Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
An old rose-print teapot had been placed on the front porch the following morning when Hannah let herself out of the house at dawn.
She couldn’t contain a silly smile as she plucked the note taped to the lid.
Morning sunshine.
Come down to the south bunkhouse.
Memories of him calling her “sunshine” swam through her. His chicken scratch was the same, hastily scrawled, but even so, she pressed the note to her chest before she headed off to see what he had in store for her.
She’d stayed awake for a long while after she’d formulated a Forgiveness Tea and had a cup, thinking about his apology and what he’d said.
How could she not? Later, with her eyes closed, she’d put her hand to her heart and simply breathed, letting the lingering hurt rise, the memories, and yeah, even the pain of old dreams—of family dinners and making a home together.
By the time she’d finally drifted off to sleep, she felt the first frissons of gratitude. She felt freer of the past than ever before. Her heart was more open. The irony of the person who’d hurt her helping her heal had been with her when she’d awoken.
But with his honesty and his regret, Ben was helping her. She hoped she was doing the same for him. Some people might call her crazy after how he’d hurt her, yet maybe it was her healing nature. But she couldn’t and didn’t want to carry a grudge or any of this pain forward.
Clearly, neither did Ben.
She wrapped her arms around herself at the chill in the yard. Animals munched on their breakfast, and ranch hands were beginning their day. She waved to a few in the quiet morning light covering the ranch. Mornings were peaceful here, and she’d always loved them.
When she reached the south bunkhouse, her heart turned over. A young black foal slept on a bed of hay, covered with a blanket, with her gorgeous mama, a black Arabian, standing guard. Ben had taped another sign there.
Hi, I’m Windgate!
Orion and Frenzy’s little girl.
My leg got cut.
Will you help me?
After making friends with the mother, she leaned down and slowly lifted the blanket so she wouldn’t wake the foal.
Wincing at the nasty cut on her leg, Hannah decided she’d have to go back to the house and grab some plantain salve.
Some years back, she’d healed one of Ben’s horses with a gash all the way to the bone, one that the vet hadn’t been able to heal.
She rose and smiled down softly at the sweet little horse. Funny how she hadn’t thought about Orion siring horses, but of course, Ben would have wanted his bloodlines passed down. Clearly, he’d found a good match. That he would entrust one of the horses in his special project touched her deeply.
Then she saw the sign on the bunkhouse door and got a little teary-eyed. Hannah’s Healing Place. He’d printed the letters in black magic marker, taking extra time to make them legible.
Oh, Ben…
As she let herself inside, she pressed her hand to her mouth.
Two old bookshelves were against the far wall, along with an assortment of crockery for her herbs, she imagined.
An old table was in the corner with a trio of handmade drying racks for her herbs made out of recycled wood and chicken wire, something he’d rigged for her before in happier days.
Her heart was near bursting out of her chest as she walked around the space. He’d found a desk and two chairs and placed them beside an old Monarch cookstove in the corner. She noted another sign taped to the stove.
I couldn’t drag her out by myself at two o’clock in the morning, but she’ll be departing the area unless you want to use her to make your salves.
The note confirmed how late he must have worked and that he would do so directly after they’d talked, when he had a million things to do and needed his sleep.
She was deeply touched. This was shades of the old Ben, the one who’d erected a lemonade stand in town when she’d said she wanted it, or who used to bring her hurt animals to heal, saying it made her happy.
If this was how he planned on making things up to her, she was almost speechless.
Then she spotted a bouquet of wildflowers tied together with a strip of rawhide beside a blue ceramic vase from the main house on an apothecary cabinet under the window.
Where had he gotten that piece of furniture—she looked at the time—four hours ago?
She pulled the flowers to her chest and felt the strong beat of her heart. Warmth was spreading inside her.
To think of him doing all this…
Oh, he was getting to her but fast.
The foal was still sleeping when she let herself out. She expected to see Ben as she walked back to Will’s house for her salve, but he must have made himself scarce. Maybe he was a little embarrassed? She would have to tell him not to be.
After bandaging the colt, she headed to the barn and saddled Orion. “Your little girl is in good hands, I promise.”
Flame continued to ignore her, which still hurt deeply, but today she wasn’t giving in to the pangs of regret in her chest or the slight soreness she had getting back into the saddle.
No, she was going to smile as she rode out to visit her sister, thinking about the little foal she’d helped and how Ben had stayed up late, giving her something that fed her soul.
The sky was a breathtaking painting of blues, pinks, and golds, looking like colorful ribbons above the gray jagged peaks of Wild Mountain. She breathed in the smell of pine and summer and felt her heart break open all the way, as open as the magnificent sky above.
Urging Orion into a gallop, she savored the cool breeze across her face as they flew across the valley and headed up the trail to Sarah’s place.
The lone tree whispered its greeting when she arrived. Tying Orion’s reins to a bush, she walked over and sat down with her back against it. The quiet was luxurious, the kind of sacred silence in which a person knew they could hear the whisper of truth from their soul.
“Sarah…”
Her simple call was met with another rustle of the leaves in the tree above her. She found it easier to smile today.
“I’m glad you told Will to bring me home,” she whispered. “I needed to be here.”
Staying in Scotland wouldn’t have given her this peace. She and Ben had needed to talk, and after all these years, they’d clearly been more mature in handling their issues.
She wanted to work here. Ben giving her a healing space felt like him preempting her work at the center with his brother. She could start now. Helping people was her calling, and she could do it right away whenever there was a need.
The gentle breeze continued to play with the ends of her hair. The leaves continued to rustle. She soaked up every life-giving moment and felt renewed. Reborn, in fact.
She and Ben could coexist. She could feel it in her bones. Not that she was saying anything to Will quite yet. She still had time, but she didn’t just have hope now. She felt the firm grounding of real possibility.
Her life could be here, back in her hometown, among the people she loved.
When she decided to head back, she pressed a kiss to her fingers and blew it into the wind. Perhaps it was silly to send her sister a kiss, but the act made her happy.
Pushing off the ground, she walked over to Orion.
After untangling his reins, she dropped them.
Leaning down, she caught a piece of paper sticking out of the underbrush beneath the bush.
Recognition flared, and she drew the note out, the purple ribbon coming along with it where it was sewn through the paper.
The words were still legible but a little faded.
Morning, my love.
Have a good day in the saddle.
Lift your face to the sun from time to time,
and know that warmth is what I feel for you.
Always.
Hannah
She pressed her lips together as memories washed over her. She’d loved composing her notes to Ben and then using a leather needle to weave a ribbon through so she could tie it to a tree branch.
A girlish action maybe…but she’d had so many feelings inside her. A note had been a tangible—and romantic—way to share them with him.
She looked across the clearing. A shiver came over her then, as if her sister was wrapping her in a gentle embrace.
She shook her head. Her sister had told Will her wishes about Ben and Hannah getting back together, saying they still loved each other.
“Sarah, you’re a little rascal,” she called out with a short laugh.
Clearly, her sister was still on the case.