October 7, 2023 – 11:48 PM
The farmhouse was silent.
Only the occasional creak of old timber and the distant chirping of crickets drifted through the open bedroom window.
Moonlight spilled across the wooden floor.
Lin lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep refused to come.
Again.
She rolled onto her side.
Then back again.
Her mind replayed the entire day.
The Wilson Ranch.
The café.
Mrs. Porter's endless matchmaking.
The hardware store.
The pharmacy robbery.
Too much had happened.
Her eyes slowly settled on the notebook resting on her nightstand.
She reached for it.
Flipped it open.
Instead of writing...
She simply stared at a blank page.
Then one name came to mind.
Adam Walker.
Lin frowned.
It wasn't because Mrs. Porter wouldn't stop talking.
It was because something about him bothered her.
Not in a bad way.
In a familiar way.
She tapped the end of her pen against the notebook.
Prepared.
That was the word.
Most farmers kept extra feed.
Extra fuel.
Maybe enough supplies to get through a harsh winter.
Adam...
Was operating on another level.
Freeze-dried food.
Hand-operated equipment.
Water storage.
Manual grain grinder.
Food-grade barrels.
Items chosen with purpose.
Not convenience.
Lin quietly exhaled.
Coincidence?
Possible.
Plenty of people believed in being prepared.
Especially farmers.
But...
He never laughed at her purchases.
Never questioned the water tanks.
Never joked about the solar array.
Instead...
He'd answered every question with an explanation that made perfect sense.
Just like she had.
She remembered their conversation beside the truck.
"People sleep better when they're prepared."
Then...
"Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst."
Simple words.
Normal words.
Yet something about the way he'd said them lingered in her mind.
She picked up her pen.
At the top of the page she wrote:
Adam Walker
Below it, she began making notes.
Strengths
• Owns four hundred acres.
• Knows farming.
• Heavy equipment.
• Tractor.
• Mechanical skills.
• Financially stable.
• Plans ahead.
She paused.
Then added another heading.
Unknowns
• Why so much emergency stock?
• Former occupation?
• Family?
• Military?
• Prepper?
• Lucky guesses?
The last question remained blank.
She wasn't ready to answer it.
Lin leaned back against the headboard.
Could they help each other?
If...
He really was just a practical farmer...
Then yes.
Good neighbors mattered.
Reliable neighbors mattered even more.
If he turned out to be trustworthy...
Sharing equipment.
Trading crops.
Helping during emergencies.
That would benefit both farms.
But...
If there was something else...
If he somehow knew more than he should...
That changed everything.
She immediately dismissed the thought.
No.
That was impossible.
She had been given a second chance.
The odds of someone else receiving one too...
Were so small they weren't worth considering.
Still...
She couldn't ignore what she'd seen today.
His purchases.
His answers.
His calmness.
Even during the robbery, he'd never looked panicked.
Just...
Observant.
Exactly like her.
Lin closed the notebook.
Don't jump to conclusions.
That mistake had nearly gotten her killed once already.
Trust had to be earned.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Action by action.
Not because someone happened to think the same way she did.
She switched off the bedside lamp.
Darkness settled over the room once again.
Outside, the wind rustled through the trees surrounding the farmhouse.
Somewhere across Maple Creek...
Another insomniac might also be lying awake.
Making plans.
Counting supplies.
Preparing for a future no one else believed was coming.
Lin closed her eyes.
Tomorrow...
She would start paying closer attention to Adam Walker.
Not as a potential romance. As a potential ally.
October 7, 2023 – 11:59 PM
The digital clock beside Lin's bed quietly changed.
11:59 PM
She sighed into the darkness.
Still awake.
Again.
Moonlight streamed through the bedroom window, painting pale silver lines across the hardwood floor.
Outside...
The farm was quiet.
Only the distant chirping of crickets and the occasional rustle of leaves disturbed the silence.
Lin rolled onto her side.
Then onto her back.
Sleep refused to come.
Her mind wasn't thinking about the robbery anymore.
Or Deputy Dawson.
Or even tomorrow's construction schedule.
Instead...
It kept wandering back to one conversation.
Adam.
She frowned at herself.
"This isn't about him."
She said it quietly.
Almost as if she needed convincing.
It was about farming.
Or rather...
Someone who actually understood farming.
She closed her eyes.
Until three months ago...
She couldn't tell wheat from barley.
She'd spent most of her adult life surrounded by conference rooms, spreadsheets, airports, and executives.
After regressing...
She'd read hundreds of books.
Watched countless videos.
Taken online courses.
Visited agricultural suppliers.
Asked endless questions.
She understood the theory.
Crop rotation.
Soil testing.
Seasonal planting.
Composting.
Irrigation.
Livestock management.
But theory...
Wasn't experience.
Adam had both.
She remembered the way he'd looked at the hardware store.
Comfortable.
Confident.
Someone who'd probably spent his entire life fixing equipment and working fields.
She quietly stared at the ceiling.
A good farmer wasn't grown in one season.
Knowledge came from mistakes.
Bad harvests.
Broken machinery.
Weather.
Experience.
She had skipped straight to the textbooks.
He had lived it.
Lin turned onto her side again.
Her thoughts drifted back to the conversation outside the loading dock.
"Need hay..."
"...or someone with a tractor."
At the time it had sounded like simple neighborly politeness.
Now...
She wondered if she'd been too quick to dismiss it.
Not because she needed a date.
Absolutely not.
Because she needed neighbors she could rely on.
In her previous life...
The people who survived longest weren't always the strongest.
They were the ones who worked together.
Doctors.
Mechanics.
Electricians.
Farmers.
Everyone brought something different.
She already had...
Her father.
An engineer.
Her mother.
A veterinarian.
General Fang.
Military logistics.
Lucas...
Combat.
Security.
Mechanical repairs.
Adam...
She quietly counted on her fingers.
Large-scale farming.
Heavy equipment.
Livestock.
Crop management.
Repairing agricultural machinery.
She slowly opened her eyes.
Those weren't small skills.
Those were community skills.
She sat up.
Reached for the notebook beside her bed.
Under today's date, she added another page.
Potential Local Allies
Walker Family Farms
Below it she wrote:
Strengths
• Crop production
• Heavy machinery
• Irrigation knowledge
• Hay production
• Tractor equipment
• Mechanical ability
• Financially responsible
She tapped the pen against the page.
Then added another section.
Possible Cooperation
• Hay purchases
• Equipment borrowing
• Shared harvest labor
• Emergency fuel exchange
• Livestock feed
• Future trade
She stopped writing.
Crossed out the last line.
Future trade.
Too vague.
Instead she wrote...
Build trust first.
Lin smiled faintly.
That was better.
No rushing.
No assumptions.
Just...
Neighbors helping neighbors.
If trust naturally grew from that...
Good.
If not...
Having another competent farmer nearby still benefited everyone.
She closed the notebook.
One thought lingered.
Adam had said he'd bought four hundred acres only six months ago.
That wasn't common.
Most people didn't move to a tiny farming town without a reason.
Maybe he'd simply wanted a quieter life.
Maybe he'd inherited the land.
Maybe he'd gotten tired of the city, just like everyone assumed she had.
Or maybe...
She immediately stopped herself.
Enough.
She was starting to invent mysteries where none existed.
That had nearly gotten her killed once before.
People deserved to be judged by what they did.
Not by theories.
Tomorrow...
She'd keep building her farm.
If she happened to run into Adam again...
She'd ask him about crops.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
Outside, a cool breeze stirred the maple trees lining the driveway.
Inside, Lin finally switched off the bedside lamp.
This time...
Sleep came a little easier.