Chapter 6
Ronnie didn’t realize how much he missed routine until he got it back. At home—his parents’ house, he had to remind himself—Mom took care of everything that needed to be done, fussing over him whenever he tried to help. He was left with too much time on his hands to fill, which he saw now resulted in too much time spent inside his own head.
At the McCutcheon farm, he was expected to pull his own weight. Grandpa and Jim did most of the heavy-duty tasks, but Grandpa made it clear when he roused Ronnie at dawn the day after he arrived that anyone who lived under that roof contributed to the running of the farm. Ronnie got easier tasks, like taking after the chickens and working the house garden that supplied what the McCutcheons ate rather than sold, while Jim managed much of the
