Chapter 61

sixty-one

ANDREW

Two Months Later…

I stepped inside one of the church’s tiny homes and handed Barbara a basket of dishtowels, detergent, and other cleaning products. “Jenny Cook put this together for you.”

Barbara smiled. “I’ll thank her next time I see her. I still can’t believe Jesse and I have our own tiny home. I could never thank you enough for what you’ve done.”

“I didn’t do much,” I admitted.

“Without the money from the fundraising concert and the sale of your canvases, we would have been waiting a lot longer for somewhere to live.” Barbara gave me a hug. “If you ever need somewhere to stay, come and see us. There’s always room for you here.”

I smiled. “Thank you. Is there anything else you need?”

Barbara looked around her home. “I think we’ve got everything.”

“In that case, I’ll leave you to enjoy your new home.” I waved to Jesse before walking through the front door.

Barbara had been thrilled when Pastor Adam told her she’d be moving into the next available tiny home. She worked so hard that it was nice to see her happy.

In the last couple of months, a lot had been happening in the tiny home village. With the extra money the church had raised, six houses would be built over the coming months. But, even better, were the new volunteers who’d stepped forward to help build the homes.

The construction teams were working seven days a week to keep up with the demand, but the waiting list kept growing.

“Andrew!”

I held my hand above my eyes and squinted at the church. Elijah was running across the parking lot toward me, waving a piece of paper in the air.

“Is everything okay?” I asked when he stopped in front of me.

Elijah sucked in a lungful of air. “I really need to get more exercise. Pastor Adam wants you to take this home. It’s his latest fundraising ideas.”

I grinned. Adam had come up with some unusual ideas about how they could raise money for the tiny home village. “Is it safe to read?”

“It’s better than it was. He took your advice and removed the chili cook-off from the list.”

“What about the car-smashing extravaganza?”

“It’s still there.”

I glanced at the list and smiled. “He left the Mr. America pageant on here.”

Elijah smiled. “I’m not going to comment.”

“Talking about men…” I checked my watch and groaned. “I promised Jacob I’d meet him at the clinic fifteen minutes ago. I’d better go.”

“Do you want me to tell him you’re on your way?”

“That’d be great.” I took my keys out of my pocket and rushed over to my truck. I had no idea why Jacob wanted to meet me in town but, if he was buying dinner as well, I wasn’t complaining.