“You’re telling me.”
“Looks like that’s it.” Marcus pointed to the address on a rural mailbox. “Ready for this?”
Riva nodded, but her nerves spiked. “Do we need an escape plan? I mean, what if he’s been drinking or he gets out of hand like Kitty warned me could happen.”
“Then we’ll just quietly leave.”
“Kitty told me to take pictures. She expects the place to be quite a dive.”
“Doesn’t look half bad to me.” He pointed toward a freshly painted barn. “Someone’s been busy.”
Riva took in the red structure, the fenced pasture with several cows contentedly grazing, the white farmhouse that looked pretty worn around the edges, and the beat-up black pickup parked out front. “That’s the truck Danny had this morning, so it looks like he’s here.”
“And he doesn’t know you’re coming?” Marcus parked behind the pickup.
“I wanted to catch him off guard, you know, see his true colors.Just in case Kitty was right.” She removed her phone from her purse and opened her camera.
“And if he’s a mess, will you still take photos?”
“No way.” She shook her head. “If he’s a mess, we’ll just vamoose.”
“Good plan.”
As it turned out, Danny was a mess. A smelly mess. But only because he’d been cleaning out barn stalls that had clearly been neglected for years. “I just finished,” he said as he welcomed them in. “After I painted the barn, it seemed a shame to leave this smelly old mess in here. My parents used to keep horses back when I was a kid. It got to be too much for them eventually, but I got to thinking I might want a horse or two ... in time.”
“This is a handsome barn.” Marcus patted a solid-looking post.
“It’s old but holding up pretty good.”
“Mind if I take some photos?” Riva held up her phone. “I told Kitty I would.”
“She wants pictures?” He brightened. “Sure, go for it.” He picked up a pitchfork and struck a pose. “Wanna get Farmer Dan too?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind, but Kitty might not like it. I’m pretty filthy right now.”
After Riva took several photos, Danny led them over to the house. “It’s not much to look at, but feel free to take some pics while I clean up a little.”
“I love this big front porch.” Riva paused to photograph a pair of old chairs and a pot of geraniums before they went inside.
“Help yourself to a cool drink,” Danny called as he bounded up the stairs. “Make yourselves at home.”
“So, far so good,” Marcus whispered, following Riva to the kitchen, where she went straight to the fridge, which was mostly loaded with sodas and bottled water.
“Not a single drop of alcohol here.” She helped herself to a bottle of water, then turned to see Marcus exploring the kitchen by opening cupboards. “Want a soda or water?”
He came over to look, then chose a root beer. “I get the impression Danny’s on the up and up.”
“Me too.” She closed the fridge, then took some photos of the kitchen and then of the sparsely furnished living room. “This place could use some paint and elbow grease, but it has good potential.” She filled Marcus in on some of the ways Danny said he wanted to help Kitty. “He wants to take responsibility for how some of his bad choices affected her.”
Marcus took a swig of root beer. “I’ve heard that’s part of AA. Owning up to old things. Cleaning the slate. But to want to take Kitty in ... well, that’s a lot to ask of anyone.”
“Unless he still loves her,” she whispered.
Marcus nodded as he gazed out the front window. Maybe he was remembering how he took Anne back after she’d broken his heart. He turned to face Riva. “Well, I’ve heard through a friend that Danny’s been working at the tire store in town, but he hopes to get this farm going well enough to be self-sustaining.”
“Seems like a nice goal.” Riva sat down on the sagging sofa, taking a sip of water.
