Dakota Born by Debbie Macomber

he’d made his excuses and left. Later, Hassie had told her Gage had a younger brother who’d be attending the high school. In those few moments, Lindsay had keenly felt his appraisal, but whatever he thought he’d kept to himself.
    â€œIf you like what we did to the outside, just wait till you see the interior.” Her face bright with joy, Hassie grabbed Lindsay’s hand and led her into the house.
    Inside, Lindsay paused. The place was virtually unrecognizable. The living room was a bright white and when she moved into the kitchen she found it to be a cheery shade of lemon-yellow. Her bathroom was a robin’s egg-blue, and her bedroom a pale lavender.
    What hadn’t been repainted had been scrubbed until it glistened. The floors shone with wax, and the entire place smelled fresh and clean.
    â€œI can’t believe anyone would do all this.” Lindsay had wondered how she was going to make the house liveable and still manage to get everything ready for the first day of school. She’d had no idea that the entire town of Buffalo Valley had foreseen her dilemma and taken action.
    With so many people helping, it didn’t take more than thirty minutes to completely unload the trailer and the truck. By the time Lindsay had finished thanking everyone, her mother was in the kitchen putting away pots and pans and filling up cupboards and drawers.
    Lindsay leaned against the doorway. “I’m exhausted.”
    Her mother laughed. “My goodness, Lindsay, you’re their hero.”
    â€œI wonder if they’ll feel the same way at the end of the school year?” her father teased, digging into the stacks of cardboard boxes for her CD player.
    Lindsay headed toward the largest bedroom, which faced the front of the house. Her bed had already been assembled, thanks to Dennis Urlacher and Joshua McKenna. She found the box that held the sheets and then, with her dogs patiently waiting, she made the bed. Mutt and Jeff immediately hopped up, making themselves comfortable. She’d barely been in town an hour and already her clothes were hung in the closet and her kitchen cupboards were stocked. This old house, which had felt so stark and empty only a few weeks earlier, had been scrubbed clean, repainted and repaired, until now it looked and felt like home.
    In two days, her parents would return to Savannah and Lindsay would be alone for the first time since her arrival. Her gaze fell on the fireplace and she recalled the memory of her grandmother and the moving brick.
    She would find that brick, she decided, and discover what her grandmother had slipped inside all those years ago.

Five
    Minutes for the August 21st meeting of the
Buffalo Valley Town Council

    As recorded by Hassie Knight, Secretary and Treasurer, duly elected.
    The meeting was opened by council president Joshua McKenna with the Pledge of Allegiance to the American flag. Council members attending: Joshua McKenna, Dennis Urlacher, Jacob Hansen, Hassie Knight, Heath Quantrill. Marta Hansen and Buffalo Bob Carr sat in as observers. Absent: Gage Sinclair.
    In regard to old business: Joshua McKenna commended everyone on the hard work and effort that went into cleaning up the school and yard. He also mentioned the work done to the old Snyder place to welcome the new schoolteacher. In refurbishing the house, the council spent two hundred dollars to supplement what wasn’t donated by the community businesses. Hassie Knight read a thank-you letter written to the town council by Lindsay Snyder.
    In the matter of new business: council president Joshua McKenna reminded the council of Lindsay Snyder’s request for guest speakers at the school on Friday afternoons. In an effort to set a good example, he volunteered to be the first speaker. Heath Quantrill offered to speak on banking practices and Hassie Knight promised a chemistry lesson. Dennis Urlacher declined to participate but volunteered Gage Sinclair, seeing that he was