Henry hesitated. He hadn’t really ever considered anyplace except where he and Annie and Josh used to live as home, but then he hadn’t really given the matter much thought lately, either. Now that Jessie asked the question of him, however, he began to realize she was actually right. This place did feel like home to him, and looking back over the past few months, he could even say it had felt that way for some time.

Looking into the deep blue eyes of the lovely woman sitting across from him, he smiled. “Yes,” he said clearly, “it is.”

“Then when will you leave?”

“I don’t know yet,” Henry sighed. “I guess I’ll call Sam and see when he needs me. You and I can figure it out then.”

“That’ll be fine,” she said softly.

They finished their dinner, with Henry explaining how he came to owe Sam Mitchell six months worth of work, how he’d gone there with hat in hand looking for a job, and how Sam wouldn’t hire him, but how he also had enough faith in him to give him a six-month cash advance. He told her of the waitress who gave him Jessie’s address, and how he ended up losing most of the money Sam gave him after a night of drinking. He then told her how he used the rest of the money he had left over to buy gas to get to her ranch.

After hearing the story, it was easy for Jessie to see why Henry was torn about his decision. While it was clear he wanted to stay with her, the bottom line was, without Sam’s help it would have been next to impossible for the two of them to have had met in the first place. Without getting that six months advance, Henry wouldn’t have had the money to buy breakfast at the diner in Elko. Had he not eaten at the diner, he wouldn’t have met the waitress who gave him Jessie’s information, and without that he would have never gotten to the ranch. She could now see how without Sam, she may have never had Henry in her life at all, and as much as she wanted Henry to stay, she also understood that, she, too, owed Sam Mitchell a debt of thanks.

As had become their nightly ritual, Jessie washed the dishes after dinner, and Henry dried. On their way out to the porch swing to have their coffee, the phone rang. It was Mrs. Rodriguez calling to let Jessie know she was going to the market that evening and asking her if she needed anything while she was there. While Jessie talked with Mrs. R., Henry stepped outside into the cool, early evening air and took a sip from the mug he held in his hand. Looking out over the ranch, he listened to Jessie’s musical laughter as she found amusement in something Mrs. R. had said. He took a deep breath, and then exhaled it all out. Yes, this place did indeed feel like home.