Chapter 7 - The Call From West TexasJames spent the afternoon pretending not to wait.
He cleaned tools.
Made coffee.
Forgot to drink it.
Walked past the telephone too many times.
At 5:17, it rang.
Thomas spoke first.
“We got it.”
James sat down.
“How much?”
Thomas told him.
James winced.
“More than I wanted.”
“Less than your ceiling.”
“Edna?”
“She still owns it.”
James closed his eyes.
“And Ruth?”
A pause.
“She did well.”
James heard something in Thomas’s voice.
“What happened?”
Thomas told him about Hale.
The insult.
The slap.
James’s hand tightened around the receiver.
“I should have gone.”
“She stopped me from hitting him.”
“That sounds like her.”
Ruth came to the telephone.
“Hi, Dad.”
“Are you hurt?”
“My cheek hurts.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For sending you.”
“Dad.”
Ruth paused.
“I’m glad you did.”
James said nothing.
“I understand now.”
“What?”
“What the money was for.”
James smiled.
May you like
The farm mattered.
But in that moment, he knew something else had been saved too.
Related Stories
