Martha took Jenny in her motherly arms, and Mary joined them. They hugged her, letting her cry until she didn’t need to cry any more.
“You know what, Jenny?” Martha said, stroking Jenny’s hair. “Everything is going to be alright. You are with us now. Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”
Jenny nodded her thanks, believing her.
“Good night, dear. Sleep in as long as you need to. We’ll see you in the morning,” Martha said, then gently closed the door behind her.
Jenny just stood there for several moments, emotionally drained. She could not remember when was the last time she had cried like that. And especially when was the last time she had cried in the arms of a loving mother. She realized now that it was something she had been needing for a long, long time.
When she had gathered herself together, she put down the clothes and other things that she had been holding, and took a look around her room. It was an extremely pleasant room that was very nicely appointed. It was the guest bedroom, so it was neither a boy’s room, nor a girl’s room.
"Well, look at that," she said quietly to herself, as she glanced over the titles on the single bookshelf of reading materials that were available for the guests. There, sure enough, was a Dale Brown hardback novel. She pulled it off the shelf and opened it to the first blank page. Inside, was penned, “To Hugh, best of wishes to you, Dale Brown.”
She then went into the bathroom. Like the bedroom, it was thoughtfully supplied with all the amenities that a guest might need who had showed up with nothing of his or her own.
She decided to take a shower, so she went back into the bedroom, and collected the things that she would need from what Mary had given her. Dear, sweet, thoughtful Mary. What an incredible family.
She went into the bathroom, and took off her clothes. When the shower temperature was just right she stepped in, luxuriating at how good the hot stream of water felt. It had been ages since she had been able to take a good, long, private shower somewhere other than at a truck stop.
Then, with thoughts of guilt over how she had so deeply hurt a man who had come from such a wonderful family, her emotions began to well up in her again. With the shower water coursing down over her head and shoulders, she leaned with both hands against the shower wall and let her body heave with more huge, wracking sobs.
Finally, all spent, she turned off the shower, dried off, put on the flannel nightgown and climbed into the bed.
The bed, like everything else in this dream house, was perfect—perfectly comfortable. For the first time in a long, long time she felt safe, loved, and relaxed. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep cocooned within the soft sheets and thick down comforter, was that she was definitely going to make things right with the man she loved.
Jenny woke to perfect silence. The huge log structure absorbed sound. None of the outside noises, nor anything going on inside the house downstairs made it upstairs to her room.
She made herself presentable in her bathroom, and then donned the clothes that Mary had selected for her. The blue jeans fit perfectly, and the knit pullover top was fashionable, yet practical for doing casual things around the ranch.
She admired the look in her full-length mirror. We could be twin sisters, she thought, and she certainly appreciated Mary’s taste in clothes.
Jenny descended the stairs, fully expecting to see the family assembled around the breakfast table. Instead, all she saw was Martha, who was just finishing up the morning dishes.
“Well, good morning, young lady,” Martha greeted her warmly. “I saved some breakfast for you. Do you eat breakfast?”
“I’m starved, thank you,” Jenny said. “But, I don’t want to be any trouble. I see everybody else has already been here and gone.”
“It’s no trouble, dear. Hugh hasn’t come down yet, either.”
That bit of news surprised, Jenny, as she knew that Hugh didn’t like to dawdle around in bed.
Just as she was sitting down to a plate of eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast, orange juice and coffee, Mary burst into the kitchen. “Buck is gone, Ma! Did Dad or Roly ride out today?”
“No, dear.” Mary’s mom said. “They’re working up at the north pasture repairing fence. I saw them take the truck out.”
Then Mary and Martha shouted at the same time, “Hugh!”
Jenny followed them up the stairs, and through a door into a room that was two doors past her own room. Hugh was not there. Mary looked around the room, then told the other two, “Well, that stinker must have snuck out early this morning on one of his disappearances. His sleeping bag is gone, and the rest of his camping gear. And that is where he keeps his rifle,” Mary said, pointing to the far corner, which was empty of any rifle.
