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that wonderful car you spent all that time fixing up.” Mandy turned toward her sons whose squabble had escalated to an all-out, fist-flinging war. “Give me that toy. Neither one of you gets it.”
    Chris released the handle to the pump and pulled it away from the tank. Glad he’d used his debit card, all he had to do was screw on the cap and he could go.
    “I don’t know who these young gals think they are these days,” Mandy continued, “thinking they can go around slamming into people’s cars …”
    “It was an accident, Mandy.” Chris interrupted her. “She was sorry. It could happen to anyone.” With a nod of his head, he jumped in the truck and added, “Have a good day.” He started the engine and drove toward the ranch. He hoped Victoria didn’t plan on staying too long. If he was having a conversation like that this early in the morning, then Victoria would have a hard way to go around here.
    He glanced at the paper that sat on the passenger’s seat beside him. He’d figured a very fair, actually quite low, price. Her insurance company shouldn’t have a problem with it, especially once they saw the pictures he had taken last night. The fact that he would do the labor for free should also help keep her rates down a bit.
    Pulling into the ranch, he couldn’t seem to get a handle on the sinking feeling that seemed to plague his gut.
Probably just the burned biscuits and undercooked eggs from breakfast this morning
. Abby had awakened still miffed over her one-month grounding, but Chris had stuck to his guns. He had spoken nicely to her but hadn’t budged on the punishment.
    Chris shut off the engine, grabbed the paper, and opened the truck door just as Victoria opened the screen with a coffee cup in her hand.
    “Chris?” Her eyes widened in surprise. “We just finished the breakfast dishes, but I’m sure Sondra won’t mind if I find you something to eat …”
    “I’m fine. Already eaten.” Chris smiled. Either country hospitality had already begun to rub off on her, or she genuinely had a sweet turn. Taking in the truth and sincerity radiating from her light eyes and remembering her silent prayer in his car the day before, Chris decided to believe the latter assumption. “I just came to pick up the eggs for the food bank. Brought some milk, too.”
    Victoria frowned. “Food bank? Milk?”
    “Yeah, we swap. I bring Sondra milk, and she donates her extra eggs to families in the county who need them.”
    “That doesn’t surprise me at all. You take them for her?”
    “A few years back when my pa was still living, he came up with a ministry to take the eggs to the bank as well as distributing them to those who couldn’t get out.”
    Victoria wrapped both hands around the coffee cup and peered into the sky. “Sounds like your dad was as giving a person as Sondra.”
    “Yep, true about both of them.”
    She glanced back at him. “But why does your truck say ‘By His Hand’ on the side?”
    “My sister was so excited about Pa’s ministry that she wanted to give it a name. Once we decided on one, she and I painted the letters on Pa’s older work truck.”
    The memory of his sister and him working all day one Saturday to paint the letters drifted into his mind. They’d gotten into a paint fight, and by the time they’d finished, they were covered in blue and red splotches from the tops of their heads to their toes. Abby’d had blue paint splatters in her hair for weeks afterward.
    Victoria sighed, forcing Chris from his memories. “I don’t know what I’d do without Sondra right now.”
    Unsure of where this conversation was headed and confused by the winsome tone in her voice, Chris cleared his throat and scuffed his shoes along the dirt. “Yes, well …”
    “Anyway.” Victoria placed the cup on the porch railing and wiped her hand on her shorts. Her neck and cheeks blazed red. “Can I help you load them or anything?”
    “No, she always has them boxed and ready by the