A Memory Worth Dying For (23 page)

As he watched, Daniel was surprised to see Marti turn her back to Midnight and slowly walk across the ring, keeping her back to the horse.

“Now, she’s showing the colt she’s ready to accept him back.”

Daniel watched in fascination as the horse stared at Marti for a few moments before slowly walking up to her back. The horse lifted his head over Marti’s shoulder and nudged her gently.

“Amazing,” Daniel whispered.

“Just wait and see.”

Suddenly, his father’s knowledge startled him. “How do you know what she’s doing?”

His father put his finger over his lips. “S
hhh!
” He pointed toward Marti.

Daniel’s gaze drifted back toward Marti. He saw her turn to the horse and rub its neck. She walked to the side of the ring with Midnight following behind and picked up a blanket from the top of the fence. While patting the colt with one hand, she placed the blanket on his back with the other. The colt immediately bucked it off. Marti picked up the blanket and let Midnight smell the blanket. He snorted but stood still. After a minute or two, she rubbed the colt’s neck and again placed the blanket back on his back. This time the horse didn’t move. His head twisted a little to the side, but he stood perfectly still. While Marti walked around the fence, the colt followed. She stopped in front of a saddle balanced on the top plank of the ring.

Daniel recognized the old saddle as one he used frequently for breaking horses. Marti pulled it down and gently laid it on the horse’s back. Midnight snorted and twisted his head around but left the saddle in place.

“She’s not going to ride him, is she, Dad? Apollo’s already thrown her once.”

“
Shhhh
” was his only response.

Marti slowly and gently pulled the girth underneath and tightened it just enough to keep it on. Then she turned and walked away.

Daniel was astonished to see the colt follow her around the ring with the saddle on his back. Midnight acted as if it wasn’t there at all.

After a couple of turns around the ring, Marti walked to the middle of the circle and stopped. The colt followed. She turned and patted the horse. Daniel could see her mouth moving and knew she was talking in soft, soothing tones. She reached in her pocket and gave the horse a snack. After a few minutes, she put one foot in the stirrup and put her weight on the horse’s back. Midnight shifted to the side but turned to watch Marti as if waiting to see what she would do next.

Marti dismounted and tightened the cinch a couple more notches before she lifted herself up into the saddle.

The colt jumped and pranced around the ring, but he didn’t buck or try to get Marti off his back. The easy going but firm tones of her voice reached Daniel’s ears as the colt calmed down and settled into a steady walk.

A feeling of wonder swelled inside Daniel. Marti was remarkable. What a special woman. He watched in awe as she led the colt around the ring at a walk. When she pulled back on the reins, the colt acted a bit uncertain but finally stopped. Marti patted him again, talked quietly, and gently prodded him with the heel of her shoe. Midnight jumped and started walking again.

Gerald’s chest stuck out as he turned to Daniel and smiled. “Now, what do you think of that? Don’t you think Marti’s technique is a lot better than needing a chiropractor at the end of a workout?”

“Amazing.” Daniel was stunned. “She just did in a short time what takes me much longer to do. It’s definitely much easier on the horse.”

“And the man’s backside.”

Daniel smiled. Gerald patted him on the back. “It’s all about trust, Daniel. Trust can move mountains. You might remember that, son.” Gerald winked and then carefully climbed down the bleachers.

Daniel watched as his father walked from the building and had the definite feeling his dad had been trying to tell him something.

FORTY-TWO

MARTI LOOKED UP FROM RUBBING
Midnight’s neck to see Daniel entering the ring.

“Daniel. I thought you were in town.”

“I haven’t been here long. I left Veronica at the florist. All those wedding preparations make my head hurt.”

Marti’s thoughts raced back to their wedding seven years ago. Daniel had insisted on attending every aspect of their wedding plans—cake tasting, flower arranging party, and the three showers they were given. His not wanting to be involved didn’t sound like the Daniel she knew—or at least a Daniel who was excited about his own wedding.

She waved an arm at the ring. “I’m sorry—”

“That was absolutely incredible.”

She was shocked. “You’re not angry?”

Surprise turned Daniel’s eyes a brighter shade of brown. “Why would I be angry?”