“Well, at least he took his Bible,” Martha said, noting the rectangle of dustless area on Hugh’s nightstand. “He’ll be alright. He just needs some time alone in the mountains.”
Mary saw Jenny’s confusion, and explained, “My brother doesn’t come home very often, maybe a couple of times a year, and sometimes he’s so frazzled he just takes off into the mountains to unwind. He always comes back a whole new person.”
Martha said, looking at Jenny, “I have a feeling that something’s happened recently.”
“You just wouldn’t believe what we have been through this past week,” she said.
“Would you care to talk about it?” Martha asked in a kind voice.
“It’s a long, long story, and would take a lot of time,” Jenny replied.
“How about we find something to do together, and then we can talk to while away the time,” Martha offered.
Then, Jenny turned to Mary, “What do you do with your days?” She was somewhat hoping for an invite to go to the stable, and possibly to ride one of their beautiful horses.
“I’m done with my morning chores, so I’ve got to hit the school books,” Mary answered.
“You’re a senior in high school, then?” Jenny asked.
“No, actually, I’m in my last semester of college, finishing up my degree in architectural design.”
Jenny was stunned by this revelation. She had never heard of such a thing—an 18-year-old graduating from college?
Mary saw the surprised look on Jenny’s face. “I was homeschooled all my life,” she explained. “And, you’ve probably noticed I’m a bit of a type A. I breezed through high school, taking quite a few dual-credit courses to get a jump on college, and I then started college officially when I was 16.”
“Wow!” was all Jenny could think to say. Then she asked, “What about Roly?”
“He’s had his law degree for a couple of years now,” Martha said.
“So he’s a lawyer?” Jenny asked, perplexed at the idea of him practicing law out on the cow pasture.
“No. He has decided to enter the medical field instead. Right now, he’s just earning enough to start at the medical college where he has been accepted.”
Then Jenny asked about Hugh.
“We went the traditional route with Hugh,” Martha said. “We didn’t wise up about how rotten the whole government school system was until it was time for Roly to start school.”
“I’ve got to get cracking,” Mary said. “I’ll see you guys later.”
Then she added as she went through the doorway, “By the way, Jenny, do you like horses? Have you ridden?”
Jenny was suddenly shy about answering because she knew enough about Mary by now to figure that she was probably an excellent horsewoman. “My uncle let me take lessons for a couple of years when I was younger,” she replied. “I’m probably still a beginner, compared to where you are at,” she said.
“We’ll see,” Mary said. “I’ll look you up this afternoon, and we can give it a go.”
Martha reminded Jenny that she hadn’t had a chance to finish her breakfast. So, they went downstairs. Martha puttered around the kitchen for a bit while Jenny finished her excellent breakfast. Jenny noted that even though there wasn’t any conversation b
etween them, it was, nevertheless, a very comfortable silence. She was beginning to understand Hugh’s periods of silence.
After Jenny had taken her dishes to the sink, had rinsed them and had placed them in the dishwasher, Martha suggested giving Jenny a quick tour of the ranch. Jenny thought that was a great idea. She was dying to see it.
Martha led her out the back door to a pole barn, and gestured for Jenny to jump up into the driver’s seat of a Yamaha Rhino quad, while she climbed into the passenger seat. Noticing Jenny’s hesitation, she asked, “You do drive, don’t you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jenny replied, hoping this kind lady knew what she was doing.
“She’s a beauty, isn’t she?” Martha exclaimed, patting her toy. It was painted all pink, with a little bit of plum trim. “I had this custom paint job, because I love the colors, but also because the guys wouldn’t be caught dead riding in it. So, I get to keep it all to myself.”
Martha gave her a tour of the controls. Then Jenny hit the starter, and pulled out of the pole shed. She was relieved to discover that this neat little two-seater quad drove more or less like a car, and she quickly began to relax and enjoy herself.
