Chapter 4

“Get your damn hands off me,” Jacob Henry said testily as he jerked his arm away from Peyton and Dallas. The stubborn old man was determined to walk up the stairs on his own, just to prove he could. By the time he made it to the top, he was short of breath and leaning against the porch railing.

Peyton gave Dallas a look and she ticked her head to the left, telling him to get lost.

“I’m going to go make sure the animals are down for the night. I’ll be in after a bit.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jacob grunted.

“Why don’t we sit out here on the porch,” she said as she walked over and sat in one of the old metal chairs. The evening was surprisingly cool for July. It wasn’t fall weather by any stretch of the imagination, but the seventy degrees was a welcomed change against the 105 degree days they’d been having.

Her father didn’t protest as he made his way and settled himself into a chair beside her, and that’s where they sat until the sun finally vanished behind the ho