His heart filled as they walked back to Lara’s room. Lara had already made room amongst her stuffed toys and patted the bed each side of her. “We should all fit.”
He chuckled. Two adults and a child on a single bed would be a squeeze. “How about you sit on my lap?” he suggested.
“All right.”
He and Faith took turns reading a chapter each of the fantasy story about a princess assassin. When they finished, Lara said, “Can we have one more chapter please?”
“No, pumpkin. You’ve got school tomorrow.”
He shifted her off his lap and brushed a kiss on her forehead. “Sweet dreams.”
Faith kissed her as well. “Thank you for sharing story time with me.”
“You’re welcome.”
Darcy switched off the light and followed Faith back to the kitchen. Would this be what life could be like if he convinced Faith to stay?
“What’s the plan for Stonefish?” Brandon asked.
The joy of story time vanished as reality intruded.
“It’s time to send the email we drafted,” Faith said. “Today’s incident made it clear they aren’t interested in giving back any money.”
Brandon nodded. “I agree. I can add I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.”
“Would they buy it?” Darcy asked. “You’re ex-army. Wouldn’t they expect you to go on the offensive now they tried to run Faith over?”
“Not if they think I got out because I burned out.” Brandon brought up the email on the laptop and showed them. “Do we change anything?”
Darcy read it and then looked at Faith. “What do you think?”
“It’s stronger if we stick with one message. Brandon’s had enough of farming, and he wants to get out. If they agree to meet with you, you can say you want to give Darcy options to change his life, or something like that.” She squeezed Darcy’s hand.
He hated even the thought of pretending to sell the land, but if it identified someone to investigate, it was worth it.
“Ready for me to sell?” Brandon waited for them each to nod before he pressed the button.
It was done.
Now they had to wait for the response.
***
On Thursday and Friday Faith helped Amy with the campgrounds. The plumber was due next week to do the piping for the new showers, and so they sorted the scrap metal to make sure they had the supplies for the frame. It was such a great idea, and Faith couldn’t wait to see it finished. Then they pored over options for offering horse-riding and priced up costs to add powered sites. The isolation was a problem. Equipment was more expensive, would take longer to arrive, and then installing the utilities was a task. So they kept exploring options.
Faith also sent her boss a resignation letter and spent time on the costings to refurbish her office. The builder in town could do the work, but the supplies were more expensive than she’d expected.
When Lara arrived home from school on Friday, Faith helped her and Amy work on their riding technique in the yard. The activity caused interest amongst the guests and they came over to watch. Jay joined in, using Matt’s horse, Wesley. He’d had horses on his wheatbelt farm and was keen to do more riding. While they were brushing their mounts, Faith remembered a question she’d been meaning to ask Lara. “Do you know anyone who is good at lassoing?”
“Dad is. He showed the twins last weekend. Lassoed one of my sheep. Why?”
“A couple of the kids at pony club want to learn and I need to find an instructor.”
Lara grinned. “Dad would be great. He’s been trying to teach me, but I’m not very good. Sometimes he goes on his knees with his hands up so I have a stationary target.” She demonstrated.
An appealing visual, but not one she should think of with Lara around.
“Can we go on our treasure hunt tomorrow?” Lara said.
