The narrator and his father talk about the fine place they had last year and the narrator promises him that they'll get a place just as fine, maybe even better, this year. This cheers up the old man and he calls in the old woman who is in the other room with the baby and asks her if she remembers the place from last year. Coming across the place had been fool’s luck. They went down through Oregon and Washington and worked on farms during picking season and didn't save very much money. They ran out of gas in the middle of a little town and the narrator met a rancher named Fentrup and convince him to let them work on his ranch. 

That’s how the family got the place last summer. The narrator was eighteen and Fentrup paid them $50 a month. Upon arriving, the mother admires the house as the family puts their groceries away and starts dinner. For once, the child doesn't cry. In the morning, Fentrup shows them the projects he wants done. The family has fun working together and when the narrator returns to the house, his mother is humming and the kid is running around. Fentrup is happy with their work and pays them well. When the barn is finished, the narrator cracks open the pint of whiskey and they drink together. 

They use their extra money to go to the movies and as they leave a man calls them bums behind their backs. The narrator pushes the man against the wall with one hand and when he looks scared, he just laughs and walks away. The old couple is shaken but the narrator comforts them. Fentrup gives them an extra $20 for the barn and asks them to do a few more things. The narrator starts to suspect that another big project is coming and, sure enough, next week Fentrup says he wants to add a room to his house and put in a new roof, which the family completes. Fentrup rewards them with a bathtub, toilet, and laundry tray for their place and the old woman is very pleased. 

Then one day, Fentrup drives up looking uneasy and he tells the family he’s broke and can’t afford to house them any longer. The old man suggests that Fentrup lowers their salary, but the boss says he can’t do that in good conscience. The old woman is upset and they leave after a couple of days. This year, the family remembers how great the place was and they continue to hope that something like it will happen again.