That made Lawson smile.“Your new home.It’ll be a great place to raise that family of yours.”
His buddy’s entire demeanor softened.“It is.I’m a lucky man, Bobby.”
Lawson grinned.“You sure are.”
And he wanted to say the same about himself.But he and Dani hadn’t talked long-term yet.Soon.Even though it had only been a short time, he knew.
They grabbed some gear and took the ATVs down.Now that Lawson had all four working, they didn’t need to feel guilty about taking a pair of them.
He’d discovered four hundred acres was about two-hundred-fifty average city blocks.Big, but not so big that they couldn’t walk across it.Hell, they’d hiked far longer in the army with packs on their backs and terrorists hunting them.
This was better.
Far better.
Especially with the ATVs, to help them move the tools and equipment from one side to the other.
Nash had texted Ford, and he was at the back of the cider cabin when they arrived.
Ford was digging along the strings they’d arranged the other day.“We’re not digging the entire foundation by hand, are we?”
“Suck it up, Bobby.We’re avoiding as much heavy equipment as possible.This area isn’t big, so we can do a lot by hand.Grab a shovel.We want a foot-wide, foot-deep trench around the perimeter.Then we need to set boards along the outer edges.”
Lawson grabbed a shovel.
He gave them an hour before he got itchy and started looking toward Dani’s place.She still hadn’t called him.
He pulled out his phone and sent a text.How did it go?
When she hadn’t answered, a few minutes later, the itchiness between his shoulder blades increased.It wasn’t as if Dani always had her phone with her, but she’d known he was expecting her call.
He dropped the shovel.“I’m going to check on her.”
“Want backup?”
He hesitated.“Not yet.But if you don’t hear from me in thirty, come in prepared.”
His buddies nodded, and Lawson jogged into the orchard.He should never have left her alone.
Dani missed Lawson, but she wanted him to work on his own projects for the morning.Her worries had taken up so much of his time.Being alone for a bit would give her time to settle her thoughts.Before she made the call, Dani made sure she was good with what she wanted to say to her mother.
Dani was fine on her own.Always had been.
After yesterday’s experience with James McPhee, they knew the courier wasn’t out to hurt her.She wasn’t in any danger from him.
She wasn’t in danger from her family either.Realizing they weren’t villains had been a dramatic mind shift.They might disagree, but they weren’t a danger to Dani.To her peace of mind, maybe, but not physical danger.
Maybe it was time to mend some fences after they’d settled this matter.Because her brother and sister were older, she’d never been close to either.That didn’t mean Dani couldn’t send a text asking how they were.They weren’t the only ones who hadn’t reached out.
Maybe she’d compose an email telling them about her life here in Vermont and how happy she was.She could ask how they were doing and if they were happy.
She grinned at Bibi as they entered Beatrice’s clearing.“Being a responsible adult in my relationship with my family won’t be that bad.”
It was sad how much time she’d wasted worrying about her family and their opinions of her.Now, she would explain why she loved what she did, take some pictures of her apiaries and metalworks to share, and ask about their lives and jobs.
There didn’t need to be so much hurt.There didn’t need to be two opposing sides.This wasn’t a movie, just life.
Her interactions with Lawson and his family had made her feel much more secure and confident in her choices and her life.She wasn’t wrong in wanting different things.
