"He drew your blood? Does he think there was something wrong?"
"He didn't say that. Why? Is that what it means?"
"No, it's probably just routine. I don't know about that kind of stuff. Look here." He pointed to the denser space in the sac. "That's its head, and that's its tummy. That's where its little arms are forming. Look right there. That's its little nose."
She took the photo slowly from his hands and stared at the picture with such wonder. "Thanks," she whispered and turned for her cabin.
"Farrah?"
"Yeah?"
"The salt?"
"Oh, yeah." She handed him the box and trudged back to the cabin, only to reemerge minutes later without the sonogram picture.
Biscuits must have been the way to Luna's heart because the pup never left Farrah's side. Wherever she went, the dog went, too. Reminded him of Bruno's loyalty to himself.
He led her down to the corral and taught her how to load hay and spread it out for the horses. And then did the same for the fourteen head of cattle. He showed her which ones to look out for and how much to feed each day so the hay he cut during the summer would last all winter. He showed her how to feed the chickens and collect the brown eggs they laid.
When she didn't balk at the chores or about being around large herd animals, he let her ride behind him on the tractor to go pick up another log to drag back to the house. He didn't offer and she didn't ask, but without a word between them, she sat behind him and put her gloved hands around his stomach. She asked about the different trees and outlying buildings in different stages of use and disrepair. She asked about animal tracks that crossed the road and chattered to the dogs as they loped beside the tractor. He didn't have to say much. And while there was beauty in silence, there was also something nice about having someone else appreciate the land he loved so much.
He chopped while she stacked until dinnertime, then she went back to her cabin to eat. He stood on the front porch of the big house. From there, he could see through her curtain-less windows. She talked to herself, or maybe to Luna, and sported a fierce look of concentration as she tried to figure out how to use a wood burning stove to cook on. Maybe he should invite her over to eat in the big kitchen.
No.
He ripped his gaze away from her place. That would only complicate things, and he couldn't afford the distraction. She was just going to have to learn to make it on her own.
****
Farrah woke to a soft knock on the door before dawn broke the next morning. With frozen toes pushed into fuzzy slippers, she padded to the door and pulled it open just wide enough for Aanon to come in. Stoking the fire, she waited with self-conscious heat in her cheeks as he found his words.
"I wrote down a list of stuff for you to do as a reminder. Billy, the neighbor's boy, will be coming by sometime today to make sure you know how to do everything and to get you into a routine."
Good gracious, he looked so good in the morning. His blond eyebrows had knitted into a little line of worry, and he rubbed the cleanly shaven planes of his jaw as if it helped him to think. More than once, his gaze drank in her red flannel pajamas, and she wished there was such a thing as sexy warm sleepwear. The giant pretzel had been invented so really, the science should be there.
"Don't forget to feed the dogs," he said, as if he were stalling.
"I swear I won't," she said with a patient smile. "You don't have to worry about your place. I'll take care of it. Go, work, don't worry about things here and just focus on doing what you need to do. This place will still be standing when you get back." If only she felt as confident as she sounded.
"Okay," he said with a nervous laugh. "I'm going. I'll be back Saturday. Here is the key to the big house if you need anything, and my cell phone number is at the bottom of the to-do list if you need me for anything."
"Do you need a goodbye hug, Aanon?"
He narrowed his eyes. "Fine, I'm going."
"That a boy. We'll see you in a few days. If you need to get a hold of me, leave a message at Briney's. I'll be working there the next three nights."
"Right," he said, backing down the shoveled walkway to his truck. "Bye."
She stood outside in the freezing cold with the dogs whining by her side, and just before the old Chevy disappeared through the trees, she waved. Even surrounded by the dogs, the place seemed a little lonelier there in the dark.
****
Billy showed up at ten that morning. He came riding up on a four-wheeler while Farrah spread hay out in the cattle pen. An easy-talking teenager with a gap between his teeth and a splash of freckles across his nose, he kept the conversation going and was patient when she had questions. Billy had an efficient way to do every chore, and he took the time to teach her the tricks. The sun rose high in the sky, warming and melting the snow until shoots of late summer grass peeked through the layers of white.
"We'll harvest the rest of the vegetables in the greenhouse and get them stored, and then we don't really have to worry about them anymore other than to preserve them," Billy said.
"And when should we preserve them?"
"Oh, you probably should've already started. It takes some time, and you want to do it before any of the easy spoiling fruit and vegetables start to rot."
"Do you know how to preserve well enough to show me how to do it?"
"Oh no, ma'am. But I could ask my mom if she could come over with me tomorrow if you want. If she isn't too busy, I'm sure she'd love to teach you. She's a maniac about jarring everything."
"Only if she isn't too overrun with her own work. I'd be really thankful for any help. I don't think Aanon is going to have time to do it anytime soon."
"Yeah, he works too much. I never see the guy take a break for anything," he said, holding the flap to the simple greenhouse open for her.
Inside, it was warmer and smelled of vegetation and fertile soil. "How long has he been running this place?" she asked.
"Oh, not long. His pa up and died a few months ago all of the sudden. Gave no warning at all, and Aanon was working his out-of-town jobs and got thrown into trying to keep this place up, too."
Her stomach sank. "That's awful. I had no idea he was mourning his dad. Did you know Mr. Falk?"
"Yes ma'am. Everyone knew him. He was a real salt-of-the-earth kind of man. Real honest. Real good to his neighbors. He helped my dad out of a jam many a time. His passing was felt by the entire community, that's for sure. Aanon has been trying to get someone to rent your place for a long time so his pa could have someone to help him out on the homestead while he was working out of town." Billy tossed her a wicker basket and showed her how to pluck the remaining carrots from the ground and brush them off. "He just passed away before Aanon could find anyone."
Most of the vegetables had already been harvested. All that remained were the ones that hadn't been quite ready when Aanon had come through the first time. The root cellar could be reached from either inside the big house or a locked door on the outside. With three plastic bins full of vegetables, Billy showed her where everything was stored and how it worked. Under ground, the old-fashioned cellar kept a near constant temperature that kept the fruit and vegetables from spoiling.
After a few instructions, tips on potty training puppies, and a quick lesson on the finer points of riding a four-wheeler, Billy waved and zoomed down the road back toward his family's homestead.
With only an hour before her shift at Briney's started, she changed into a pair of jeans and a black sweater and bundled in her warmest layers before gassing up the smallest of Aanon's four-wheelers and zipping off for town. She'd had to tie the dogs so they wouldn't follow her, but they'd forgive her if she fed them some of her meal scraps when she arrived home tonight.
The trip was scenic and peaceful. The spruce and alder trees stretched up into the sky and tufts of snow fell from their branches as it melted in the waning sunlight. The road was easy to follow now with the carved divots the truck wheels had made into the snow.
When she was in New York, she'd forgotten how beautiful this place was. She'd taken the scenery for granted when she lived here as a child because it was all she'd ever known. And in her haste to escape, she'd given up open range and pine forests, snowcapped mountains and stunning wildlife to live in a cramped apartment. She didn't regret it-the experience had made her who she was today and had shaped a new appreciation for this wild land. Why hadn't Aanon left like he'd sworn up and down to do in high school? Maybe he had, and then decided to come back like she had. Or maybe he'd just never had the chance to leave.