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Andy laughed. “No, they’re probably more than happy to say goodbye to me. I haven’t had the time or the energy for them these last few months,” he admitted, sadness in his gaze. “So, it’s all good. It’s kind of like saying goodbye to my wife all over again when I say goodbye to these guys.”

“No,” Tiffany countered, “not now.”

He looked over at her, his eyes bright with understanding, and he nodded. “You’re right.” He turned to Timber and said, “I also brought the paperwork for the acres you wanted.”

Timber’s eyebrows shot up, and he grinned. “That’s perfect. So, do you want to go inside and talk?”

He shrugged. “I kind of figured if I gave you a good price, you might take all of it,” he said hopefully. “Would you take it all?”

“If I can afford it, I sure will,” Timber declared.

Andy nodded. “I know that, very quickly, this refuge could grow into something that might require a whole lot more land. If not, at least if you keep it all intact, you could do something with it yourself.”

“How do you feel about letting a couple of the men here buy a piece of land,… maybe a little bit closer to the highway?”

“I’ve got another plot on the other side,” Andy replied, “and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. It’s not very big, probably be enough for,… I don’t know, maybe eight single homes.”

Toby immediately perked up. “I would really like one,” he stated, turning to face Andy.

At that, Andy nodded, then looked over at Timber. “I don’t know what to charge for them. They’re just bare land. Nothing is there. I don’t even know if there’s water.”

“Water would be an issue,” Timber noted, giving Toby a sideways glance. Then he shrugged and added, “I’m pretty sure we could dig wells.”

“You can certainly dig wells,” Andy agreed. “I just don’t know how deep you’ll have to go.”

Toby smiled and interjected, “That’s okay with me. I’m good with that.” Seeing Dwight heading toward them, Toby asked him, “Dwight, how do you feel about a piece of land down the road a way?”

“How much land?”

“Andy’s got a piece on the other side that’s about eight houses’ worth.”

“It was supposed to be split off,” Andy explained, “so it’s already been delineated into housing sections. I just wasn’t sure what to do with it.”

Dwight replied, “Depending on how you feel about it, me and Toby want to buy two of them.”

“And if you wanted to hang on to some of them a little bit longer,” Timber suggested, “we could potentially find a few other men who might very well want to have one section to live on.”

Andy studied Timber, then asked, “Do any of them have families?”

Toby looked over at him and replied, “Not me, not anymore. That’s the thing. Some of us just want a place to call home.”

“I get that too,” Andy murmured. “I’m happy to sell you a lot if that’s what you want.”

“It’s absolutely what I want,” Toby declared, and he looked at Dwight. “You too?”

“Yes, please.… How much are you looking to charge?”

Andy pondered it for a moment. “Are you guys all military?”

“We’re all ex-military, either retired or out with medical injuries, one or the other. Some both, and we are all associated with Kat and Badger, one way or another. I swear to God, Kat is a full-time prosthetics designer just for us,” Toby said, with a laugh.

“All of you?” Andy asked, frowning.

“All of us. Everybody who came here this week to help out is a part of Badger’s group in some way,” Toby explained.

“Some with more skills than others, some with more labor-intensive muscle, and some with experience in the trades.” Toby smiled, as he shook his head. “It’s been pretty amazing. So, yeah.”

“Good God,” Andy muttered, as he pondered that. “Let me think about what kind of price to charge, and I’ll get back to you. I didn’t come prepared for that.”

“And that’s okay too,” Toby said. “We’ll get this place set up for the refuge, and, when we get that done, we’ll look at what we need to do to get the land livable and to put a house on it for each of us who want a section.” And, with that, Toby nodded to Timber.

Andy stayed a few minutes longer, but then he left as well, saying he would be in touch to discuss the other property set aside for homes.

She looked over at Timber, clutching the paperwork. “You need to look at that paperwork.” She saw the worry in his expression as he looked down at it.

“I know. Yet I hesitate. It’s like having something you really want right here, but it might not be possible.”

“Or it might be just fine,” Toby added. “You go on and take a look at it and see if you need to make some changes. I gather the prices are negotiable.”

“We had talked price before everything turned upside down with all the trouble with Max and Brian. And now Andy’s offered more property than the 120 acres we were discussing before—and that’s not even talking about the eight individual housing sections—so I don’t really know if I’m able to swing this or not. ”

Tiffany nudged him. “You won’t know until you look.”

With a deep breath he flipped open the paperwork, studied it carefully for a moment, then looked up with a big smile on his face. “Yeah, this is doable.”

The men just grinned at each other and nodded. “Now we’re talking,” Toby exclaimed.