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“I like that brown spotty one.”

“That’s called a chocolate dappled,” Edith informed him, taking her phone back. “And it’s a boy. The other one is a girl.”

“She’s all beige,” he said. “Kinda boring.” He grinned at her. “But whatever you want is fine with me.”

“That’s actually a pretty rare coloring,” she said. “It’s an Isabella, where the brown has faded out to milky color. I think she’s beautiful.” She didn’t look away from her phone. “So…boy or girl?”

“This is when you get to pick,” he said, thinking of their baby. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having a boy or a girl first. And he didn’t care. He’d love that baby with his whole heart, no matter what.

“I want to name him Oscar,” she said. “I think it fits with Otto and Frankie.” She looked up from her phone. “Don’t you?”

Finn knew better than to have an opinion here, so he just laughed as he made the turn onto the highway. “Sure,” he said. “Fits great.”

“Then we have to get the boy,” she said, her fingers flying across her phone, presumably to text her friend about which dachshund she wanted.

“Happy birthday,” he said, because finding out they were having a baby and making his wife happy with a new puppy? That really was the best birthday gift Finn could’ve gotten.

Chapter Eighteen

“Mister Glover?”

Link looked over his shoulder at the very familiar voice. It wasn’t Misty’s, but he’d spent enough time with her best friend to recognize her voice. Sure enough, Janie entered the storage shed where Link was working with Ward, cataloging the oil filters, box fans, and other mechanical equipment they had here.

Misty followed her, and his throat narrowed. He hadn’t seen her for several days, since they’d gone to Finn’s birthday party and she’d gotten sick a couple of days later. She hadn’t been to work in a few days as she quarantined at home, but she’d texted him that morning to say she finally felt like the antibiotics were working.

They had a date planned for later that evening in his new house. Dinner and a movie, he’d told her. Staying in.

She’d said she’d bring dinner, and he could pick the movie. He’d agreed, because while he could put together simple meals, he didn’t want to show Misty that his culinary skills didn’t really extend past scrambling eggs and frying bacon quite yet.

“Roberta says that none of the checks we’ve sent the ranch have been cashed.” Janie looked over to Misty as she came to her side. “We’ve got rent for June, July, and August.”

Link turned fully to watch this unfold. No one who’d been misplaced after the fire had paid rent, and he wasn’t surprised at all to hear the checks from the state had gone uncashed.

Ward looked at them for a long moment, his chin dipping as he looked at the envelope in Janie’s hand. “We aren’t taking rent for refugees.”

Janie sighed, and Misty took the envelope from her. “We’re not refugees. Patty transferred departments, and Roberta is new. She’s just getting into the swing of things.” She shook the envelope.

Uncle Ward folded his arms. Link stifled a snicker.

“There aren’t many furnished apartments in town,” Janie said. “Roberta wanted us to ask if we could keep living here, but there’s a budget for rent.”

“None of our people pay rent,” Ward said.

“But they work here,” Misty argued, a cute little frown appearing between her eyes. “Their boarding is part of their pay.”

Ward sighed. “Misty, you’re dating Link, right?”

Link’s smile dried right on up. He took one step toward his uncle and the women, then decided to see where this went.

Misty exchanged a look with Janie. “Yes, sir.”

He hadn’t exactly told Misty about his financial situation, but she’d admitted that their department did research on the towns and areas where they worked. She’d known about his family before she’d even come to Three Rivers.

“Then you should know we don’t need the money,” Ward said. “I won’t take it. Tell your office to save its budget. Whatever. It’s an empty cowboy cabin, and we don’t charge rent for them.”

Both Misty and Janie frowned at each other and then Uncle Ward. “You won’t take it?” Janie asked.

Ward sighed and took the envelope from Misty. “How much is it?” He pulled the check out. “Oh, nine hundred bucks.” He peered over the slip of paper to them. “Every single one of us here has a million times that.”