Will drew the carriage to a halt and pushed on the brake, then sat there quietly a minute. “I wanted you to see that tree,” he finally said. “I don’t know how it was spared, but it was, and to me it’s a symbol of our love, able to withstand anything that comes against it, something that will last forever, just like you told me all those years ago.” He rested his elbows on his knees. “I haven’t said much since we left San Francisco, but riding with Enrique, then staying with other people, the circumstances just weren’t right. I thought maybe if we came here before we went home…” He sighed. “I let you down in the worst way a husband can. If I had been here…”
“If you had been here, Valioso would never have existed, and I would not have known his special love,” she interrupted. “We have faced the evil that almost destroyed us, and we have seen that it is nothing but a defeated man who is dying.”
Will looked around, then wrapped the reins around a peg and climbed down. He reached up for Santana, and she took his hand and also climbed out of the carriage. Their eyes held in a new understanding, and Santana saw the apology in his.
“No more blame, Will, for either of us. Our greatest sin was only to love so much that we did things that hurt each other, when we were trying to protect each other. We know now that everything we did was out of love. We made mistakes, but we cannot go back and change any of it. We can only go forward.”
He studied her dark eyes, touched her cheek with the back of his hand. “Of all the treasure I have accumulated since coming to California, you are the most valuable,” he said softly. “You are more beautiful than the land, stronger than the redwoods, gentle as the sea. It will take us some time to get over Valioso, but we will find our way again, and the love will still be there.” He took her hand. “I want to show you something.” He led her to an area of burned trees and grass, close to her favorite tree, then had her kneel down with him. “Look at this. I found it the day I went riding alone after you told me about Bolivar and Valioso.”
He pointed to a little sprig of a tree that was poking up through the charred soil. “This is what made me see how like that lodgepole pine our love is. The lodgepole is stubborn and persistent. Its cones are tightly closed, but they pop open under extreme heat, and it’s one of the first trees to sprout again after a fire. This one probably came from a cone from your favorite tree.” He fingered some of the black grass around the new little tree. “From these ashes a new forest will grow, Santana, and from the ashes of our past we can grow too. It struck me that this fire sort of represented burning away our past, the unhappy memories. You kept your heart and emotions closed to me for all those years. Now that you’ve opened up to me, like the pinecone, your grief and shame can be released, and our love will grow again, just as trees like this keep the forest alive and growing forever.”
Santana’s eyes teared at the beautiful words. Yes, it was so true! She felt like a new woman, except for the sudden hurt she felt every time it hit her that Valioso was gone. She looked down at the sprig of tree, touched it lightly. “This makes me think of Valioso,” she said. “It is comforting to think that this is his spirit, come back to life to be with us. He loved walking with me in the forest.”
Will blinked, unable to speak for a moment. Finally he nodded. “It’s strange. I thought the same thing when I saw this little tree…that Valioso…” Again he could not speak. Finally he stood up and wiped at his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Santana, what I’ve learned…about Valioso…it doesn’t change how I feel about him. I want you to know that. I loved him, and he…loved me. I’ll always think of him as my own.”
“I know, carino mio.” Santana walked around the little tree and put her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest. “Let’s put a little fence around the tree so that nothing happens to it.”
“I’ll do it today.” Will wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “You have told me so many times that I am your strength, but I don’t think you realize that I also need you, Santana, that your own strength has kept me going through bad times, through the war, the prison camp, Gerald’s death, all my hard work building Lassater Mills, the accident that nearly killed me. All those times all I had to do was think about you, and I found a way to keep going.”
Santana looked up at him, and their eyes held. In the next moment his mouth found hers, and she felt the possessive passion in his kiss, knew he was aching at the thought of another man touching his wife. Yet surely he knew she had never belonged to anyone but Will Lassater, her handsome gringo, her Americano. He crushed her against him, and she was taken back to that first time they talked here in this same place. It seemed a lifetime ago. Thank God Will had come into her life.
“Te quiero,” she said softly, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Te quiero,” Will answered, kissing her hair.
They stood there holding each other for a very long time, and an unseen little boy watched, still smiling.
Also by Rosanne Bittner
The Bride Series
Tennessee Bride
Texas Bride
Oregon Bride
Caress
Comanche Sunset
Heart’s Surrender
In the Shadow of the Mountains
Indian Summer
Lawless Love
Love’s Bounty
Rapture’s Gold
Shameless
Sweet Mountain Magic
Tame the Wild Wind
Tender Betrayal
The Forever Tree
Unforgettable
Until Tomorrow
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