Reclaimed (40 page)

Love never fails.

The picture seemed like a promise.

Suzanna turned her car in the drive and waited at the gate. She gave her name and sat with knots tying a mess in her stomach. The man in the black hat opened the metal gate and waved her through. Too late to turn back.

Mother opened the door, dressed like a woman of wealthy English breeding. Suzanna was surprised a housemaid hadn’t greeted her instead.

“Security claimed it was you. I couldn’t believe it.” Mother spoke as if she were explaining her presence at the door.

Seemed fitting. Mother looked her over, reproach lurking in her eyes. Maybe Suzanna should have done some clothes shopping before she showed up.

Tugging on her hoodie, Suzanna cleared her throat. “It’s me.”

Mother pushed a smile onto her face. “I’m glad. Won’t you come in?”

“Just a sec, Mother.” Suzanna dropped down the front steps of the massive Tudor-style stone house. “I have something in the car for you. Let me get it.”

She turned to the car, rubbing her hands along her jeans.
Jesus, I don’t know if I can do this.

It was a must though. She opened the back door and pulled out a three-gallon potted plant. Careful not to catch her skin on the thorns, she settled it against her hip and returned to the house.

“What is it?” Mother scowled.

Suzanna steadied her emotions. “A David Austin rose. This one is William Shakespeare. You told my neighbor at Thanksgiving you were Katrina Pembroke. I must have missed that you got married. I wanted to get you something—to say congratulations.”

Mother’s lips parted, and her eyes rounded. Something soft overcame the sharp edge of her demeanor. For the first time Suzanna could ever remember, her mother had nothing whatsoever to say.

“I can plant it, if you want me to.” Suzanna went on in a timid voice. “I thought the old double-bloom style would fit well in one of your English gardens.”

Mother’s mouth closed, but her face didn’t harden. “That’s okay, Suzanna. We have a gardener for that.” Her eyes perused the glossy green leaves and soft crimson blossoms.

Was there approval in her appraisal?

“Thank you, Suzanna. It will fit quite nicely.” Mother cleared her throat. “Would you like to come in? I can have some tea made.”

Tea with my mother
. Who would have ever thought? “Just for a bit. I’m heading out of town today.”

Mother’s lips moved as though there were a question on them, but she stilled them and nodded. Suzanna followed her into the travertine-tiled entry, leaving the potted rose on the front step.

She’d never been in Mr. Pembroke’s house. His stables were on the other side of his estate, and so she’d driven by it many times, but never had she laid eyes on the interior. Never had she wanted to.

She felt like a filthy beggar, walking around in her canvas tennis shoes and worn-out jeans. She expected a rebuke for it at any moment.

“Are you going back to Nebraska?” Mother settled herself in a satin-covered, wing-back chair.

Suzanna looked around. The ornate couch was cream colored. The opposite wing-back chair matched its light blue twin. She’d taint either one with her street clothing. Should she sit on the floor? “I am.”

Mother seemed not to notice her standing with her hands tucked into her kangaroo pocket. “What brought you out here for such a short visit?”

She tried not to gulp. “I’ve been in Greeley for three weeks.”

Mother’s eyebrows arched. “Oh.”

Was that disappointment?

“Are you moving back?”

Mother didn’t like her. Never approved of her. Why would she want her here?

“I…” Suzanna twisted her hands together. “I’m not sure. I had some things I needed to work through, and I couldn’t do it in Rock Creek, but—”

“There’s something between you and that farmer—rancher. Sorry.” Mother sat back against the chair.

Suzanna let her gaze drop from her mother’s face to the gleaming mahogany floor. “He’s a good man, Mother,” she whispered.

She waited in the silence, preparing herself for the onslaught of disapproval.

Mother sighed. “Well, if things don’t work out, William has the apartment above the carriage house. You’re welcome to land there, if you want.”

Holy buckets. Really? No lecture and a kind offer all in one breath? Suzanna’s eyes flickered back to her mother’s.

Mother offered a strained smile. She settled her eyes over Suzanna again, and she sat up. “Is he good to you, Suzanna?”

“Yes.” Her breathless whisper squeezed past a fresh wave of ache.
He’s too good for me, Mother, but he loves me.

“Good.” Mother managed another forced smile.

