of khaki shorts and a bright-pink tank top with flip-flops, of all things. The woman baffled him. Too sure of herself in unfamiliar surroundings, she was full of business sense but just naïve enough to have no idea just how much work was still ahead of them.

They’d talked over the numbers. She had her own estimates, proving she didn’t quite trust him yet—but when she’d seen his figures were lower than hers, she seemed grateful.

“That’s really good,” she’d said to him the previous afternoon. “Sounds like you’ve got it figured out.”

“That’s what you hired me for.” He’d leaned back in the chair at the kitchen table and watched as she shuffled through the papers spread out in front of her. There was a heaviness on her.

“Why are you doing this, really?” he’d asked.

She’d met his eyes, surprise on her face.

“I mean, you seem especially driven.” He could tell she was passionate about the whole project, but he wasn’t sure what it was that drove her.

“I just don’t want to lose a bunch of money, that’s all.”

He didn’t buy it. Maybe one of these days he’d earn her trust, and he’d learn what it was that really made her tick.

Guilt poked at him. What would she think if she knew his real reasons for being there? He’d kept his identity, his connection to the farm a secret. It was a harmless secret, and it was his, but would she see it as some sort of betrayal?

He shook away the nagging thoughts. She hadn’t exactly opened up to him; why should he feel guilty for keeping a few awful things to himself?

He focused on the list of things left to do, which played on a continuous loop in his mind. So far, he’d repaired broken boards, reinforced the beams, refinished the floors and put a fresh coat of paint on the interior of the main barn. He’d tackle the exterior with hired help next week. Ben had sent over a landscaping plan, and when it was time to add plants, Drew knew that old barn would look better than it ever had.

He’d make sure of it.

Somehow he felt like he owed it to Harold.

Or maybe to Beth. Which was crazy because he didn’t owe her anything. Except that she’d given him this job—a job that allowed him to keep searching for the thing that had brought him here in the first place. A job that provided the distraction he needed to keep his mind from going to a dark place.

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