She slid a soft hand across his cheek, his jaw, then tugged him upright. “I will always love you, Marc.”
His heart sang, but he gave her a little grin. “Then say yes and get to work. That garden’s waiting and we don’t have all day.”
She laughed and hugged him. He spun her gently, then set her back on the floor. She arched a brow in wonder. “We don’t? How come?”
“Because we need to go ring shopping.” He grazed his hand along the curve of her cheek, then cupped her chin. “And set a date. Call the pastor. So many things, Kayla.” He dropped his mouth to hers once more.
She answered his kiss with one of her own, then pressed her cheek to his chest. “Then by all means, let’s plant. We both know how I love to shop.”
Marc groaned. “So true.” He gave her one last kiss before he turned. “But this will be the only time you get to shop for an engagement ring. Make it count.”
She preened and grinned. “Oh, I will. Now head downstairs so I can get changed. I’ve got a garden to tend.”
He laughed and moved toward the stairs, his step light, his heart full.
“Marc?”
“Yeah?” He turned, half expecting another teasing jab. The look on her face wasn’t teasing. He frowned and took a step back. “What, honey?”
“It’s my first garden.”
Four little words that said so much. His heart stretched further in his chest. “I know. But it won’t be your last.”
Her smile made him feel like the greatest man alive. A superhero. All because of a little plot of land, newly turned.
And a leap of faith.
He started fresh coffee and eyed the kitchen. He’d tell her about that later, let her shop and pick whatever she wanted to accomplish that upgrade. For right now he had every intention of getting a ring and a license, the sooner the better.
The midsummer sun angled through the right sidelight. The glass prismed the ray into a rainbow across the faded carpet.
A covenant. The promise of a new tomorrow.
Overhead, gentle thumps meant shoes were hitting the floor as Kayla changed outfits. They might need to add a closet or at least a shoe rack.
Maybe two.
He shrugged and stepped onto the porch. He’d build her a room for shoes, if necessary, but he’d rather design a nursery.
That thought pumped his chest. Kayla swung out the door behind him, her step light and hurried. “Okay, let’s get to it. Are you going to help or do you have chores you should be doing?”
He did, as a matter of fact. There was a list of things tacked to the barn wall to keep him and Jerry on their toes.
He dropped a kiss to her forehead and snaked a lazy arm around her shoulders. “Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow. Let’s plant some flowers. And grassy things.”
“Ornamental grasses,” she corrected him. “And I think they’d look best over here, don’t you?”
He grinned at the sight of her in the dirt, the first pot of grass gripped in her left hand. “Whatever you want, honey.”
She smiled up at him. Her face bore no shadows, no sadness, no reminders of the cold, dark nights of her childhood. She glanced around the farmyard, the maze of buildings, the gray-stoned drive. She tipped her chin to the side and blinked, long and slow. “I want you, Marc. I want you.”
Dear Reader,
Like many of you, I’m part of the sandwich generation, caught between aging parents and growing children. For most of us these worlds intersect like a Venn diagram, overlapping and overshadowing from time to time.
A long-term smoker, my Irish mother’s lung cancer wasn’t a huge surprise at age seventy-eight, but difficult nonetheless. Her ensuing home hospice allowed weeks of family hurting and healing, a time where nine children, countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren, old friends and family stopped by with food, hugs, sympathy and empathy. I hope the beauty of that experience is caught in this book, a story of bad choices and good decisions, of personal responsibility and human frailty. God allows choice and free will. Perfection isn’t part of the deal and accepting one another’s flaws and failings is just part of being a family.
It is what it is.
I welcome letters and e-mails sharing your thoughts and experiences. Come visit me at www.ruthloganherne.com, e-mail me at [email protected] or mail me c/o Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001 New York, NY 10279.
Ruthy
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
A former hospital nurse, Kayla altered her professional life after meeting an indigent woman whose simple faith inspired Kayla’s change of heart. Are coincidences something that happen, or does God offer us opportunities when we least expect it?
Pete DeHollander’s choices aren’t all perfect. His cancer is probably evidence of that. Does God forgive our human weaknesses?
Marc is caught between old anger and new responsibilities thrust on him by circumstances beyond his control. While the man shoulders the burdens, the boy inside resents the bad choices surrounding him but has no clue how to handle his anger. Is it harder for strong, self-made adults to humble themselves and ask God’s help?
Marc’s animosity makes Kayla’s job harder initially, but she doesn’t give up or give in to the impulse to smack him like she might have a few years back. How does faith help us to be less impetuous and more understanding?
Kayla remembers feeling safe in a church as a young foster child. Do you think those early memories helped firm her later faith options?
Arianna recognizes she had choices all along and ignored them. It isn’t until she’s dying and alone that she identifies all she gave up. Why do we so often wait until we hit rock bottom to change our ways?
Jess’s simple faith is nurtured by her father’s constant presence on the farm and in church. Do you think this faith base helped her find closure after realizing Pete wasn’t her biological father?
Sarah and Kayla have a deep, abiding friendship. They recognize each other’s wounds and share a mutual “survivor” respect. Why do the bonds of friendship sometimes come harder to people who’ve suffered?
Jess’s strong faith shames her brother and gives him cause to second-guess his anger and antipathy toward their mother. Eventually Marc realizes that the only choices he’s responsible for are the ones he makes for himself. How does this realization help him to forgive his mother’s problems and desertion?
Kayla’s constant battle with cold underscores the emotional development of the story. Her need to conquer keeps her from seeking a warmer, more comfortable setting, as if doing penance will make her stronger. What helps her to realize that punishing herself was never necessary?
Marc is taken aback by Kayla’s state in the harness room. Her emotional instability reminds him of his mother, and yet he needs to find out what pushed her to that state of mind. When she reveals her story he believes there is no hope for a future with her. They have too many strikes against them. How does time and space help Marc to readjust his strategies?
Kayla’s departure leaves a void in Marc’s life that’s revealed in his physical, emotional and mental appearance. When Craig and Jess both point this out to him, Marc gets angry but realizes they’re right. He’s got nothing to lose by trying something new. A new church, a new chance. How does little McKenna’s presence affect his first visit to Craig and Sarah’s church?
Kayla thinks that the warmer climate of Virginia will help ease the chill in her soul, but it doesn’t happen. When she learns Marc has had a change in heart, she’s hurt that he hasn’t contacted her. Her conscience prods her to see things through his eyes. How does stepping into someone else’s shoes help us to do what Jesus would do, to see things more clearly?
Marc’s home makeover is analogical to his mental, spiritual, physical and emotional makeover. The physical attributes of his home reflect his overall personal improvements. Don’t most of us feel heartened when we make positive choices that thrust us forward?
Kayla’s return is scary for both Marc and Kay
la. He fears she’ll reject him and she’s afraid she ran him off for good, yet both are willing to finally take that chance. How do faith and time lend us strength to meet life’s challenges and take chances?
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5059-2
WINTER’S END
Copyright © 2010 by Ruth M. Blodgett
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Steeple Hill Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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