“What about the farm?”
“I talked to Ken Reed, and he’s going to buy it. He’s always shown an interest in the land. He’s giving me a fair price, and it’ll be enough for me to live on for years to come. It’s all I can ask for.” Her grandma didn’t meet her eyes.
“Grandpa won’t want to sell.” Which was why he was still farming at his age. He wanted to be there.
“Your grandpa isn’t going to be able to farm again,” Rose hissed.
“And me?” she asked quietly, her future in her grandmother’s hands.
“You’re no farmer, Hazel. You’ve played at it for years now. Go and find something you are good at.”
The old woman’s word stung.
Hazel had put her life into that farm—everything she had put into being a farmer. They thought she was playing at it, not taking it seriously. They had seen the real her the entire time. They had seen that her heart wasn’t in it.
“I have nothing,” she whispered, but her grandmother didn’t hear her. She hadn’t even been paid for the job she had done, just room and board for her and her son. She had nothing—less than nothing.
“You’ll have a month to get the house cleaned out. I’ll come and take some of my clothes, and the rest is yours. Sell it or whatever,” Rose May said.
Hazel leaned back in her chair and wondered what she was supposed to do next. She had no job, no home, and no skills. Getting up, she went to her son and picked up his toys and started to leave with him, but turned and asked, “Do you wish I had been in that accident too?”
Her grandmother looked up at her with cold eyes. “Don’t make me talk about it.”
Hazel left at the words. Hurrying out of the hospital, she got herself and her son situated in her yellow beetle and drove around town, wondering what to do next, where to go from there. Maybe Grand Forks? But she had no money for a down payment on an apartment, no job, and no one to watch her son.
Knowing it was book club night and that she should be coming back to town in a few hours, she headed home. Concentrating on feeding her son, she tried not to think about how she was going to feed him in a month.
As he played, Hazel started to go through things in her bedroom, throwing out what she didn’t need. Since she had so little space, she usually threw things out as she stopped using them, but with her new future, she dug deeper and got rid of more stuff.
Her phone rang. She saw it was Ruston, and her heart sank. She needed to end it with him before someone found out about them. There was no future for them. Staying with her had been a danger to his career, so she let it ring, staring at the quiet phone after it stopped.
It immediately rang again, and again it was him. Sitting on her bed amongst her stuff, she answered. “Ruston, I’m glad you called. We need to talk.” She tried to sound cheery, but she had to end it now.
“I stopped in to see your grandpa today. I heard you were there.”
How soon after she left had he arrived? What did her grandmother tell him?
“I stopped by,” was all she said, but he already knew.
“Good, you needed to see him in case he doesn’t make it out of it.”
“I’m at peace with him.”
“Are you going to book club tonight?”
“No, I have to text Mia about that. I can’t do book club right now.” She couldn’t do much anymore.
“You should go. It’ll take your mind off everything. Even for a little while.”
“I have no one to watch John Henry.”
“I will.”
Shaking her head, even if he couldn’t see her, she said, “Ruston, no. He’s my responsibility. Sometimes I don’t get to do things because of him, but I’m okay with that.”
“And I said I’m willing to watch him. Sometimes you have to accept help.” His voice had an edge to it she wasn’t used to.
“Ruston—”