Dakota Born

Lindsay laughed at his comment. “Is one of your children going to be in my class, too?”

He shook his head. “I’m not married.”

Lindsay saw the way he looked at Sarah and guessed the two of them were probably an item. Romance, however, was the last thing on her mind. She’d come to recover from one unhappy episode and wasn’t planning to complicate her life with another.

“We’re serious about helping you unpack the trailer,” Joshua McKenna said, glancing around at his friends and neighbors. “Might as well say yes, seeing you’ve got this many volunteers.”

Lindsay would’ve preferred to relax for a few minutes before tackling that project, but her father answered for her. “We’d appreciate as much help as we can get,” he told them.

Her grandparents’ house was two blocks off Main, and Lindsay walked over, leading her dogs and half the town; her father drove the truck and U-Haul, while her mother brought Lindsay’s car.

“This is the closest thing we’ve had to a parade in years,” Hassie joked, planting herself beside Lindsay.

Rounding the corner, Lindsay saw her grandparents’ house. She gasped, hardly able to believe her eyes.

The yard had been cleaned and the flower boxes planted. A row of bright red geraniums brought a flash of color to the white house. The windows sparkled, and a wicker rocker had been placed on the front porch, with a large welcome mat in front of the door.

“It was one of your grandmother’s favorite spots,” Hassie whispered, sounding almost emotional.

“This is too much,” she protested.

“We wanted you to know we appreciate what you’re doing,” Joshua McKenna said as he passed her, carrying the first load from the trailer.

“The fence has been repaired, too,” Lindsay said in wonder. “And it’s painted and everything …”

“We didn’t want your dogs to get lost,” Hassie said. “You can thank Gage Sinclair for that.”

Gage was someone Lindsay hadn’t forgotten. They’d met during those few moments when he’d come into the pharmacy with his mother. Lindsay didn’t think she’d ever seen such depth and character in a man’s face. He was in his thirties, she’d guess, but the years couldn’t have been easy ones. The tracery of fine lines at the corners of his eyes told her that. His hair, a coffee-brown, had been in need of a cut. He was deeply tanned, but this wasn’t the kind of tan one got from sitting under a lamp. His tan had been baked on by long hours in the sun. It was his eyes, though, that had struck her most. They were the most incredible blue, verging on gray.

Before they’d had a chance to exchange more than a word or two, he’d made his excuses and left. Later, Hassie had told her Gage had a younger brother who’d be attending the high school. In those few moments, Lindsay had keenly felt his appraisal, but whatever he thought he’d kept to himself.

“If you like what we did to the outside, just wait till you see the interior.” Her face bright with joy, Hassie grabbed Lindsay’s hand and led her into the house.

Inside, Lindsay paused. The place was virtually unrecognizable. The living room was a bright white and when she moved into the kitchen she found it to be a cheery shade of lemon-yellow. Her bathroom was a robin’s egg-blue, and her bedroom a pale lavender.

What hadn’t been repainted had been scrubbed until it glistened. The floors shone with wax, and the entire place smelled fresh and clean.

“I can’t believe anyone would do all this.” Lindsay had wondered how she was going to make the house liveable and still manage to get everything ready for the first day of school. She’d had no idea that the entire town of Buffalo Valley had foreseen her dilemma and taken action.

With so many people helping, it didn’t take more than thirty minutes to completely unload the trailer and the truck. By the time Lindsay had finished thanking everyone, her mother was in the kitchen putting away pots and pans and filling up cupboards and drawers.

Lindsay leaned against the doorway. “I’m exhausted.”

Her mother laughed. “My goodness, Lindsay, you’re their hero.”

“I wonder if they’ll feel the same way at the end of the school year?” her father teased, digging into the stacks of cardboard boxes for her CD player.

Lindsay headed toward the largest bedroom, which faced the front of the house. Her bed had already been assembled, thanks to Dennis Urlacher and Joshua McKenna. She found the box that held the sheets and then, with her dogs patiently waiting, she made the bed. Mutt and Jeff immediately hopped up, making themselves comfortable. She’d barely been in town an hour and already her clothes were hung in the closet and her kitchen cupboards were stocked. This old house, which had felt so stark and empty only a few weeks earlier, had been scrubbed clean, repainted and repaired, until now it looked and felt like home.

In two days, her parents would return to Savannah and Lindsay would be alone for the first time since her arrival. Her gaze fell on the fireplace and she recalled the memory of her grandmother and the moving brick.

She would find that brick, she decided, and discover what her grandmother had slipped inside all those years ago.

Five

Minutes for the August 21st meeting of the Buffalo Valley Town Council

As recorded by Hassie Knight, Secretary and Treasurer, duly elected.

The meeting was opened by council president Joshua McKenna with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Council members attending: Joshua McKenna, Dennis Urlacher, Jacob Hansen, Hassie Knight, Heath Quantrill. Marta Hansen and Buffalo Bob Carr sat in as observers. Absent: Gage Sinclair.

In regard to old business: Joshua McKenna commended everyone on the hard work and effort that went into cleaning up the school and yard. He also mentioned the work done to the old Snyder place to welcome the new schoolteacher. In refurbishing the house, the council spent two hundred dollars to supplement what wasn’t donated by the community businesses. Hassie Knight read a thank-you letter written to the town council by Lindsay Snyder.

In the matter of new business: council president Joshua McKenna reminded the council of Lindsay Snyder’s request for guest speakers at the school on Friday afternoons. In an effort to set a good example, he volunteered to be the first speaker. Heath Quantrill offered to speak on banking practices and Hassie Knight promised a chemistry lesson. Dennis Urlacher declined to participate but volunteered Gage Sinclair, seeing that he was absent due to harvesting pressures.

It was brought to the council’s attention by Marta Hansen (who is not an official member of the council) that because Miss Snyder is from the South and unaccustomed to the harsh North Dakota winters, the search for a permanent replacement for Eloise Patten should continue. The council is taking her suggestion under advisement. Hassie Knight recommended the town give Lindsay Snyder a chance to prove herself first.

It was reported that Rachel Fischer is looking into opening a pizza parlor on weekends, using her parents’ restaurant, which has been closed for three years.

The meeting was adjourned at precisely noon.

Respectfully submitted,

Hassie Knight

Heath Quantrill had found the summons from his grandmother when he reached the Buffalo Valley bank bright and early Wednesday morning. The fact that she hadn’t phoned him at home told him she wanted to see him regarding a bank matter. He couldn’t even guess what he’d done to incur the old woman’s wrath this