Chapter Fifteen
“The play is in just four days,” Jillie stressed. “Some people don’t know their lines—and what if I forget the words of the song? I could ruin it all.”
Matt glanced in the rearview mirror at his daughter.
He shook his head. “I know that you’ll be great.
And that is not just your dad talking,” he added before she could deliver her usual response when he said such things.
“You know your lines because you have rehearsed them over and over. You know the stanza of the song you’re doing as a solo part, because you sing it enough around the house and at Ally’s, and you are prepared just like you have been for all the other plays and choir concerts you’ve done. ”
“But something could still go wrong,” Jillie responded.
“And there is something you can remember about that.” Ally spoke up from the front passenger seat, half turning to speak with the worried child.
“No one in the audience knows what the play is about. They don’t know what your lines are, and they don’t know the song.
Even if anyone makes a mistake on that stage, no one in the audience will be any the wiser and they will enjoy whatever the performance is, because they know you and your classmates are doing your very best. So, if you and your classmates will continue to do that, plus try to enjoy it at the same time, your audience will do the same. ”
Jillie shot her a smile. “That’s true. I never thought of it like that.”
Ally turned back to face front and caught Matt’s smile of thanks for what she had done for Jillie’s mood.
She smiled back and the rest of the ride to the Lockwood Ranch was enjoyable.
They passed through the gates and Ally became immersed in the fields where horses—many with foals at their sides—grazed.
Tall trees followed a creek that ran a few yards from the roadway and then they climbed through the trees, and she could see surrounding hills that enclosed a field of green where a beautiful sprawling house sat in the middle.
In the distance she could see barns down a side road.
“This is beautiful,” she said, as they parked in the circular driveway. “It is something out of one of those television shows about Texans and ranches.”
“But not nearly so dramatic, I hope.” Matt grinned as he opened the door for her and Jillie scrambled out of the back seat.
He reached onto the floorboard and withdrew the bouquet of flowers they had brought for Tori.
Ally held a wrapped package—she had managed to shop for and found a couple of cute little boy infant outfits that she thought Tori would like.
The front door opened, and Cade stood with a welcoming smile. “Come on in. Tori is in the living room with Joey, who had his dinner and is ready to receive his guests.”
For the next few minutes everyone made baby talk and smiled and laughed. Tori loved her flowers, and she fell in love with the little denim outfits that Ally had found. “Joseph will wear these when he goes to the play and the Fall Fest next Saturday.”
Cade shook his head. “If he goes—he might want to stay home a little longer.”
Tori gave a certain smile to her husband. “He will be just fine. The doctor said so. We will go to see Jillie’s play and make a quick circle through the festival and then head home. All depending of course on Joseph being in a good mood.” They all laughed.
“I hope you like the play, Aunt Tori. And the booths are really cool, and our pastry booth is the most awesome because Ally is the best baker ever and the whole town loves her cooking.”
“Really? Seems like I have heard that a time or two around town myself,” Tori responded. “My husband is particularly fond of your pecan fudge bars.”
“I do enjoy those,” Cade admitted with a grin.
“Speaking of food, Mrs. James is motioning for us. Let’s not keep her good food waiting.”
The dinner was wonderful. The conversation even better. Joey fell asleep in his mother’s arms and Cade took him from her and quietly moved toward the stairs. He glanced back and nodded to Ally to her surprise. “Would you like the fifty-cent tour of the house while I take him to the nursery?”
Ally wasn’t going to turn such an offer down.
She wanted to see more of the beautiful home with its winding grand staircase lined with portraits of Lockwoods, she surmised, and overseen by a beautiful chandelier of polished wood and lanterns.
The nursery was a child’s delight. Joey was going to enjoy it as he got older, but for the time being, his dad laid him gently inside the crib and then set the monitor so they could hear his slightest sound.
They tiptoed out. Once in the hallway, Ally was free to look at the photos and Cade named a few of them.
They were almost to the bottom of the stairs when he hesitated in front of an oval portrait of a man in a cowboy hat and clothing. He was seated in a chair and his hands rested one on each knee.