Suzanna accepted it, amazed she’d gotten one at all.

Paul wiped his feet against the bristled doormat on the porch before he let himself inside. Done. Calving was done, and he could go home. He’d close things up and take off in the morning. The prospect seemed bittersweet. He missed the kids and needed to see his mom to make sure she was doing okay. Wanted to share a meal with Tom and Dre. But driving past Suzanna’s empty house…

Worries for another day.

He flipped on the kitchen light and headed for the sink when something sitting on his table stopped him cold. Lucky Charms. Doing an about-face, he set his stride back out the door. He moved to the end of the porch, in the opposite direction of the barn, and peered around the corner of the house. A black Honda sat empty in his drive. His heart did a jump-kick and then began to throb.

After an about-face, he moved back to the door. Reaching back into the house for his coat, Paul scanned the property. The pond lay peaceful in the gathering dusk, but a lone figure stood on the end of the dock, facing the water. A smile bloomed in his chest before it tickled his lips.

When his boots hit the wood planks of the dock, she turned, her eyes timid but lovely.

“Someone brought me a new box of Lucky Charms.” He stopped in front of her.

“Yes”—her smile made the homesick feeling go away—“there’s no accounting for taste.”

Paul chuckled, locking eyes with her. Those blue gems danced with life. With peace. He slid a hand along her jaw and then cupped her face. “You found it,” he whispered.

Tears made her eyes sheen, and she nodded as though she knew exactly what he was talking about. “He found me, actually. Had been there all along. I just couldn’t see Him.”

Something wet fell on his cheek. She reached to brush it away, and he held her hand against his whisker-shadowed face. “Love never fails.” The whisper started in his heart and left his lips with absolute wonder.

Suzanna nodded, her lips quivering with a small cry, and he pulled her in close with both arms. Her voice shook against his chest. “Praise God.”

Praise God indeed.

EPILOGUE

Suzanna sat on a step of Paul’s covered back porch, watching the evening settle over the pond beyond his backyard. The small purple wildflowers of early May blended into the silver ripples of water. A canvas of peace. Something to smile about, especially considering it was only a tiny stock pond.

She stretched her arms and leaned back as the delicious ache of sore muscles whispered accomplishment. Two hundred shrub cherries in the ground. Twenty-five apple saplings lined her little orchard. With Paul digging at her side, she’d planted every single one. The daring step felt like flight, and the thrill made her giggle.

Paul came out the screen door, and she listened to the rhythm of his boots clicking against the decking. He dropped down on the top step behind her, one booted foot landing on either side of her seat. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, and she leaned against him.

“There’s an understated beauty in this Nebraska of yours.” She smiled, though she doubted he could see it. “Something you can’t see or know while flying down a highway at sixty-five.”

He chuckled, the rumble coming through his chest and tickling her ear. “Yep. Don’t tell anyone though. We like to keep it a secret. Keeps those city slickers out.”

She bumped his knee in a playful rebuke, and he tightened his arms around her.

“So,” he spoke just above her ear, “I’ve been thinking, but I’m a little hesitant to ask because I’m not wearing a helmet, and I know how dead set you’ve been about staying in your daddy’s house, but…”

Her heart leapt into a run as he drew out the pause. “But what?”

“Well, I was wondering if you’d consider relocating.”

She grinned. “Where would I go?”

“Just down the road is all. There’s a bigger farmhouse there. Recently remodeled. Pretty view out back.”

She tipped her face to his. “Does it come with a blue-eyed cowboy?”

His smile made his eyes dance. “Package deal, but we’d have to get married first. I’m kind of old-fashioned like that.”

His eyes grew deep and sincere.

“Is that a proposal, Paul?”

He unfolded his arms and opened a fist against his knee. An antique diamond set in a white-gold band rested in his rough palm. Suzanna fingered it as tingles raced through her body.

“Well?” He suddenly sounded breathless.

She turned her attention back to his face. “I’m gonna have to hear the words.”

He grinned, slid the ring onto her ring finger and tipped her chin.

“Just say yes, Pickle.”

She barely had the syllable out before his mouth found hers.

For I will pour out water on the thirsty land,

And streams on the dry ground;

I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring,

And My blessing on your descendants;

And they will spring up among the grass

Like poplars by streams of water.

~Isaiah 44:3-4~