Page 7 of A Very Grumpy Thanksgiving

“A bit. You’ll need to pick out new furniture and all that, but I need to replace some of the flooring first, so you have some time.”

She nods, taking a tentative step closer as she looks around the small space.

“I should paint too,” she murmurs, and I nod.

“I can do that.”

“Ican do that. You’re already doing so much for me.”

“I don’t mind. It’s part of the deal,” I remind her, and she nods slowly.

She seems almost disappointed at the reminder of our deal and I wonder if that’s a good sign or not.

“I brought lunch,” she says, holding up the brown paper bag in her hand.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to,” she says simply, and I smile as I follow her into the kitchen.

“Do you always come home for lunch?” I ask her as she starts to take the sandwiches out of the bag.

“No, not really. I have Ginger watching the store for me right now though. I wanted to see if you had that list of supplies for me, and I was going to run to the hardware store and wherever else.”

“Yep.”

I pass her the list I made earlier, and her eyebrows raise when she sees how long it is. She seems shocked at the length, and then I see it—worry. I know that she said she couldn’t afford to hire someone, and I wonder briefly about her finances.

“I can call around and use some of my family's contacts to get you some good deals. If we buy it in bulk for all of the projects, then that will be cheaper, too.”

She nods, looking a little relieved, and I feel like a hero for helping to lighten her load.

“Why aren’t you working for your dad and his company?” she asks me as she passes me a sandwich.

“It just wasn’t for me. I wanted to make my own way, so I left when I was eighteen and joined the military. The Air Force. Ironically, I was put into structures.”

She blinks, looking confused, and I rush to clarify.

“Structures is a career field. They do repairs on the buildings and build stuff.”

“So, you left and ended up doing the same thing,” she says, and I nod.

“Yeah, and for less money.”

“Do you regret it?” she asks, and I shake my head.

“No, it got me out of my small town. I got to see the world, make some friends, and spread my wings a bit.”

“And then you got out,” she guesses, and I nod.

“Yeah, I was deployed, and one night, there was an air strike. A bomb ended up landing on my building, and I was hurt prettybadly. I was airlifted to the base in Germany, and then a few weeks later, I was discharged and sent back home.”

“And you came to Wolf Valley?”

“It seemed like a good place to settle down,” I tell her, and she nods.

“What about you? What brought you to this small town?”

“My sisters,” she says with a small smile. “My parents passed away, and it just got to be too hard to stay in our childhood home with all of the memories. Olive wanted a fresh start and it seemed like a good idea, so we all followed her here.”

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