“Aw, he’s as stubborn as you. But he stops in once in a while.”

I bobbed my head. I had sent Ansen a message with a selfie of me and Delaney.We have a lot to catch up on. I want you to meet your sister-in-law.

He’d responded withYup. Congrats.

Not overwhelming brotherly love, but that was Ansen. The line of communication was still open. That was enough for now.

“Y’all want to see the place?”

I had to ask. I wasn’t abandoning Dad again if I was in a place to help him or, at the very least, support him. “Good owners?”

Dad’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “When I don’t have to worry ’bout bein’ put to the streets with kids, I don’t have to tolerate as much.”

“You have a good boss?”

“They’re okay. They try to do right by the land, the animals, and the people on it.” He rose and went to the rectangular picture window. “But I own this house and the ten acres it sits on. I stand here and think how different it would’ve been had I been able to raise you boys here.”

I squeezed Delaney’s hand. “It got us to where we were supposed to be eventually, Dad.”