“This is my grandfather. He raised me and my sister. She was attracted to the bright lights and I wasn’t, so I became his shadow and he taught me everything I know.”
Ally noted the resemblance in the men. And then she noted something that made her go cold down her back.
She didn’t move or show surprise, but her gaze was riveted on his hand as it rested on his knee, his ring froze in her brain.
It was like the one she wore, sometimes on a chain around her neck and sometimes on the middle finger of her right hand.
But usually, it was on a chain as she was afraid of losing the one thing that made her feel close to Annie.
Annie had never taken off the necklace as long as she had known her.
And when she died, Mr. Jacobs had handed it to Ally with her love.
How could it be just like the one she had?
Cade stood close and could feel him watching her. What was it all about? She pulled the ring up from beneath her sweater on the chain that secured it. Her gaze met his steady one.
“I noticed it that first night at dinner at the café. I was wondering if that has something to do with what really brought you here to our town. You seem shocked.”
“I don’t understand how they are so similar.”
“They aren’t similar. The one on his hand was given over to the woman he loved all his life. But lost. That woman was not my grandmother, the woman he married. How did you come across it, Ally Jones?”
Ally had difficulty still trying to fit the pieces. “I was given this ring when someone very dear to me died and she left it to me. With specific instructions that baffled me at first but now seem to be becoming clearer.”
“I think we need to talk about this in more detail. And I don’t want to do it in front of the others until we know the whole story. Agreed?”
She nodded. “I think that’s wise.”
“Then let’s smile and join the others,” Cade said.
The rest of the evening was a blur as her mind was on the photo and the ring and how they all fit together. She knew she smiled and laughed when appropriate, but she couldn’t say what else happened until they were at the front door bidding Tori and Cade thanks and good night.
“I heard your remarks about the horses you saw earlier in the pasture, Ally.” Cade spoke up as they stood on the front porch.
“Would you like to see some of them up close and personal? We are moving some of them into the barns and such tomorrow. If you have the time, you could come out in the morning and visit.”
Ally was caught off guard for a moment, but then she found her voice. “I would love that.”
“Couldn’t I come, too?” Jillie piped up. “I love the horses.”
“You have something to do called school, remember?” Matt reminded her. “Can you find your way out here by yourself? I could bring you, but my morning is booked.”
She shook her head. “No worries. When I go to someplace new once, I can find my way there again. And there is a wonderful invention called the GPS.” They all laughed.
“It’s settled. I’ll expect you to join us about ten?”
“That will be wonderful.” Ally felt she could have won an award for the performance she went through as she sat in the dark of her front porch, bundled in a warm blanket and robe, thinking back over the evening.
No one seemed wiser. Only she and Cade knew the events of the conversation and discovery.
Tomorrow would come too slowly she feared.
And she feared more what might transpire when she shared what she knew with Cade.
*
It had been a sleepless night. Ally dressed, including the usual chain with its ring, which she often had seen Annie rub between her fingers absently, her thoughts far away, Ally could tell in those moments.
She knew that the woman was in a place that was far better than the present and she often envied her that.
They never really spoke about the details, but Ally knew that the ring and a town called Destiny’s River was where Annie’s heart had remained.
The gate was open as it had been the evening before.
She wondered as she had driven out what Cade might have told Tori about the ring, and Ally wondered if she should have shared the information with Matt.
Would he be upset in some way that she had not confided in him?
But she hadn’t thought it would even concern him.
Except now, the bits and pieces were falling into place.
Cade was standing in the driveway talking to a man who held the reins of a beautiful horse. She wished she was just there to see the horses and not on the errand she was there for today. But she had vowed to honor Annie’s last wish, and she would do it no matter what.
“Good morning, Ally,” Cade greeted her as she stepped out of the car. “Ally Jones, this is James Stoddard, he’s my equine manager—a fancy name for horse whisperer extraordinaire.”
The older man had removed his hat and nodded his welcome. “Fancy name but just a cowboy all the same.” He grinned.