By August, Jeff had saved nine thousand, four hundred dollars since March.
One night after supper, after the kids were in bed, he came downstairs with a manila folder. He spread his loan papers out on the kitchen table. And he asked Dale and me to look them over.
A conventional loan from the bank in Sheldon. A little over five percent down. And a monthly payment smaller than the rent he and Amber used to pay in town.
“Is it enough?” he asked me. “Be honest, Tam.”
“It’s enough,” Dale said, before I could even open my mouth. “I’ll go look at the furnace for you.”
“I already did,” Jeff said. “It’s newer than yours.”
Dale looked personally offended.
Hannah was getting a glass of water. She laughed so hard she had to leave the room.
Jeff closed on the Vander Woude place the second week of October.
Nobody gave him anything. Nobody signed anything over to him. Nobody sold him anything for a dollar.
He bought it himself. With his own down payment. From his own fourteen-hour days on the sprayer.
We moved them on a Saturday. Same pickup. Same queen mattress tied in the bed. Same black garbage bags.
Only this time, it was going down the road instead of up.
Cole rode the whole mile and a half in the cab with Pickles in his lap. Both hands wrapped around the bowl. He didn’t take his eyes off that fish the entire time.
And Pickles survived that too.
Kenzie cried when she left her little room under the eaves. She stood in the doorway with her backpack on and looked at the pink curtain.
“Can I take the curtain?” she asked me.
“It’s yours, honey,” I said. “It was always yours.”
Then she did my braid one last time, right there in the upstairs hallway. And she hugged me around the waist.
“I’ll come do it on Saturdays,” she said.
She does. Every Saturday morning. She rides her bike the mile and a half.
Ethan Blake is a skilled Creative Content Specialist with a talent for crafting engaging and thought-provoking narratives. With a strong background in storytelling and digital content creation, Ethan brings a unique perspective to his role at TheArchivists, where he curates and produces captivating content for a global audience.
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