Texas Strong Read Free Page B

naps when you can, right?”
    “Right.” Chagrin clouded Jake’s features as he pulled out his phone. “Give me your number before you go, though.”
    Bridger complied, thanked him again and left, hoping he’d sown enough seeds to reap a good harvest down the road.

    Chrissy walked once more through the furnished home that was too much a dream come true.
    “Mom, can this be my room?” asked her six-year-old son Thad, staring in wonder. “It’s so big!”
    The bedroom wasn’t large at all, but Thad had never had a room of his own. Most often, she’d only been able to afford a one-bedroom apartment where she’d slept on the sofa to allow the kids to have the bedroom.
    “I think that would be fine. Have you picked out your room, Becky?” There were two rooms left besides the master, one a sewing room for his long-dead wife, Arnie had told her. The sewing machine was still there, and Chrissy itched to use it. She could make new clothes for all of them—but she wouldn’t dare ask.
    “I like this one,” eight-year-old Becky said softly. “If you don’t want it.” The room had white Priscilla curtains with sunny yellow daisies along the hem. The double bed with its matching bedspread would allow Becky to have a friend spend the night.
    Oh, please let them make friends here. Please let this town become our home .
    That was really too much to expect, she knew, but everyone had been so kind in Sweetgrass. Her eyes filled as her daughter’s obvious longing tugged at her heart. “I think it’s perfect for you, sweetheart.” She brushed one hand over Becky’s dark curls.
    “We really get to live in a whole house, Mommy?” Becky asked, brown eyes wide.
    Darren Daniels, if you hadn’t given me the two best things in my life, I would hate you for all you’ve cost us .
    But she did have these two beautiful children, though she grieved for the father who ignored them, who’d never paid one cent of child support. Who did worse when he drank.
    Good riddance. She didn’t need his anger or his money or his terrible taste in friends, much less his insistence on looking for the easy way out. If she could eject him from their lives forever, she would gladly work as many jobs as required to ensure their welfare. As it was, she simply prayed to be ignored as much as possible.
    “We do, sweetie. Mr. Howard has asked us to take care of it for him, now that he’s moved to Ruby’s home.”
    “I like Ruby.” Thad smiled with his two front teeth missing. “She says I’ll grow big on her cooking. She makes really good meat loaf.”
    Her own meals were included when she was working, but she couldn’t afford for them to eat out often otherwise. She didn’t have Ruby’s gift with food or her sister Laura’s, for that matter, but she was careful on her limited budget to provide food that was both nourishing and inexpensive.
    Laura had been trying to pass on her innate sense for delicious meals since Laura was a teenager and Chrissy in elementary school. They’d shared a mother but had different dads. Their mom and Laura’s dad had divorced, then their mom had met Chrissy’s dad. Chrissy had been born when Laura was twelve. From the earliest days, Laura had been as much mother as sister to her after their mom died and her dad had remarried and moved away. Laura’s role continued to this day.
    “We can treat ourselves to a meal at the cafe now and again. I don’t blame you for wanting to—Ruby’s an even better cook than Laura.”
    “Nobody’s a better cook than Aunt Laura!” they chimed.
    Chrissy lifted her hands. “I stand corrected. So…you like the house?”
    “It’s the best!” cried Thad.
    “I like it,” Becky said shyly. “I’m glad we get to switch schools now and move to Sweetgrass Springs.”
    Chrissy had debated long and painfully over the best thing to do: allow them to finish the semester at their old school in Austin or give them a chance to meet other kids in Sweetgrass before the summer