Ellie sped through her morning chores the next day. She hoped the chickens would forgive her for snatching their eggs away so greedily. She didn't quite know why she was so eager to help their new neighbor. Surely she would lend a hand to whoever happened to move in, right? 

Peter did seem like a fish out of water, though. He knew horses well, as far as she could tell, but was he prepared to own his own ranch? Especially by himself. Certainly anyone in Wrenview would gladly help him if he asked. But Peter, though friendly enough, did not seem the type to ask for help, particularly from those he'd call strangers. So Ellie was resolved to do all she could. At least until he got settled. If she didn't, who would?

Ellie's only concern was how it would look to others. Her mom had already teased her yesterday when she had first gone over to help. "Don't you think you might be coming on a little strong?" she had said, jokingly of course. Peter was certainly handsome, but the last thing Ellie wanted was to be the small-town girl fawning over every new arrival.

She rushed into the house as fast as one could without dropping the big basket of eggs. "I'm going to Peter's!" she called out, to no one in particular, and started out again.

"I'm coming too!" She heard a call from the kitchen. Ben popped around the corner with a frozen waffle in hand and one shoe on. It didn't surprise her.

In his early years, Ben had been a bit babied. He was somewhat of a miracle to her parents, after all. But when Ellie had gone off to college, Ben saw it as his mission to be a responsible older brother to Liam. And with the sudden addition of Emerson and Charlotte to the bunch, Ben tried very hard to act mature and set a good example. It was very sweet, but Ellie hoped that he could stay a child as long as he could.

She remembered the moment exactly when she was twelve and her parents came home with this teeny tiny baby. Ellie had to grow up a little faster after that, but he really brought so much joy and excitement into their home. She could hardly remember what it was like to be an only child.

They walked quickly up the lane to the Thompson farm. The Reid farm? Ellie realized she'd have to start calling it that in her head. Ben wasn't quite as chatty as Liam, but could definitely fill the space if need be. He regaled her with a detailed summary of last night's episode of Ben 10. Ellie still wasn't sure if he actually liked the show or if he just liked sharing a name with the main character.

They reached Peter's farm, and spotted him up near the house. They gave big friendly waves and cut across the grass.

"Good timing!" Peter said when they'd made their way up to him. "I was gonna leave you behind."

They piled in his pick-up and drove into town. Wrenview didn't have much, but there were lots of farmers and ranchers in the area, so Hank's Hardware had just about anything they could need. The three cheerful shoppers strolled up and down the aisles picking out all manner of ropes and fence wires and tools and whatnot. The details would be much too boring for a book like this to list.

Nearing the point when Ben was about to lose patience with the uneventful shopping trip and drop his mature act, they went to check out. Peter snagged a few ice cream bars from the cooler near the front of the store, careful not to let Ben see.

"Hey, Ellie, hey Ben!" said the young woman behind the checkout.

"Hay is for horses!" was Ben's response.

"That's right buddy." She leaned over the counter and high-fived Ben.

"Hey Julia, how are you?" Ellie asked. Julia, Hank's sister, had a couple years on Ellie, so they hadn't been particularly close growing up. She was plenty friendly and Ellie liked her well enough, but today Ellie had hoped Hank would be in. It would be nice for Peter to meet some of the guys in town. But there'll be plenty of time for that, Ellie thought.

"Oh, you know me, I'm always doing well." Julia responded. "So who's your friend there?" she asked, nodding towards Peter.

"Oh, right! This is Peter Reid, he's just taken over the Thompson place. Peter, this is Julia. This is her brother's store."

"Nice to meet you." Peter said, shaking her hand.

"Very nice." Julia replied, leaning forward. Her demeanor shifted. Were Ellie's eyes playing tricks on her, or did they shake hands a little too long? Not that it was her business, she supposed. Julia was a skilled eyelash-batter, so who was Ellie to stand in the way of her craft? Respect.

"Is Hank in?" Ellie asked, turning Julia's attention away from Peter. Was that intentional? Perhaps. But Ellie would never admit it.

"No, he's got wedding stuff, so he asked me to man the store for the day. Here you go!" She handed the bags over to Peter and Ellie, and they said their good-byes.

"Let's eat these before they melt," Peter said when they got out to the parking lot. He opened the bag and showed Ben the ice cream he'd bought.

"Awesome!" Ben picked out his favorite, one of those disfigured Spongebob bars. They sat on the tailgate of Peter's truck with their legs dangling off the end. It was hot that day. There were no clouds to block the late morning sun, but there was enough of a cool breeze to remind them that summer hadn't started just yet. Ben was thrilled with his neon yellow popsicle thing, even as it melted down his arm like Nickelodeon slime.

But these moments don't last forever, and it was time to get back to work. At the ranch, Peter got out the ladder that the Thompsons had left behind and climbed up onto the stable roof. Ben and Ellie cleaned out the stables beneath him, blasting music on a small radio they'd found. They played it as loud as they could so he could hear it on the roof. It was dirty and tiring work on such a hot day, but it wasn't anything they weren't used to.

For the rest of that week and then the next, Ellie, and sometimes Ben and even Liam, came to help Peter. They fixed up the stable, the hayloft, the toolshed and the fences, and did a hundred other odd jobs. He hadn't thought it possible, but they managed to do everything they needed to do before his horses came. It wasn't pretty, and there was still plenty for him to do, but he was in a much better place than he ever expected. The urgency was past, and finally, the road ahead of him felt like a reality.

On that last Friday, Ellie and Peter walked the length of all the fences one last time to check for any gaps or fallen posts.

"Listen, Ellie." Peter started. "I really could not have gotten all of this done in time without your help. I just want to say—"

She cut him off. "Oh, you know it's no problem. It's really not a big deal."

Peter stopped walking "No, it is a big deal. To me, it's more than any— well, I just want to say thank you, somehow." Ellie had slowed and turned to face him. 

"Let me take you out to dinner tonight," Peter continued. "It's going to get really busy after I get the horses this weekend, and I might not get the chance later."

Peter expected Ellie's usual easy smile and cheerful response, but instead she took her time, then nodded. "Okay."