Darren spent mornings in the house. Painting a bedroom that held no furniture. Making breakfast and then lunch for himself. Cleaning a bathroom. Installing a ceiling fan. He took his lunch out to the barn and stable with him, and he did a little work there each day too.
He had two cowhands to exercise and feed the handful of horses that he’d bought with the property. Sometimes he’d saddle Paintbrush and take the horse for a walk down the snowpacked road.
Afternoons usually found him out in the orchards. He didn’t have a lot to do with the trees in the winter, but he liked their skeletal branches and he wanted to keep his eye on his new maple saplings.
Once Farrah left, he checked on the boutique, making good mental notes about how the fish were doing, and the progress of the plants. He’
