Love Means Courage - Andrew Grey

took out his wallet, but she stilled his hand. “Don’t worry about it.” They thanked her again, leaving the office and climbing back in the truck. At least the mystery of the missing money was solved.
    “Why was Ruby with him at the closing?” Len asked.
    Cliff unlocked the truck and opened his door. “I don’t think we’ll ever know, but there is a question we can answer. What did he buy?” Len fastened his seat belt and waited while Cliff looked through the papers and let out a whistle. “He bought the Henderson farm. Holy sh—” Cliff stopped himself from swearing just in time.
    “He bought all the land and buildings, 320 acres, for a quarter million dollars, and it includes the house.” Cliff put down the papers and started the engine, pulling out of the parking lot and heading back to the farm.
    “Why don’t you drop me at the barn, and then you can go take 85
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a look,” Len suggested. Cliff remained quiet as he drove, and Len sank into his own thoughts.
    They pulled into the farm a few minutes later and Len got out of the truck, closing the door. Cliff leaned over and opened the window. “Thank you, Len.”

    “No problem.” He smiled back at Cliff. “I’m glad I could help.” The window raised, and Geoff waved good-bye. Len returned the wave before going into the barn, changing his clothes and eating his lunch before returning to work.
    THE day was winding down, and Len was exhausted as he put away the tools and brought in the horses for the night, settling them in their stalls with fresh water and hay. He was just bringing in the last animal when he heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. He glanced down the aisle and thought he saw Cliff’s truck but wasn’t sure.
    Finishing up, he made sure all the stall doors were closed and latched before closing up the barn and walking to his car. “Len.” Cliff walked across the yard. As he turned, he noticed other cars pull into the driveway. “Would you come inside and join us for a drink?”
    Len recognized Janelle’s car. He had been trying to avoid her but agreed against his better judgment. “Thanks. That would be nice.” He followed Cliff inside the house, now alive with conversation and people.

    Janelle saw him and rushed over, taking him by the arm and introducing him to her sisters, Victoria and Mari, along with Victoria’s husband, Dan. Victoria was pregnant, and Dan hovered over her.
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“I was wondering when you’d call me,” Janelle flirted when she’d completed the introductions.
    “I’ve been very busy and really tired. I’m sorry.” Unlike the last time, he didn’t set a day and time for dinner. He did not want to give her the wrong idea.
    Cliff came to his rescue. “Len, would you like a beer?”
“That would be nice, thanks.” Cliff handed him a beer, and he took a seat on the sofa, purposely sitting away from Janelle.
    Cliff spoke to everyone. “I called you because I wanted you to know that today, with Len’s help, we figured out what happened to the money dad borrowed on the farm. He used it to buy the Henderson place.”

    Janelle leaned forward in her chair, “So that means that we each own a quarter of the Henderson farm. We should resell it and get the money back.” Cliff sat down. “No. It means that the farm now includes the Henderson’s land and house. Dad used a loan against the farm to pay for the land, so the land becomes part of the farm.”
    “Then why are you telling us? So you could rub our noses in it?” This was a side of Janelle Len had never seen before, and it wasn’t pretty. “That’s enough, Janelle!” Cliff’s youngest sister, Mari, piped in, and then she turned to Cliff. “What is it you want to tell us?” “Just that dad and Ruby were on their way home from the closing when he died.”
“So what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. I just wanted to let you know what I found 87
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out.”
“It’s not fair.” Janelle continued.
    “What isn’t?” Mari stood up, glaring at her. “Cliff’s been paying on that loan for the last year, and while he has the land, he also has the debt to go along with it. Do you want to work the Henderson farm and pay the debt?”
    “No, but—”
“I didn’t think so.” Mari turned to Len. “I’m sorry you had to see this.”
“It’s okay. I’m just glad I could help find out what happened.”
    “We all appreciate it.” Mari looked toward the kitchen, “I’m going