“Yes, and Freddy finished his whole bottle. Can I do anything else for you before I leave?”
“No, I’m good. Where are you off to now?”
“Silas wants me to meet him at the storage building. We’re going to organize the new stuff we brought yesterday.”
“I missed going this year,” she said regretfully. “But I did enjoy the apple and cider Silas brought us last night.”
“You’re lucky Silas caught Greer trying to slip another one out of the bag.”
“Greer was just messing with Silas. He knows Silas would drive back to replace it. He won’t bring us anything unless there’s enough to go around.”
“Silas is a good person.”
“The best,” Ginny agreed.
Alanna paused before moving toward the door. “Can I ask you …? Never mind. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Ginny looked at her curiously. “What were you going to ask?”
“I shouldn’t.”
“Go ahead … My sister has been too busy to come over for a chat lately. I need some girl talk.”
Alanna frowned. “I thought your sister was dead?”
“One is. I’m adopted.”
Alanna had to sit down when Ginny started explaining how she had ended up being adopted by Freddy Coleman.
“I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.” Alanna sat in stunned amazement that she hadn’t recognized the singer she used to listen to regularly.
“I wasn’t that popular, and I haven’t played in public in quite a while.”
“Just make sure you tell me when you do. I would love to hear you sing in person.”
“I will.” Ginny smiled. “So, what question were you going to ask me?”
“After I went to your other home to do what they needed done, I realized Matthew hadn’t shown me his place. When I went to his shop, he said he didn’t need anything done. Is there a reason he doesn’t want me to do anything?”
Ginny stared down at her feet. “I don’t believe so. He’s probably just being a slob, and he’s waiting until he has time to get it clean before letting you inside.”
“Oh … You think he’s embarrassed?”
“Definitely.” Bending down, Ginny lifted Freddy into her arms.
Alanna could have sworn she heard a smothered giggle coming from Ginny, but when she looked up, she wasn’t laughing.
Leaving, she was relieved Matthew wasn’t against using her to do chores around his house, like Moses was. She could understand Moses not wanting her around his place because of the dogs he was training. She had seen him occasionally around the property, trailing after the dogs, expecting them to follow him, yet he was the one following from behind. When he had introduced her to the dogs, he had her stand still and told each of the six dogs to sniff her. After that, he had left with them.
All of Silas’ brothers had been friendly to her, with Matthew being the friendliest, and Moses and Isaac being the most closed off. Fynn and Ezra, she had been around the least. Matthew had told her during their walk yesterday that Fynn and Ezra were close and spent a lot of time together. Judging from cleaning Jody and Jacob’s trailer, those men were fixated on their video games and food, reminding her that she needed to pick up several items they wanted restocked.
Silas’ truck was just pulling up the road leading to the outbuilding as she came down the rise from Ginny’s home. She came to a stop then started running when she saw there was a trailer attached to his truck and she could see what was inside.
She ran up to Silas’ truck as both he and Matthew were getting out.
“You bought the cow!”
Matthew leaned across the hood, grinning.