“I was training one of your horses without your permission. I know how important the initial training is to the future behavior of a horse.”

“Well, from what I saw, you took the fear right out of Midnight. Anything that gentles a green colt has to make his training a whole lot easier.”

“Just because he’s wearing a saddle now doesn’t mean he’ll do it first thing tomorrow. He’ll have to get used to the idea gradually.”

“Still, that was amazing. I’ve never seen anyone break a horse that gently. And I thought you were a beginner.”

Daniel was paying her a compliment? Marti looked up into his eyes, and her heart stuttered. So many tender memories flooded into the tiny room of her heart. She would drown in the pain if she didn’t do something. She looked down at the sawdust and tried to breathe.

Daniel took Midnight’s halter and called for Max.

“Take him, Max, and give him a few extra oats. He deserves it.”

Max nodded and beamed from ear to ear as he led Midnight back to his reward.

Daniel waved Marti over to the bottom seat on the bleachers, and they sat down together. He lifted her chin so he could look into her eyes.

“Marti, I’m sorry about the other day. It shouldn’t have happened. I don’t know what it is about you, but I feel this connection. On one hand, I feel like I’m in a tunnel and I want to explore down that pathway. I’m convinced that at the end of the tunnel there will be something wonderful.”

Marti’s voice was quiet and thoughtful. “And on the other hand?”

Daniel’s lips tightened. “On the other hand, there’s Veronica. We grew up together, went to school together, learned to ride horses together. We’ve dated for years.”

Marti’s mouth opened as if she wanted to say something, but she bit her lip instead.

“Now we’re getting married. I can’t ignore that part of my life.”

Marti sat still for a moment and then whispered, “Do you love her?”

Daniel started and stared at her. “My father asked me the same question.”

“What did you tell him?”

For a minute, he hesitated. She could see flakes of indecision in his eyes, but she gazed deeply into the brown spheres, begging him to be honest with himself.

“I’m comfortable with Veronica. I just don’t know how I feel about our friendship moving into something more . . . intimate, to be honest with you.”

“How did you feel about marriage when you married the first time?”

“That, I can’t remember. My dad says it was nothing like this, but look how it turned out.”

Marti turned to face him and took his hand in hers. “Daniel, I know you can’t remember your wife, and from what you’ve told me, you don’t want to. But, according to your father, you obviously loved her at one time because you married her. If you’re uncertain of your feelings, maybe you should at least wait on your marriage with Veronica until you get your memories back so you can remember what love feels like.”

Daniel’s eyes were sienna brown in the sunlight filtering into the arena from the skylights overhead, but it wasn’t the color Marti saw—it was pure, undiluted pain. Concern for him and his happiness burned so bright in her eyes that she knew he couldn’t miss what they were telling him.

“Why do you care?”

Marti couldn’t concentrate with his eyes boring into hers, so she dropped his hand and walked a short distance away. “I believe God has a perfect plan for our lives—the right place to live, an appropriate job, an ideal mate. When we step outside the plan He has for us, it messes up everything.” She turned to him then. “Maybe you should pray about your decision.”

Daniel stood up impatiently. “I don’t know how to pray, and to be honest, I’m not sure there is a God who answers prayers anyway. My dad told me before my accident I became a believer in God and what the Bible teaches, but I don’t feel it in here.” He placed his hand over his heart. “My professors in college said the Bible is just a good piece of literature. Do you believe the Bible is God’s book?”

“Oh yes. There’re too many irrefutable facts that
prove
it’s really God’s Word.”

“That’s not what my professors taught. Give me one good piece of evidence that the Bible is God’s Word?”

“I can give you several.”

“Yeah? I’ll listen to one, so give it your best shot.”

She laughed. “Hashtag: pressure.” She stepped toward him. “Okay. I’ll start with one, and then maybe you’ll let me tell you the others later?”

He grinned out of the corner of his mouth. “We’ll see.”

She laughed and raised one finger in the air. “One—there are more than two thousand specific predictions in the Bible that have come true—and not only have they all come true, but a lot of them came true hundreds and sometimes thousands of years
after
the writers of the Bible predicted. They’re very specific too—not these general predictions made by palm readers or psychics you hear about today, and they don’t contradict each other.”

