The House That Built Me (Strawberry Inn Book #3)

Chapter 12

KELSEY

“Tell me about the farm growing up.”

Beth was one of the sweetest women I have ever met. Spending time with her almost made up for how awkward my days have been living here and sharing space with Chaz. I’m a bit too stubborn to admit that he was right when he said I couldn’t take care of myself. I was trying to be a grown-up, but I was failing epically on my own. The money I had for expenses from the women’s shelter was almost gone and I didn’t have a plan when he found me at the bus station.

I could pretend that I was capable of roughing it, but I’d be lying. My parents may not have been rich or upper class, but they gave me everything I needed and many of the things I wanted. Even when we lived in the compound my basic needs were mostly taken care of. The only time I ever went hungry was when I was going through my bratty stage and they used food as a way to gain submission from those who were unruly. I never experienced homelessness or begging on the street. The only job I ever had was working for my family's small market on the side of the road. I wanted to be independent and capable, but I wasn’t.

It was a bit stubborn of me, but I refused to be handed anything by Chaz or anybody else in this town. If he was going to give me a place to live, I was going to earn it through hard work. I might have been given everything I needed growing up, but that didn’t mean I lacked a work ethic. Growing up, if I wasn’t in school I was up early working on the farm with my parents. My weekends were spent doing a mile-long list of chores and even though I was a girly girl, I could get my hands dirty and wield a hammer when needed. Chaz probably didn’t expect that I could be useful around the house, it just took one morning of work to prove to him that I could.

Tonight Chaz was hanging out with some friends of his in town and that gave me the chance to spend some one-on-one time with Beth. We were trimming the rose bushes that my mom loved so much. After this, we were going to indulge in a bottle of wine that Angela dropped off earlier from Strawberry Vineyards. The last time I had a glass of wine was a bootleg version that somebody snuck into the compound. 

“What do you want to know?” I replied back.

“Oh, I don’t know. Did you have animals here?”

“We had a few, but nothing like a commercial farm. Just some chickens, a goat, and whatever barn cats we had running around at the time.”

Beth looks off to the right, “Where were those kept?”

“Behind the garage, there used to be a small barn and gated pasture. It looks like whoever was here between my parents and you tore it down.”

“Do you think I could convince Chaz to let me get chickens?” She whispered as if he could hear us from wherever he was in town.

“Probably,” I chuckled. “I had a suspicion you could get Chaz to do anything if you ask him the right way. From the sounds of his complaining about that back deck, he doesn’t do a good job telling you no.”

Beth puffs out her chest, “I birthed that boy, all ten pounds of him, he has no right to say no.”

I laugh even louder this time, “I like the way you think, Beth.”

“Don’t you think this place is going to look even better with the back deck though? With these roses, all cleaned up it is the perfect view for my morning coffee and my afternoon tea.”

“I agree! I’m surprised it wasn’t in the plans that my mom had drawn up originally. She did love the front porch though. I remember we’d sit out there for hours as a family. My dad’s favorite was sitting out there during a summer thunderstorm.”