William looked around. For the umpteenth time, he promised himself that he needed to clean up, but… These thoughts only came in the morning when he was getting ready for work, and in the evening… In the evening, he came home with a bottle of whiskey, quickly drank it, and collapsed into bed.

He had been living at this pace for a year now. Maybe a bit more. Right from the moment Natalie left him and headed off for a better life in the city.

William met her in the neighboring town, at a dance. He had never seen her before. Guys wouldn’t give her any space because he was a good-looking fellow.

Plus, he worked on a farming operation, as it was now trendy to call the former co-ops that had suddenly become private properties. William earned really well. All because he was considered almost the best tractor driver, trucker, and combine operator on the farm.

There wasn’t a piece of machinery he handled poorly. The guys sighed with envy. They said any metal obeyed Will.

William lived alone. His grandma, who raised him, died as soon as he turned eighteen. As if she had been waiting on purpose.

No one thought the guy would return to the small town after finishing his studies. But he did. He built a big house, worked like a damned soul.

He didn’t look at girls. He firmly decided to get on his feet first, so it wouldn’t be embarrassing to bring a wife home. From childhood, he understood what it was like not to eat enough, not to sleep enough, because grandma saved on firewood, and the house was very cold.

But when he saw Natalie, he almost went crazy. They got married quickly. The girl really liked the guy.

And even more, she liked that she could finally leave her large family, where she was the oldest and had to help constantly. He spoiled her a lot. He bought outfits that no one in the town had ever seen….

And she quickly got used to the good life. She didn’t handle the household because of her hand skin, because it was hard, and many more becauses. And Will did everything himself.

Just so Natalie would be happy. They lived like that for three years. And one fine day, his wife declares.

“Will, how long are we going to sit here? Everyone is developing, moving to the city, and we’re rotting in this small town.” Will didn’t even understand what she meant then. “I never said I wanted to go to the city.

And you didn’t either. Where did this come from all of a sudden?” “Well, I definitely don’t want to rot in this small town my whole life. I hope you’re not going to force me to do that?” William raised his eyebrows….

“I don’t understand something. You’re from a small town yourself. You’ve lived here your whole life.

Where did this pull come from suddenly? Especially now. We can live comfortably. Just wait, I’ll get water hooked up to the house.

It’ll be just like a city apartment.” Natalie stood up, nervously pacing the room. “Lord, you’re so dense.

What’s water got to do with it? What about theaters, cafes? Culture, for goodness’ sake!” That day they argued. William lost it first. He called his wife a small-town princess and the pea and left.

Of course, they made up later. They didn’t return to the conversation. And three weeks later, he didn’t find Natalie when he returned from work.

There was only a note on the table saying she met a man who understands her, with whom she’ll live in the city. Natalie also wrote that she took the money William had been saving in the box. She wrote that it was her compensation for wasting her best years on him…

From that day, Will changed his lifestyle. First, he sold off all the livestock, and then let the house go. No one suspected for a while what was happening to him.

Then rumors started spreading. He went to work, but got a couple of warnings. He didn’t respond.

Just that day when his boss talked to him, he took not a fifth, but two right away. Will sighed, looked around again. Oh, how he wanted to close his eyes to all this.

A couple of times he even started cleaning, but the first time he came across Natalie’s hairpin, and the second—their wedding album. So he gave up on it. He went outside, shivered.

The frost was such that it nipped at his nose. He’d have to fiddle again to start his tractor. How many times he argued with the boss that the watchman doesn’t heat the garage.

“Excuse me!”—he flinched. It was still dark outside, and he certainly didn’t expect to hear an unfamiliar voice at this hour, especially in his own yard. He turned sharply.

Before him stood either a woman or a girl, and behind her huddled a child. “Lord, what are you doing here so early and in such frost? And with a child!” The female figure shrugged indefinitely. “It just happened that way.

Can you tell me if we can find shelter with anyone for a while? Johnny is completely exhausted. We have no money though.” William tried to peer at her face.

Exhausted, thin, and seemingly quite young, though he could be wrong. Knowing his townsfolk, he could assume they’d sooner call the sheriff than let some vagrant stay for free. Will cast a quick glance at the child huddled against the woman.

“The boy was no more than five.” Then he looked at his watch. “No, he couldn’t help.

If Will is late, everyone will decide right away that it’s because of drinking.” He shoved his hand in his pocket, pulled out the house keys. “Here, take them.

Go to my house. I’ll be back after six. The house is warm, if you get cold, you can stoke the furnace.

There should be food. Well, should be, but God knows. Just, my place is a mess, no time for everything.

Don’t stick your nose out much, or there’ll be a lot of questions. Alright, I’m off, no time.” He handed the stunned stranger the keys and dashed down the path toward the garages.

For some reason, the thought didn’t even cross his mind that they were strangers, that they could rob him. The day flew by quickly. Worry appeared in the evening when he habitually turned toward the store but didn’t stop…

He took the usual fifth, though he added candies. He wasn’t sure his lodgers were still waiting for him. Maybe they warmed up and moved on.

The light was on in the house. It was so unusual, unfamiliar, that William felt some tightness in his chest. He cautiously approached the window and peeked inside.

William’s face stretched…

He saw only part of the room, but it was enough to understand. There was simply perfect order.

Everything so neat, clean. On the couch under a blanket sat a young woman and a boy. They were looking at some book.

Will peered closer, sighed sadly. At one time, when there was still hope that Natalie would give birth to him, he bought up all the children’s books at the general store, and now they were gathering dust in stacks on the floor by the couch. When his wife left, he wanted to throw them out, but his hand wouldn’t rise.