Martha had her swing around the outside perimeter of the house while she pointed out plantings, the garden, and their above-ground pool. The pool was large, suitable for swimming laps. It had a raised redwood deck all around it, a place for barbecuing, and even a slide.
Martha saw her admiring it. “Do you swim?” she asked.
“I love to swim,” she replied. “It was one of the few things that I was good at.”
“Good, it will probably be warm enough by this afternoon, and we can take a dip to cool off,” Martha offered.
She then had Jenny make their way over to the stable area, which comprised the stables themselves, a tack room, a separate hay barn, and a hitching rail saddling area. Beside this building complex were a hot walker, a round corral and, finally, a large arena that contained jumps and other props for working out horses.
“Wow!” Jenny exclaimed. “The place where I took lessons wasn’t anywhere near this nice.”
“Wait until you see the rest,” Martha said.
“There’s more?”
“Yep. Follow that trail to the other side of the arena,” Martha directed her.
Once they arrived there, Jenny saw another large horse barn. This time, Martha gestured for Jenny to stop and exit the Rhino. She led her into the barn and toward some large stalls that lined both sides of the barn.
“Oh, my gosh!” Jenny said when she saw what Martha had brought her here to see. “They’re huge!”
Inside each stall was a giant horse, the kind that Jenny vaguely knew of as draft horses. At the sound of their voices, the horses came to the front of their stalls and poked their massive heads up over their stall gates.
“They’re Percherons,” Martha explained, as she unlatched the gate of the nearest stall, and invited Jenny inside with her. “Don’t worry, they are very gentle, and they love attention.”
Jenny felt positively dwarfed by this giant horse. But, Martha was right about them being friendly. The horse gently nuzzled Jenny’s pocket with its huge muzzle.
“Here,” Martha said, handing Jenny a chunk of carrot. “This is what he is looking for.”
Jenny offered the carrot to the horse in her open palm. He “slupped, slupped” with his giant lips, and gently took the carrot from her.
“Amazing,” Jenny exclaimed. “Do you ride them?”
“No, they’re not for riding. We use them to pull wagons when we give tours to folks from the community. And we actually do use them to help out with heavy hauling chores around the ranch.”
They climbed back into the quad, and Martha had Jenny make a wide swing around the buildings, and then onto a dirt road heading out. As they traveled along, she pointed out the extent of their land. It had a variety of features, including meadows, pastures, forest, and even a five-acre bass pond.
“Hugh loves to fish that pond,” his mom told Jenny. “He’s almost obsessed with catching ‘Old Lunker.’ That’s a ten-pounder that he’s had on a couple of times, but it’s always gotten off,” she said, adding, “But we are quite pleased when he brings back the usual three to five-pounder for us to enjoy the occasional fish dinner.”
Jenny was beginning to think that a lot of what she thought she knew about Hugh was either wrong or misunderstood. This has been very interesting and enlightening.
They gained a little elevation as they followed the dirt road up to the foothills of one of the ridges that almost completely encircled the ranch. Jenny saw that they were approaching two men working on some fence, and realized that it was Hugh’s dad and brother.
As she pulled up, Hugh’s dad made an exaggerated play as if searching for something in his pockets. “Wait a minute,” he exclaimed. “Let me find my sunglasses before I go blind.”
“He always does that,” Martha told Jenny, laughing, explaining that they loved to tease her about her pink Rhino.
For his part, Roly acted like someone who was about to get run over in traffic. He nudged his dad, and exclaimed, “Watch out, Pa! Look who’s driving!” Then they both broke out laughing.
Martha handed them a jug of lemonade, and fresh-baked cookies that she had placed in the back compartment of the Rhino. “Yay! The rescuing angels bring manna from Heaven,” Hugh Sr. exclaimed.
They chatted for a bit more, then Martha had Jenny turn around and head back to the ranch house.
As they rode along the dirt road, Jenny’s thoughts turned to all she had seen here. Is this place for real? Are there really people like this?
She turned to Martha. “Can I ask you a question? If it’s too personal, then please don’t answer, and forgive me for asking.”
