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I turn away from Sadie and walk down the half-rotted wooden planks. My dad is holding a piece of paper. He pushes open the screen, and I walk in, seeing a stack of papers in front of her mom at their dining room table.
“What’s going on?” I frown.
My dad hands me a piece of paper with Notice of Default written in big black lettering across the top. I blow out a breath and look at my dad. He shows no emotion, and I’m sure that’s for Mrs. Wilkins’s benefit.
“Sadie?” I call.
I’m not sure this is the best idea right now, but I’m not going to keep this from her. Even if she knows the farm is in financial straits, this is another level entirely. If her mom thought it was important enough to tell my dad, then Sadie needs to know.
Her footsteps along the porch vibrate the floorboards, and I worry one day that this house might crumble to the ground.
“What’s going on?” She looks at my hands, the paper, then her eyes close. I fucking hate making her upset. Her eyes open and zero in on her mom. “Really?”
“He thought he’d have time. That the harvest would save us.” Rhea Wilkins is a loving mother, but after she was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that seems to have snowballed into one issue after another over the last decade, she hasn’t been able to do much on the farm. Which is why Sadie stayed back at eighteen.
“You kept it from me?” Sadie tears the sheet of paper from my hands. “Notice of Default?” Her eyes scan the paper, and her mouth hangs open. “Mom, this letter is from over a month ago!”
“Your dad was talking to the bank, but…” Her chin falls to her chest, and I want to step in front of Sadie to shield her from the shitty news that’s about to come out of her mom.
Instead of telling Sadie whatever she was going to, her shoulders shake, and a quiet sob flows out of her.
Sadie crosses the room and squats next to her mom, putting her arm around her. “Don’t cry. What is it?”
My dad side-eyes me, and I prepare myself for worse news. He bends down, picking up the newspaper from this morning that’s folded over twice. He hands it over to me, pointing at the Notice of Sale. My heart sinks, and my dad nods.
“Sadie,” I say, voice hoarse.
She looks at me, and her gaze goes to the paper in my hands. Maybe I shouldn’t be so forthcoming, allow Sadie to grieve before she finds out that she might lose everything today, but I promised her a long time ago I’d never hide anything from her. I already hide one thing from her every time we’re together, but that’s for both our sakes.
“It’s a Notice of Sale,” I say, lifting the newspaper.
“You might have six weeks to get current on payments,” my dad adds.
She stands and looks at the papers stacked in front of her mom. “Why would you guys keep all this from me?”
Her mom wipes her eyes, and my dad grabs a tissue box from the living room, placing it in front of Rhea. “You know your dad.”
Sadie takes the papers and sits down. “All of these are letters from the mortgage company, loans for equipment.” Her fingers breeze through them. “I can’t believe you kept this from me.”
Dad touches my arm and nods toward the door, but my feet don’t move. I can’t leave her here to deal with this on her own.
After clearing his throat, my dad says, “We’ll just step outside,” giving me a look.
I don’t want to go. Sadie’s face grows redder and redder, and I know she’s going to lose it soon. I need to be here for her. But I know my dad, and I have to think of how this is going to work. This entails more than my dad coming to help on the farm this harvest season.
“I’ll just be on the porch, Sadie,” I say.
But she’s not paying me any mind, asking her mom questions that Rhea can’t answer except for “you know your father.”
Once the screen door shuts, my dad walks to the end of the porch where Sadie stood moments ago, looking out at their land. He shoves his hands in his pockets. I follow and stand next to him.
He huffs. “It’s not looking good. I mean, even if we were to try to buy it for Rhea and Sadie, I’m not sure…”
My dad isn’t a man who gives up easily. The only time I’ve ever seen or heard pessimistic words or actions out of him was after Mom died.
“I’ll work extra here, after I’m done at the ranch.”
He side-eyes me. “I know you want to do it for Sadie, but at this point”—he glances over his shoulder—“they might be better off to just let it go.”