And the house smelled of food. Such a forgotten smell that William involuntarily swallowed. He looked at the bottle in his hands and quickly shoved it into the snow.

The young woman jumped up when he entered. She blushed. — Hello.

Sorry, we with Johnny did a bit of housekeeping. I made dinner. Will got flustered himself.

He had no idea that the vagrant he pitied in the morning could turn out to be a very pretty young woman. — I wouldn’t refuse dinner. I’m starving like crazy.

She rushed to set the table. And William took off his shoes, undressed, and headed to the boy. He extended his hand.

— William. The boy smiled and cautiously extended his little palm. — Johnny.

— Here, Johnny. Take this. Kids love sweets.

The boy looked questioningly at the woman, and she nodded barely noticeably. Only then did the child take the treat. William sat at the table.

He inhaled the aroma of hot chili and even closed his eyes with pleasure. Only after the bowl was empty did he look at the guest waiting for his words. — That was unreal tasty.

She smiled. — Thank you. — It’s the least we could do for you….

A shadow crossed her face. — We probably need to move on. We’ve already abused your hospitality.

William raised his eyebrows in surprise. — Are you in a hurry somewhere? — No, we have nowhere to hurry. Anna, that’s what the young woman was called, came out to him from the room where she was putting Johnny to bed an hour later.

She sat at the table. Will stood up. Poured tea for her and himself.

She thanked him and looked at him with huge blue eyes. — Don’t think we’re some homeless, it’s just everything went wrong somehow. Once I went to study and made a very big mistake, trusting one guy.

No, I don’t regret anything because I have Johnny. But I had to return to the small town, to mom, who at that time married a young man. Mom wasn’t happy about my return.

As I later understood, she was worried about her young husband. Johnny was born. It seemed like everything normalized more or less.

True, I couldn’t get a job because mom hung all the household on me. Living without your own money isn’t particularly pleasant. But Johnny, my so-called stepdad, bought everything.

And for me? I didn’t need anything. Then the stepdad decided that mom was too old for him, and I suited much better. I sent him away right away, sorry.

But mom somehow found out everything. She decided that only I was to blame. I was the one flirting. And my own mother together with the stepdad decided that for their complete family, they needed my Johnny.

And I needed to be kicked out. Mom said she’d deprive me of parental rights in no time. I have no job, sitting on their necks, and the rest can be made up.

So I ran away with Johnny. Only I’m sure they’ll look for us. My mom won’t just calm down.

Will thoughtfully twirled his spoon. Here’s the thing, Anna, stay with me for now, until we figure something out. I’m hardly ever home anyway, so you won’t bother me at all, and I’ll find out what’s what…

In a week, Will even forgot that he used to drink in the evenings. Now he was tinkering something with Johnny, and they read together. The house was clean, warm.

Anna spoiled them with delicious dinners. This was exactly the life William always dreamed of. Too bad it wasn’t all his.

One day he was hurrying from work, and a neighbor called out to him. — What, Will, can we congratulate you? He even got scared. — With what? — So your Natalie came back, about two hours ago.

Will paled. — Anna and Johnny are there. He took off running home….

Natalie was sitting on the couch in a beautiful pose. She looked at him offended. Neither Anna nor Johnny was there.

— Where are they? Natalie pouted offendedly. — I don’t understand. Where’s the joy from our meeting? She was confident in herself and her charms.

Will covered the distance to the couch in two steps and yanked her up. — I asked, where are they? She screamed in fear. — How should I know? They went somewhere.

I don’t know, home probably. Will let her go and rushed to the door. At the door, he stopped.

— When I get back, I don’t want to see a trace of you here. Natalie looked at him in surprise and understood. He’s not joking.

But how? She was sure Will would cry with joy. William realized. An hour passed, maybe more.

They could have gone far. It was already dark outside. Where could they be? Lord, what kind of punishment is this for him? He ran through the town toward the garages.

He almost prayed that the boss was there. He’d take the vehicle anyway and let them jail him. The boss was there.

He listened to Will’s rambling story and nodded at his SUV. — Here, take it. It has better off-road capability than your tractor…

And speed, of course. — Thanks, boss. I’ll be quick.

— Go already, call if you need help. Yeah, I’ll do everything to bring back the person who brought you back to life. William saw them under a tree five miles from the town.

He braked sharply, rushed to them. — Anna, what are you doing? — If not thinking about yourself, think about Johnny. Anna sobbed on his shoulder.

— You see, she said she’s your wife, that you love her. And she also said that people like us have no right to life at all. Anna said a lot more, and Will held Johnny and her close, thinking only that he was happy.

Nothing happened to them. When the flow of tears subsided a bit, Will said resolutely. — Tomorrow we’ll file the papers.

I’ll keep an eye on you so you don’t do anything else foolish. And Anna didn’t object, just pressed closer to him. Johnny smiled and asked.

— Will you be my dad? — Looks like it. Johnny looked at him for a minute, then hugged both him and mom with his little arms. And on the day they got married, guests arrived—Anna’s mother and her husband.

— Well, hello. Johnny, get ready quick, time to go home, and this tramp I hope they’ll put where she belongs. Anna turned pale.

Johnny pressed against her. William stood up. — Who are you to barge into my house without knocking? The woman eyed him.

— Us? Parents of this one. Probably sang to you. All sorts of nonsense and lies.

Don’t believe it, drunken slut. One more word about my wife, and I won’t care that you’re a woman. She hiccuped.

— Who? — Wife. And this is my son. The adoption process is almost complete.

It was quiet for a minute, then the door slammed. That was the young husband of the mother leaving. She rushed after him.