Warren woke early the next morning as usual, but this time he brought Milo along with him.If he wanted to ease the knot in the boy's heart, this compromise was the only option he could think of. Milo might be thoughtful for his age, but he was still just a child. Once they climbed into the truck, the excitement in his eyes was impossible to hide.When they reached the shop with Roy, Warren waited until Roy left to make deliveries, then gave Milo an excuse to watch the storefront while he moved inventory in the back. The boy stood a little straighter, clearly taking the responsibility seriously.Roy returned not long after, and Warren spoke up casually. "I need to head into the city today. Mind watching the shop for me?"Roy didn't ask questions. He simply nodded. "Go ahead, don't worry about it."His gaze shifted to Milo, and he added, "You taking the boy with you?"Warren nodded. "He'd just be sitting around otherwise. Might as well help me out with a

After Lila left, the room slowly returned to its usual atmosphere.Molly had no desire to linger. She gathered the children and headed back to her own house, Daisy nestled in her arms. Benny walked beside her, his small hand wrapped around hers, tilting his head up to study the little girl bundled against her chest.He couldn't stop thinking about what had just happened. Why had his little cousin said so much just now?Benny was young, but he was a few years older than Daisy, old enough to tell the difference between kind words and cruel ones. He knew what Lila had said wasn't right."Auntie, don't be upset," Benny said, tugging gently at Molly's sleeve. His voice was earnest, a little fierce for someone so small. "Aunt Lila is mean. She told Uncle not to treat people anymore."He puffed out his chest. "Daisy isn't a waste of money. Mama told me I have to protect Daisy from now on."Because Molly was the goddaughter of Bertha, the children of the Hale f

Hearing that Warren still wanted both storefronts, the sales agent's face lit up with delight as he eagerly agreed.After leaving the real estate office, Milo lifted his head and asked quietly, "Warren, if you buy such a big house, won't you spend all your money?"Milo had never seen that much money in his entire life. Watching Warren hand over such a large sum just now had made his heart ache. Though he was still young, he understood that amount of money could support a family comfortably for a year or two, maybe even longer.Warren smiled and ruffled Milo's hair gently. "We've got a lot of people in the family, so we definitely need a bigger place.""I can provide for us. We won't go hungry."Milo nodded, half understanding, and walked slowly along, holding Warren's hand.A moment later, he said in a low voice, "Warren, you could buy a small house instead.""I can sleep on the floor. I don't take up much space."His voice was small, but Warr

After a quick handoff, Warren Pendleton carried the puppy back to the shop. Just from pressing gently on its belly a moment ago, he'd figured out the poor thing was just acting up from indigestion. A little water at home and it would be fine. He wasn't a trained vet, but he knew enough to handle something this simple.Cradling the puppy, Warren glanced at the clock. Still half an hour until eight. Roy had offered to pick him up, but it was early yet. Might as well walk home. He did a careful sweep of the stockroom, checked the inventory stacked against the back wall, added a few extra locks to the outer door, and headed out. Redharrow's crime rate wasn't bad, and the owner's family lived right next door anyway. No real reason to worry. He bundled the puppy into a small cloth bag and carried it home like a grocery sack.When he arrived, Roy Hale was just coming over to check if he'd made it back. Seeing Warren safe at the doorstep, Roy smiled, waved, and turned back toward

Warren had barely finished packing the grapes when Roy pulled up in his truck. Behind him, another vehicle appeared: Frank Sterling himself, driving a sedan.Seeing the manager arrive in person caught Warren off guard."What brings you out here?" Warren asked, eyebrows raised. "Today's delivery already went through."After the first few trips, Frank had stopped accompanying the pickups once he'd confirmed everything ran smoothly. His sudden appearance today was unexpected, though it couldn't have come at a better time. Warren had spent years burning bridges with his old reckless behavior, leaving him with almost no connections in the county seat. Getting Milo enrolled in school without help would be nearly impossible.But Frank was different. Beyond the friendship they'd built over the past weeks, the man had connections, resources, and knew how to work the system.Frank's attention went straight to the grapes displayed in the shop. Each cluster was enormous