“I’m not sure about that.” He gestured toward the house. “I like this place. Just before I left, my wife and I were looking at houses to buy. I liked the old ones but she wanted modern. We...” He let out his breath. “You ready to go?”

She didn’t move. “You should buy this house.”

“I told you, I’m broke.”

“I bet I could work out a deal. Heritage Harvests will buy the property. I think it’s about three acres. We’d put in an acre and a half of fruit trees, then lease the house and the remaining land to you. Nothing down, but you pay the land tax. The deal would be that you restore the house to what it used to be. Nothing modern. No demolition.”

“How long a lease and who pays for restoration?”

“Ten-year lease, you pay for supplies and labor. If you don’t buy the house in that time, it reverts to Heritage Harvests, and they’ll reimburse you for whatever you’ve spent for the remodel.”

“The appraisal price now and in this condition would be less than it would be if I restore it.”

“Get the appraisal now and I’ll see that you have four years to buy it at that price. Year five and it’s reappraised.”

He smiled. “You are a fixer as well as an organizer, aren’t you?”

“I like being needed. Heaven knows my dad and uncles need me.”

“What about your mother?”

Cait was silent.

“You don’t have to tell me.”

But he had confided in her. “You know those fairy tales where a kid grows up and finds out she or he isn’t actually related to their family?”

“Sure.”

“That’s my mother and me.” Cait hesitated. “I was a mess after Jared and I broke up. I went to Mom in Florida. I didn’t know her very well, but I’d always been curious.”

“Let me guess. You didn’t fit in.”

“Not at all. She got married not long after I was born and she had two boys, my half brothers. She and Dad never married.” Cait paused. “They were a family.”

“And you were an outsider.”

“Yes. I’m Kansas through and through and they are a whole different culture. Different language, different everything.”

“How long did you last with them?”

“A month at their house. Then I got a job at a big nursery and rented a tiny apartment and...” She shrugged. “It was good for me to be alone. I needed it.”

“But you came home.”

“Dad...” She took a breath. “He needed me. And the uncles tend to let unpleasant things go. They believe they’ll fix themselves.”

“Meaning that Cait will show up and fix it all. And besides, by then you were sick of being alone.”