A Shipment of Hope

He never really meant to do this, he’d run away from this life but in the end it was all he knew, all he’d ever prepared himself for, it wasn’t all his fault, he’d had to run the farm for his mother dashing any chances he’d had except for the military. He’d joined up but never left the continent.

He had to do something, he’d asked Amanda to marry him. Now he owned a sheep farm on the other side of The Glen…well away from Glenridge. Cattlemen and Sheepmen were opposites. He remembered the look on Travis’s McGee’s face, kind of a half smile when he’d told him what he wanted to do. He’d wished him luck which was nice he guessed since he’d quit his job there. Jimmy Kelp had ridden out to see what he’d bought and he too wished him luck.

He’d been to court and finally got the deed straightened out and properly filed. It was his now, no mortgage, he owned it. He pulled his pick up truck around to the barn. The old house was a tear down and he didn’t know if he and Amanda would ever actually live there…if they would build it was all a big if right now. She had a nice little cottage that they shared and her business right next door. See that was the thing that bothered him the most, she’d been supporting them ever since he met her. He contributed what he could but it was all her money. Now he had a chance to change that. He got out of his truck and leaned against it watching the dust stirring up behind her car, she’d followed him.

Amanda pulled up near his truck and joined him. "Are they here yet?"

"Nope, not yet," he smiled down at her, they were there to receive the first shipment of sheep.

Amanda walked over to the old house, it really was about to fall down there were vines growing out of the roof but she thought how nice it would be someday…someday they would have that house in the country. She turned back to him, he looked so serious she had to smile.

"Think if we gave it a good kick it would fall down?"

"Don’t you try it, it might fall on top of you."

She wandered back to his side, "Johnny this is our future here…someday we’ll have a country house here, it will be a good place for our children to grow up."

Johnny was surprised, "Amanda…I never thought you’d want to live out here, be a farmer’s wife…"

"Well you know things have changed…there are farmers wives and farmers wives. I just wanted you to know I understand what you’re trying to do here. I admire you for it." She slipped her arm in his.

"The barn’s in pretty good shape," he slapped the door sending a cloud of dust down on Amanda. "Oh…I’m sorry…oh…"

Amanda laughed, "Johnny…I love you."

"I don’t know why…can’t think of a single reason why…now me on the other hand I got all the reasons in the world to love you…and I do." He took her face in his hands and kissed her.

A horn blowing brought them apart quickly and they ran out of the barn to see a long transport pulling up the drive.

"Are you excited…?" Amanda asked grinning up a him.

"Ah…it’s just sheep Amanda."