“Is that true?”

“Look in your history books. The Bible predicted the fall of great empires like Rome, Greece, and Babylon. It even predicted the specific circumstances surrounding the fall of Babylon. If you know your history, Babylon was a great city and has affected almost every area of our lives today. They came up with the first algebra equations, baked bricks, even the alphabet. They also, in some ways, influenced our laws, science, art, astrology, and so much more. As great as they were, you would have thought they would still be around today. But the Bible predicted they would fall—with over one hundred specific predictions or prophecies about Babylon’s fall that came true
years
after the prophecies were written. There were predictions about Jerusalem too . . . that it would be destroyed and then restored. That also came true.”

“That’s two reasons,” he teased.

She laughed. “Well, maybe, but it’s all about the Bible predictions.”

“Okay, okay. You’re right; it gives me something to think about. You seem passionate about Bible history. How do you know so much about it?”

Marti froze. Should she tell Daniel she was a believer? Would he shun her if she did?

“I believe the Bible is God’s book to us, Daniel” she admitted, gazing off into the distance. “I believe the Bible tells us that Jesus came to earth as a baby to be a blameless sacrifice for our sins. He died on the cross for those same sins and rose again to offer us salvation from an eternity in hell.”

Daniel was quiet. “I wish I could remember why I believed . . . as my dad said . . . but I’m not ready to step into something I’m not sure about.”

Marti turned to Daniel and put her hands on each side of his face. “If that’s true about your future in eternity, then why are you willing to step into something as important as marriage when you’re not sure about it either?”

Daniel’s gaze never left hers. Marti could see in his expression that he got the point. His eyes turned the bright shade of brown that made her stomach tingle. She caressed one check then forced herself to turn around and walk toward the house.

This decision was something Daniel had to settle for himself. Maybe he would listen to her words and give himself a little more time. For the first time since she arrived, she felt a flicker of hope blaze up into a flame of possibility.

FORTY-THREE

ZACH PARSONS STEPPED OUT OF
the bunkhouse cabin on the Rushing estate and gazed at the morning fog wafting down from the mountains. What a beautiful sight. He frowned as he turned toward the barn. Of all days to wake up late. Today was the annual Quarter Horse Association picnic, and as soon as everyone finished their morning chores, all the hired hands had the rest of the day off. He had plans for the day. Starting late would put him behind. He’d have to wolf down a breakfast bar out of the kitchen instead of a hot meal.

He shrugged into a light jacket and felt something jingling in the pocket. Reaching inside, he pulled out his set of work keys.
That’s
where they were. He thought he’d never see them again after he lost them last week. He sure didn’t remember slipping them into his work jacket.

Zach shrugged and slammed the door shut. His thoughts wandered to his conversation with Jordan Welsh. Should he leave the Rushing farm and move to the Welsh setup? He’d been promised he’d make more money. He needed to stay here a little longer and learn more about Daniel’s training practices; then he’d impress Jordan with his abilities. Daniel’s methods didn’t seem that hard to copy—being patient was the only difference he could see. If he could learn how to get good results, he’d be popular with all the ranches in the area.

Inside the kitchen, he grabbed a breakfast bar and a honeybun before striding the distance to the barn, eating as he went. At the barn, he opened the small door to the office. Chores for each stable hand were posted daily on the bulletin board right inside the door. Lately, he’d done nothing but muck out stalls. He hated that job. It’d be a whole lot better if his chores were something different today—like feeding hay or sweeping the barn walkway for the visitors coming to the picnic.

His name was first on the list.
Muck out stalls one through ten.
Empty trash cans and haul to dumpster.
Straighten shelves in storage room. Muck out stalls ten through twenty.

A groan escaped his lips. He threw his breakfast bar wrapper into one of the empty wheelbarrows stacked against the wall as he slipped the honeybun into his pocket, jerked down one of the flat shovels, and pitched it into the wheelbarrow. Working for the Welsh ranch looked sweeter and sweeter. Maybe he’d take that job, after all. He’d love to chuck this job and move on to better things. His real dream was training show horses, and if he could make Daniel’s method work, he’d be able to find a job anywhere—and name his salary.