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“Does that mean you’re taking the job at the trucking company, too?”

“I haven’t officially accepted it,” she said. “I’ve been too busy trying to find a place to live. But I’m going to call Jack after I hang up with you. I’ll need the extra income now that I’ll be paying rent.”

Kelsey waved at him as she got out of her car and carried in a bag of groceries. He nodded to her as he said, “So you won’t be living with your father or working for him. Will he ever forgive you?”

“That remains to be seen.”

“How’s he going to feel when I show up to help you move?”

“I don’t think he’ll be friendly,” she said. “If you’re worried about that—”

“I’m not,” Kanon interrupted. He’d never cared for rigid people who couldn’t see the nuance in life and thought they had it all figured out simply by clinging to a rule book and judging others for seeing or doing things differently. “What time do you want me there?”

Chapter Sixteen

Her father wasn’t home when Patience started to pack. She hadn’t yet told him she’d found a place, knew he’d be shocked that she would actually move out, especially before he could even get home from work. She’d been so pliable since her divorce that he probably assumed she’d calm down and everything would return to status quo like it always did.

But she was no longer interested in status quo. The more she thought about making her own way moving forward, the stronger and better she felt. She’d been speaking the truth when she’d told Kanon that it was time.

But if she got lucky and her father remained busy with whatever he was doing until after she got all her and Ari’s stuff out of the house, it’d be easier than trying to carry boxes to the car under his watchful eye. That would only make him angrier, and she didn’t want an emotional scene, especially in front of her daughter, who was already saying things like, “Won’t Grandpa be mad?… Are you sure this is okay?… How come you didn’t tell me we were moving?”

Patience was reluctant to admit that this had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, saw no need to make her daughter insecure in any way, so she was playing it off as if the opportunity had unexpectedly presented itself, and she’d snapped it up.

The doorbell rang as she was closing the flap on a box she’d just filled with summer apparel.

“Who do you think that is?” Ari looked up from where she was sitting on the floor not far away, using packing tape to build another box.

Patience checked her phone and saw a text that read, Here. “It’s Kanon Kincaid, the guy you met with Glenda at the drive-in. He’s coming over to help us move.”

Ari looked up. “The dude she was so interested in?”

Patience shoved the box she’d closed aside and started to maneuver around the rest of the mess so she could go down and answer the door. “That’s the one.”

“Now you’re crushing on him, too?”

Patience turned back in the doorway. “We’re friends,” she pointed out. “There’s a difference.” She didn’t know whether Ari believed her or not. She didn’t take the time to check her daughter’s expression. She preferred to assume her words would be taken at face value and go from there.

Thanks to the porchlight she’d turned on earlier, she could see Kanon’s silhouette through the glass in the ornate front door as she came down the stairs. She was going to miss this house, she realized. As poor as they’d always been, she’d felt like a queen living in such a grand mansion. She loved the architecture, the high ceilings, the solid wood doors, the wainscoting and the wide cornices. Maybe she was a bit like “Miniver Cheevy.” It’d been Mr. Devlin who’d had her read that poem in English class, about a man romanticizing the past.

Taking hold of the brass handle, she swung the door wide. Kanon was waiting on the deep, wooden porch several feet away from the giant doormat she’d bought her father last Christmas that said “Live by faith, grow in grace, walk in love.”

“Hi.”

He was wearing a baseball cap and a sweatshirt with worn jeans that fit him so well she almost couldn’t blame Glenda for her immediate interest. He’d never been ugly, but as an adult he was easily the most attractive man she’d ever met. “Hey.”

“No coat?” she said. “Aren’t you cold in this weather?”

“There’s a coat in the truck if I need it.”

“Oh. Right. Come on in.”

As he stepped inside, she saw his gaze sweep the room. The furniture was as nice as the house since the mine owner had also donated it to the church when he left. “Nice place,” he said. “I always wondered what it was like on the inside.”

“It could use some renovations—mostly bigger bathrooms. You know how small they used to build them back in the day. But I love this house.” She gestured toward the kitchen. “Can I get you a soda or something to drink?”

“Not right now. I say we work first, grab a beer later.”

“Okay.” She beckoned for him to follow her up the stairs, which made a right-hand turn midway as they ascended. “Ari and I are almost finished packing.”