Page 36 of Let Me Be the One

At least Addie assumed she’d stay, Callie thought. She wasn’t trying to run her off like Tanner did. “I noticed I had to go through a gate to get into the woods.”

“Make sure it’s closed tight each time, and secure the goats at night in their shelter, okay? They need to be protected from the weather. You want them separate from the chickens. Chickens leave droppings everywhere and goats don’t want it anywhere near their food or water.”

“Eww,” Callie said. “I wouldn’t either.”

“Come on. Break is over. I want you to see what I accomplished in the house.”

Together, with Callie carrying the chair and rake, they headed up to the porch. It had been a cluttered mess earlier, as if Reggie had only used it to store every broken piece of furniture, small appliance, or bag of garbage that he didn’t feel like disposing of properly.Callie now had it in a neat pile to be hauled away tomorrow. With it was bags of leaves and twigs that had accumulated over the winter and early spring. The porch and the surrounding yard looked much nicer. She was already imagining how the porch would look after a good power-washing, an outdoor rug, and some stylish lawn furniture.

Then again, she had goats, so maybe she’d need to keep outdoor décor off the front porch until she figured out the setup.

“I got a few guys who’ll come by tomorrow to do some minor repairs, clean the windows, and haul away the trash. You’ll be right as rain soon.”

Addie’s help, as well as her enthusiasm, reinforced Callie’s decision to stay. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done, and how patient you’ve been with me.” Callie’s mother was not a person she could ask about goats, or a broken pipe, or clearing out a trashed house.

She felt silly as she admitted, “I’ve never had a home of my own. Apartments, sure, but the landlords were responsible for the upkeep on them. If something broke, or overflowed, or whatever, I called them.”

Addie slanted her a knowing look. “Feels good to fix up your own place, doesn’t it?”

“Amazingly so.” As they stepped through the back door and into the kitchen, Callie felt the ache of muscles she didn’t know she had. “I’m sore, but it’s…satisfying.” And then she pulled up short. “Oh, wow.” The kitchen was now pristine, with the sink, countertops, and floor all shining. She inhaled the scent of lemon and pine. “It sparkles.”

“A woman needs a spotless, well-organized kitchen.”

The front door opened, there was some rustling of plastic bags, and Glory appeared in the doorway, arms laden with groceries. She, too, appeared stunned as she looked around the kitchen. “It’s like an entirely different room.” Giving a deep inhale, she hummed, “Mmm, and it smells so good now.”

Callie rushed forward to take two bags from her. “Did you get everything?”

“And then some.”

Glory had spent most of her time in the car, first heading out to buy cleaning supplies and heavy-duty lawn bags for all the garbage. Once she returned, instead of offering to pitch in, she’d headed out for food. First for lunch, which the three of them had shared on the front porch, since that had been the least smelly space on the property. When that was done, Glory had again driven off, that time to fill the grocery list Callie made for her.

Because she understood Glory, Callie didn’t expect her to partake in manual labor. The very idea of it probably repulsed her cousin clean down to her manicured nails, but it would also terrify her. Neither of them had much experience with that sort of thing, but whereas Callie never minded jumping in to learn something new, Glory always feared messing up and looking foolish.

“You’ve been a huge help,” Callie told her as she checked the cabinets and found them all cleaned. She turned to Addie. “And you! My goodness. You accomplished so much.”

“I ran the dishes through the dishwasher, but they won’t be done drying for a few minutes yet. If I had more time, I’d stick around and put them away for you.”She glanced at Glory, but her cousin was checking messages on her phone.

Callie sent Addie a smile and a wink. “I can do it.”

“You’ve put in a full day. If you two would just come to stay at my house again, we could finish getting it in order tomorrow.”

Glory looked up in hope, but Callie was already shaking her head. “Thank you, but I want to stay here tonight.”

“I thought you’d say that. You’ll need clean bedding, so Tanner is bringing over some sheets, quilts, and pillows. He should be here any minute.”

Her first thought was: oh goodie, she’d get to see Tanner again. Her second thought had her questioning Addie. “When did you arrange that?”

“Before I joined you in the yard.” She grinned. “But you’re still welcome to come over—”

Callie laughed. “Thank you, no. If I’m going to live here, I might as well start now, but I do appreciate clean bedding.” She needed Tanner to witness her resolve, to know she was settling in, not cutting corners and finding an easy way out.

What she’d seen of the bedroom wasn’t promising, so she had figured on being up late to wash…well, everything. Now she could put that off for tomorrow.

She’d just started unloading bags when a knock sounded on the front door.

“That’ll be Tanner,” Addie said, and went to answer.

Callie couldn’t deny the sudden tripping of her heart. It was exhilarating, overriding a lot of her exhaustion. Using her wrist, she brushed a hank of hair away from her eyes and smiled at the doorway.

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