"She's not the only one who thinks that."
Eli shook his head.
"Everybody against me today?"
Emma smiled.
"Not today."
Across the field, Lily was helping children plant tomatoes.
The sun began to sink behind the trees.
For a moment, Eli remembered the farm as it had been when he was a boy.
His grandfather walking across the pasture.
His father repairing a tractor.
The old barn standing against the sky.
Everything seemed so permanent then.
He had believed land could stop time.
It couldn't.
Nothing could.
Buildings burned.
People moved away.
Businesses failed.
Neighborhoods changed.
Children grew up.
And roads that once divided people could become the paths that brought them together.
Eli walked slowly toward the field.
Lily spotted him.
"Grandpa!"
She ran over.
He crouched carefully.
"What?"
"Come see!"
She pulled him toward a row of young plants.
"I planted these."
Eli looked at them.
Small.
Fragile.
Alive.
"Good work."
"Do you think they'll grow?"
He looked at her.
"Yes."
"How do you know?"
Eli smiled.
"Because somebody took the time to plant them."
Lily thought about that.
Then she asked:
"Grandpa?"
"Yeah?"
"Will this farm still be here when I'm old?"
Eli looked across the land.
He didn't promise.
He couldn't.
Instead, he gave her the answer his grandfather had once given his father.
"That depends on you."
Lily smiled.
"I'll keep it."
Eli shook his head.
"Don't keep it."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Make it better."
She nodded seriously.
"I will."
Eli stood.
Behind