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“You’ll be the caretakers, and have an open-ended lease to live there for all of your lives, with the one condition that if they ever do visit, they can stay there in the cottage Va’roush will build,” Buchanan explained.

“This seems too good to be true,” she said.

“If it was anybody other than Kol, I might question it. But Kol is just that generous and honest. He knows they’re not coming back, but wants to be sure the place is lived in and looked after by someone he trusts.”

“Va’roush,” she said.

“Va’roush. So, tell us where to start.”

“Start?” she asked.

“Load us up. Animals, clothes, whatever you need to take with you. We can make several trips if need be. So, don’t be shy about saying what you need to take.”

Mel looked like she was going to cry as she dragged her feet, making her way over to Va’roush.

He stood tall and strong, watching her come, unsure of her response and what to expect from her.

When she reached him, she leaned against him, her head in the middle of his chest, her hands knotted in his shirt. She raised her head and looked up at him. “I’ll never be able to thank you.”

“It is far from here.”

“I don’t care. You found a place for us all. I owe you so much.”

“You owe me nothing.”

“Then you owe me.”

“How is that?” he asked, surprised that she felt he owed her after finding her a new home.

“For all the months of spying on me and refusing to speak to me, you owe me.”

“Perhaps,” he answered uneasily, wondering what it would cost him.

“No more hiding from me. You live in the house with me. We do this together. We make this move and take care of this property together.”

He looked down at her. “We will do it together.”

She smiled up at him. “Let’s get packed.”

~~~

Three trips and a day and a half later, Va’roush put the last nail in the last fence post that would provide the donkeys with a safe place to roam. There was already a three sided lean-to in it for them to get out of the sun or the rain if they chose to.

“That’s it. The last enclosure,” Mel said.

Va’roush looked out over the area they’d chosen to put the animals in. There was a large chicken pen, the large pasture enclosed with field fence they’d just finished for donkeys, the cow and the goats. There were gates and options for making it smaller as needed to separate the animals. There was a very large dog house on the hill just beside the house that was there when they arrived, and they simply added one more so there would be plenty of room for all three dogs to have access to shelter. But the dogs were not limited and had free run of the property. The bunnies had a new home fenced in area with a bunny house and ramps that allowed them to get up into their house and off the ground if they chose to, as well. “It all seems finished.”

“It does. Are you hungry?” she asked.

“I am always hungry.”

“I’ll make us something.”

“I was surprised that Buchanan came back with so much food and supplies for us,” Va’roush said.

“I’m not. He told me how you helped save his daughter. I think he’s going to be around often.”

Va’roush grumbled.

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