Page 77 of Resilience on Canvas

Robert nodded curtly. He had nothing else to say to the Sherwoods.

When Clara turned to leave, Henry eked out, “I’m sorry,” his voice small and soft.

Guilt punched Robert in the stomach. He wasn’t even sure who Henry was talking to. Probably everyone. Fucking Christ. Robert hadn’t never meant for things to blow up like this. Now Clara was sad, and Henry was sad, and,Goddammit, the children would probably be sad soon, too. But Robert couldn’t let the Sherwoods pay for everyone’s train fare. Robert needed to take care of his family his own self.

Within the month, he’d have enough to bring everyone out to California.

He was sure of it.

Chapter Twenty-One

Henry

Twoweekslater.. .

Henry was restocking the cans of vegetables in the store when the chime of the bell above the entryway pulled his attention away. He looked up to see Joe and Rose coming down the aisle, huge toothy smiles on their faces. Probably they had figured out how they wanted to spend the money from the competition. It had been burning a hole in their wallets for weeks. Not that they wanted to spend it on nothing frivolous (both Rose and Joe were too smart for that sort of thing), but Henry knew that they were trying to work out how to optimize it somehow, like maybe by purchasing some type of equipment that could help their farm or buying something that might be worth more money in the coming years. But they hadn’t found the perfect thing. Until now, maybe.

Smiling back, Henry stood up, awaiting their news.

Rose said, “We have thebestsurprise for you.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” Henry said, tilting his head.

“We’re comin’ to California with you!” Joe exclaimed.

Henry’s hand flew to his chest. “Really?!”

“Well, notwith you, exactly, since we won’t be taking the train, but maybe we could settle somewhere nearby,” Rose said. “Joeand I realized that we shouldn’t stay here, what with the land the way that it is. And, so, what could be better than starting over in California with our best friend?”

“With the money we won, we’ll find a house to rent no problem,” Joe said.

“And Joe can find work in a store or something while I—”

“Rosie can sing!” Joe exclaimed.

Rose chuckled. “Well, wehopethat I can find a theatre company. I’ll probably have to work somewhere else, though, for a while.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful.” Henry swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. “What about your farm? Can you really sell it?”

Henry couldn’t see how it would be possible. It seemed like a miracle that his parents had found a buyer for their house so fast, though probably it had been easier for them because of how close the house was to the center of town where the businesses were. Even though nearly every one of the businesses in Guymon had suffered financially in recent years, many still remained profitable enough to stay open, and once in a while, a new one sprouted up, too.

“Our neighbors want to buy it.” Rose shrugged and shook her head. “But we won’t make much. I can’t blame them for offering so little money for it, though.”

“Good thing we have our winnings.” Joe nudged her a couple of times with his elbow and then wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive kind of way. “Thanks to Henry here!”

Henry’s cheeks burned. Lord Almighty, his friends would tease him over that for forever. With a soft chuckle, Rose shook her head once more.

“Are yousureyou won’t take alittleof the money?” she asked. “We really only won because of the fun you and Robert were having in the bell tower.”

“Nah, I can’t take none of the money from you,” Henry said, reaching up to rub the back of his neck, his cheeks still burning. Robert would kill him if he ever took the charity. Metaphorically speaking. Hopefully. “Me and Robert are workin’ on comin’ up with the money for California ourselves. Robert thinks he’s close to, uhm, to sellin’ the car. Actually, he’s meetin’ with someone who wanted to buy it right now.” Henry smiled a crooked smile and shrugged. “Don’t worry ’bout us. We’ll have enough soon.”

“Alright, well, tell us if you change your mind,” Rose said.

“Yeah, I-I will.”

Over the next half hour or so, Rose and Joe followed Henry around the store as he restocked some more shelves and waited patiently the two times he had to help customers. All the while, the three of them chatted about California—what it would be like, how they’d make money, where they’d settle, when they’d leave. Even though him and Robert had yet to come up with the money, Henry found himself becoming more and more excited for their new beginning. Gosh, they were so close.Just a couple hundred bucks stood in the way of them finally leaving Guymon.

Unfortunately, Henry’s father had been right with regards to how long it would take for him and Robert to save up with the income from the store alone. It had been two weeks, but still, the two of them had only saved up twelve dollars. And that was with him and Robert skipping one supper each, too. Lord Almighty, taking care of a whole family was expensive. Hopefully the money they’d make on the West Coast would be more than what they were making pushing the store’s register keys. It had to be, right? Why else would so many people be traveling out there? And, even if it wasn’tthatmuch better, the weather was sure to be pleasant. How nice it would be to enjoy summer’s soft breezes again!

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