Surprised, Brooke put down the rag and studied the girl. “This isn’t a little favor, is it?”
“I wish I didn’t have to ask. But did you ever feel with someone . . .” Her voice trailed off, and her blue eyes looked wistful. “ . . . that maybe you were the only one who could help him? Me, I mean, not you. But you, too!” she added quickly.
Brooke chuckled. “I know what you mean. I guess I’d be willing to take a chance on him if you think we can help him.”
Steph let her breath out in a rush. “Oh, thank you! I know we can help him. We just need time.”
“What about his family? I know his brother just got out of jail.”
She nodded. “I haven’t seen his brother at all. I think my dad would be mad if I went near him. But . . . aren’t we supposed to give people a second chance?” she asked plaintively. “His dad is gone, I guess, so it’s just his mom working two jobs every day. His brother is trying to find a job, but since he’s been in jail . . .” She trailed off.
“Fire is a terrible thing to ranchers and farmers,” Brooke said. “People won’t forget that for a long time.”
“I know. But that was Cody, not Tyler. So can I give your name and number to his probation officer?”
“Sure. We’ll give him so much to do he won’t be able to do anything but sleep when he gets home.”
Steph gave her a big hug, and Brooke gladly returned it.
“Thanks, Brooke. You’re awesome.”
It felt pretty good to be awesome, she thought, walking across the yard after Steph had gone. Then she straightened her spine and headed for the office. At the end of each day, her dad and brothers often gathered to talk over what needed to be done the next day.
They were all drinking coffee and eating cookies when she arrived.
Her dad put a finger to his lips. “Shh, we’re spoiling our appetites on Gloria’s cookies. Have some.”
She pulled up a rolling office chair and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie. “Got some news. You know the Brissette kid who Joe Sweet caught joyriding on his land?”
Their nods were sober.
“He got community service for his first offense. Steph Sweet asked if he could serve it working for us after school, and I said yes. Is that okay with everyone?”
Her dad rubbed his chin. “Well, as long as you don’t mind acceptin’ the challenge of ropin’ a teenager into line.”
“I don’t mind at all,” Brooke said. “Figured I’d deal with him and not bother any of you.”
“That’s a nice thing you’re doing, Brooke,” Josh said, throwing his napkin in the garbage.
“Maybe naïve, too,” Nate cautioned.
Brooke at last allowed herself a small smile. “I know. But if you’d seen the pleading look on Steph’s face . . . how could I say no?”
At dinner, when she told her mom about Tyler’s community service, Sandy smiled proudly. “Told you you’d make a good teacher.”
Brooke blushed with pleasure even though she knew that her mom wasn’t exactly objective. She was standing for minutes each day braced on a walker now, slowly regaining the strength in her legs. It took everything in Brooke not to stand beside her mom in case she weakened, but Sandy didn’t want that.
As she set the table, Brooke said, “Mom, I’ll be his boss, not his teacher.”
“Bosses are teachers. I’ve seen you working with Adam.”
Brooke paused at the silverware drawer, keeping her face neutral. “You have?”
“Well, I’ve mostly looked out the window, but your brother Josh has told me a thing or two. You’re good at explaining yourself, and you have patience.”
“Says my mom,” Brooke said, surprised to feel embarrassed about the praise. “But thanks. Adam is a willing worker. Tyler’s being forced. It probably won’t be the same thing.”
“No, but as I said, you have patience. You’ll make it work.”
The one person Brooke forgot to tell? Adam. When she went to his cabin after everyone had gone to bed, he swept her into his arms, kissing her greedily, pulling off her clothes, and then she was pulling off his. Everything else completely left her mind.
Two days later, the sky was blustery and overcast, with gusts of wind and occasional snow flurries, making every job on a ranch harder. Adam didn’t much care. He was floating on a feeling of satisfaction, and not just from his erotic evening with Brooke. Though he’d been tired after work, renovating Scott Huang’s future home had felt good. A house wasn’t some kind of platitude, “Thanks for your service to your country, now pretend everything’s the same.” A house was a way without words to say “Thank you,” and Adam was surprised to feel deeply grateful for the chance to say that to people who’d given up far more than he had. Every piece of trim he cut, every nail he hammered, he knew would be appreciated by Scott and his family.