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THE MORNING SUNLIGHT cast warm beams of light across the worn wooden floors as Kerry moved through the kitchen preparing tea for herself and Pastor Don. He told her to call him Don, but she wasn’t comfortable with that at all. His sons called him Dad, but everybody else who came by visiting and dropping off casseroles, called him Pastor Don so, she would too. She’d been there over a week and knew exactly what he liked for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They had worked out a schedule for his physical therapy with the goal ultimately being to get him back on his feet.
He wouldn’t work the ranch again, but there was no reason to think he couldn’t still be of service to God. His stroke had been life changing, but the biggest challenge she had found with patients wasn’t the physical incapacity, it was the mental acceptance. This was where Pastor Don did great. He knew his time working the ranch was over and he seemed to have already accepted it. Kerry was marveled at how quickly he transitioned. But, at times he was tough on himself. He wanted to get up and walk, but Kerry’s immediate goal was to get him to sit up and move around and talk with his family comfortably. She could tell there was nothing more important in the world to him than his boys. And if the rest of them were anything like the two who were already here, they were a dedicated lot even if they hadn’t stayed home. Regardless, Kerry knew getting Pastor Don up and talking to them was going to be the fastest cure for his body.
The solid steps of boots coming down the stairs made her turn. She forgot the guys woke up so early. Most other houses where she had worked either there were no other people in the house or else, they got up like normal people around seven o’clock not five thirty. But it felt like around here they were always “burning daylight” and needed to get one million things done before they lost the light at the end of the day. There was something kind of wonderful about it, she thought, working on God’s time and the length of a day rather than the whatever time the clock said.
“How is he this morning?” Robb asked as he entered the kitchen.
“Good morning to you too,” she said. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
She knew he didn’t. He drank coffee. He and Justin both had coffee first thing in the morning black one sugar. Still, she wasn’t going to just have his coffee ready. She wanted to tease his manners out of him no matter what.
“I’ll make myself a coffee,” Robb said without acknowledging she had been poking fun at him.
“Of course, you will,” she murmured under her breath. “When I looked in on him, he was sleeping. I’m preparing his breakfast. I know he wakes early like you guys do.”
She glanced over at him, the dark brooding man. He seemed to have so much on his mind, he couldn’t be fully present in the room. Always trying to think ten steps ahead of everybody. There was clearly something affecting him this morning. In fact, he’d been kind of moody and quiet for the whole week. She could understand why. He had the world on his shoulders and from what she understood, he was only freshly moved back to the ranch himself.
She was trying to decide if she should ask him how he was holding up or simply continue to make small talk when there was a firm knock on the kitchen door. She glanced at Robb, but he was staring at the floor silently. There was a stiff sharpness in his back as he crossed the kitchen to answer the door.
“Who would be calling this early in the morning?” she asked.
“Nobody we wanna see right now,” Robb said.
He pulled the door open and stared silently at the short thin man standing there wearing what must pass for a suit here. It was pretty casual and ill fit, but it was a suit, nonetheless.
“Tom,” Robb said with a brief nod.
“Robb,” Tom responded, which must be the standard greeting in the tri-valley region. “Mind if I step in?”
“Be my guest.” Robb moved aside. He motioned towards Kerry. “This is Kerry, she’s taking care of Dad while he’s rehabilitating.”
“Morning, Kerry.” Tom held out his hand and shook hers firmly. “I can see the pastor is in good hands with you.”
Kerry wasn’t so sure how he determined this information simply by looking at her. It wasn’t like her bathrobe or ponytailed hair were telling him she was a good nurse. “If you don’t mind, I’ll leave you to it,” she said tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and escaping from the room. The last thing she needed to do was be in a private conversation about their family’s business. It was more imperative she got some clothes on if she was going to be around her boss and visitors so early in the morning.
She could still hear their conversation as she made her way up the stairs.
“Robb, you know it’s not what I wanna do, but I’ve got to follow the rules of the trust. That’s our job. The trust requires a married couple to oversee this ranch or it’s required to sell it and it’s applicable immediately.”
“He’s not gone,” Robb said. “He’s still here. We need an interim change so I can manage the business. He’s still here. He’s a widower, so he qualifies.”
“No, it doesn’t. Because you are asking for power of attorney. I know it’s legitimate. I know the pastor wants you to have power of attorney, none of those facts are in question. The only problem is Robb, you’re single. My hands are tied.”
Kerry paused on the landing glancing over the railing. She could see the men talking in the kitchen. She gazed down into the living room. The pastor was awake, watching her on the stairs. He gave her a warm crooked smile as if everything was okay. As if they didn’t hear the ranch would be sold out from under them. For the first time in a hundred and fifty years, the land would pass out of the Foster family care. And she would lose her job.
But he just kept smiling.
Suddenly she felt a warmth rise in her chest and the answer seemed clear. She looked down at the pastor and in a flash of surprise she realized why he was so comfortable and confident. Slowly she found herself walking down the stairs. “He’s not single,” she said quietly as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “You should tell them, Robb.”
She stared at Robb with encouragement not surprised at all by his confusion. If it wasn’t for the pastor’s smile, she would’ve felt a little more confused herself, but for some reason she felt incredibly sure she was making the right decision. She moved into the kitchen and held Robb’s hand. It felt warm and like a working man’s hand. He gripped her hand back looking down at her quizzically. But Kerry’s gaze was on the lawyer.
“Robb and I are engaged to be married,” she said.
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