“Go ahead,” Martha said agreeably. “We have nothing to hide.”
“I don’t understand something,” Jenny said.
Martha nodded for her to go on.
“Everything here is just wonderful. Perfect. You people are wonderful. What on earth made Hugh want to leave here and join the Marines, then stay away driving his truck?”
“Whoo, boy. Those are some serious question,” Martha remarked. “Give me a minute to work up the answer.”
They drove on a bit, then topped a little rise that offered a stunning view of the postcard-perfect home place. “Stop here,” Martha told Jenny. Then she asked her, “What do you see?”
Jenny looked where Martha had gestured. “I see an absolutely beautiful, picture-perfect ranch home.”
“Yes. Thank you. That’s right. So do I,” Martha agreed. “But, what you don’t see is what this place looked like twenty, twenty-five years ago. Much of what you see now wasn’t here then, or was just getting started. All we had was Hugh to help us build it. Those were very, very hard times. We didn’t have the money to hire much help, so we worked like slaves.”
Jenny nodded, thinking that she knew where Martha was going with this.
“Quite frankly, and we admit it now, we almost worked poor Hughey to death. He was always big for his age, and strong, so we used him. He had no life beyond work, work, work. He put a lot of his own blood, sweat and tears into helping us start this place.”
“Yeah, he said something about that as we were coming in through that huge gate.”
“The only way out that he could see was to join the Marines right out of high school. We were disappointed, and it left us in a bind, but we realize now that we were the ones who drove him to do it.
“Don’t get me wrong?” Martha went on. “He’d always worked hard when he’d come home—definitely did his share and then some. But, his heart just wasn’t in this ranch, like ours is. We ruined it for him.”
Jenny pulled the quad into the pole barn. She had thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and the tour, and talking to Martha.
“Where do you suppose Hugh is right now?” Jenny wondered out loud as they walked back toward the house.
“Well, h
oney, I’m betting that if you had a real strong pair of binoculars, and pointed them up there on the ridgeline that’s about two miles in that direction, you’d be able to spot him looking down on us right now.”
“Huh?” Jenny said.
“Sweetie, you must be the most naive girl who has ever lived if you don’t realize that Hugh is deeply in love with you. That man is not going to let you get very far out of his sight.”
Jenny lost control of her legs, and felt light-headed. She suddenly felt the need to sit down, so Martha guided her to a nearby garden bench.
Chapter Twenty
Hugh
Hugh lowered the high-powered Marine Corps reconnaissance binoculars from in front of his face. It had looked to him like Jenny had fallen.
He had been following the progress of the bright pink Rhino from this ridgeline about two miles away as Jenny and his mom had taken their tour of the ranch. It would be hard to miss that ghastly paint job, and he shared his dad’s penchant for liking to tease his mom about her garish toy.
Hugh raised his binoculars again, and satisfied himself that Jenny was OK.
“Come on, boy,” Hugh said to Buck as he mounted up. Hugh nudged Buck off of the ridgeline, and deeper into the forest. He thought for the umpteenth time today how good it felt to be on horseback, in the forest, with no plan to return any time soon.
Unlike other times, however, Hugh did not intend to withdraw completely away from the home place. His other rideouts had taken him farther up northern Idaho almost to Canada. There were a few spots on this narrow panhandle that he loved to revisit—the ones where he could sit high up on a ridge and look out over Montana on one side, and into Washington State on the other side.
This time, he wished to keep Jenny more or less in sight, so he would be traveling in a wide circle around the ranch, keeping to the ridges, and remaining hidden in the forest.
“Sorry, Buck. We’ve got to keep fairly close to home this time,” Hugh said, knowing how much Buck liked to ride out.
Hugh felt no shame at all in talking to animals. He believed that God created horses and dogs for the express purpose of them being companions for humans. As such, he believed, God gave dogs and horses an innate sense for understanding human emotions. They were very much in tune to tone of voice, inflection and mood—even body language.
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