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“We don’t have as”

“We could walk Juet there The kids are tough”

“Tough?” She pulled free of his hold, took a step back “They don’t have shoes that fit We have no money No food You’ve seen the Hooverville photos, what it’s like out there Anthony is seven How far do you think he can walk? You want hi train?”

“California is different,” he said stubbornly “There are jobs there”

“Your parents won’t leave You know that”

“We could go without them?” He made it a question, not a statement, and she could see how ashamed he was to even ask it

“Go without them?”

Rafe ran a hand through his hair and looked out over the dead wheat fields and the graves already on this land “This daht will kill them And us I can’t stand it anymore I can’t”

“Rafe … you can’t mean this”

This land was his heritage, their future, their children’s future The kids would grow up on this land, always knowing their history, knoho they were and who they’d coood day’s work They would belong so, the pain of it, but Elsa did, and she would never inflict that heartache on her children This was home He had to know that hard times ended Land endured Family endured How could he think they could just leave Tony and Rose here alone? It was unconscionable, unthinkable “When it rains—”

“Christ, I hate that sentence,” he said, sounding more bitter than she’d ever heard him

She saw the agony in his eyes, the disappointer

Elsa wanted to reach out and touch him but didn’t dare I love you burned in her dry throat “I just think—”

“I knohat you think”

He walked away and didn’t look back