by Maggie Way
Maddie opened her eyes to find Grace pulling a pendant from a display at the other end of the counter. She put a few drops of bergamot on a pad and put it inside the pendant before draping it around Maddie’s neck. “It’s an aromatherapy pendant. It comes with five pads, so you can use different oils based on your needs. A few drops will last two to three days. I bought as many as the woman had to sell.”
“Oh, I don’t—”
“Don’t worry. This is on me. You can be my walking advertisement for them,” Grace insisted.
“It’s beautiful,” Maddie said, drawing in a deep breath and letting the bergamot work its magic. She needed this, a break from her thoughts, her fear, the financial issues preventing her from achieving her dreams. Aromatherapy was such a simple answer, one she was too clouded to even consider.
“Oh, and I have something else for you. Come here,” Grace grabbed her hand again and half skipped, half floated across the store in her happy and energetic way. Maddie loved this store because she loved Grace’s powerful spirit and the positive energy that always surrounded her. “You were the first person I thought of when this fountain came in last week. I know how much you love trickling water.”
Trickling water and leaves rustling in the wind were the two most comforting sounds, aside from the clap of horseshoes while astride one of her four-legged friends. Maddie couldn’t have the sound of a trotting horse playing in her reception area or office while she had clients.
“This is beautiful,” Maddie said, touching the edges of the natural stone fountain. It would look beautiful in the window of her therapy room.
“Look, there’s a warmer for essential oils back here and there’s a small lamp inside, so you don’t have to worry about a fire risk with a candle.”
“It’s perfect,” Maddie said until she spotted the price tag. With her practice being in a slump and all of her funds tied up in getting the equine therapy center off the ground, she couldn’t justify splurging on this. “I’ll have to think about it. I’m trying not to impulse buy,” she responded.
“Isn’t that what retail therapy is all about?” Grace laughed.
“True.” Maddie laughed at herself. “Ugh. I’m a mess,” she admitted.
Grace hugged her again. “I can tell you’re not yourself. We have our weekly Healing Circle tonight. Why don’t you stay? Maybe we can work through whatever has you down.”
The only thing Maddie had to go home to was an empty apartment where the temptation to fall off the wagon and comfort eat until she put herself into a chocolate coma might just send her over the edge. “I’d like that,” she told Grace.
Chimes sounded as another customer came in the store. “I’m going to browse. I’ll let you know if I need anything,” Maddie explained. Grace gave her arm an affectionate squeeze before floating across the store to greet her next customer.
Maddie browsed the tarot cards and rune stones, not finding anything she didn’t already have. She took the time to touch different gem stones and crystals to see if any touched her spirit. She picked up several before her hand warmed around a pretty green and pink crystal.
Holding the crystal to her solar plexus, the warmth spread like a waterfall pouring in all directions, the heat tingling all the way to her toes.
“You’re glowing,” Grace said. Her soft voice didn’t startle Maddie, instead only added to the calmness and balance flowing through her.
“What is this?” Maddie asked, opening her palm to show Grace the crystal.
Grace smiled. “That’s a watermelon tourmaline. It attracts love and removes imbalances.” A thoughtful expression crossed her face. “Hmm. Is there a new man in your life?”
Maddie nodded and Grace reached into the box of stones, digging around until she came out with a polished heart shaped rose quartz.
“Pair the watermelon tourmaline with this. It’ll open you up to new experiences, especially love.”
Before she’d embarked on the path to reclaim some control in her life, Maddie had always been open to love, but only to a point. She often used her free spirit to sabotage relationships. Deep in her soul she knew those relationships weren’t sustainable for the long term. Darren was different. He didn’t buy her sabotage tactics, but what she felt for him was so much more powerful than anything she had ever felt before, it scared her. When she’d started her journey, she’d closed the door and locked it, somehow managing to lose the key along the way. This fear she’d been dancing with was new, unfamiliar, and unwelcome.
Taking the stone from Grace, she clenched it in her fist, doing the same in her other hand with the crystal. She spread her arms wide, closing her eyes and raising her head, opening her body to whatever the universe wanted to deliver. The only message she received was another image of Darren, except this time it was so abundantly clear Maddie stumbled.
“Wow, that was some powerful stuff,” Grace said, steadying Maddie as she opened her eyes.
Maddie nodded in agreement. “I can’t stay for the Healing Circle,” she declared, not wanting to waste another minute. She had to find Darren, tell him how she felt before it was too late.
Grace nodded and smiled, as if life-altering crystal revelations occurred in her shop every day. Maybe they did. “You look like yourself again. Don’t lose that energy.”
“I promise,” she said. “Thank you. You have no idea how much I needed this today.”
They hugged for a long time, Maddie absorbing Grace’s positive spirit. As they separated, Maddie felt as though she’d been supercharged with light and love, the fear and confusion that had been weighing her down leaving her body as if it was blown away like the desert sand in a storm.
Breathing in, her lungs filled with that loving energy, propelling her out the door and into her car where she struggled to drive within the speed limit on the long journey home … to Darren.
Buying Chocolate felt right. Whether he ended up with Maddie or not — and he hoped she would say yes — Darren still knew he was doing the right thing.
“You’re not Cocoa anymore,” he said to the beautiful mare. “Tawny’s gone. It’s time to let her go.”
Chocolate whinnied and nodded in agreement.
“Let’s take you home,” he said.
Darren had done his research and mapped the route from Coop’s stables to where Maddie kept her horses. He had confirmed with Hank, who stopped by daily to help with the stalls, that there was room for the mare. When he called the man to let him know he was bringing her, Darren was thrilled to find out Maddie was in the turnout with Crystal and Cleo.
After mounting the mare, Darren set off for the trail, enjoying the afternoon drizzle and cool spring breeze because it reminded him of Maddie and the day they’d kissed in the rain.
By the time he reached the Carson’s barn, Darren was soaked to the bone but undeterred.
At the front of the barn, he climbed off the horse and wrapped the reins around the bar near the door. After pulling open the large door, Darren walked through the barn.
Sergeant Matty neighed, his head bobbing as he greeted them. Darren stopped to pet the horse before heading to the other end of the barn. Maddie had to be in the paddock since he didn’t see her in the turnout when he’d trotted across the field.
When he opened the door to the paddock, Maddie glanced at him over her shoulder, her surprise morphing into a smile that threatened to bring him to his knees.
She stepped away from the horse and crossed the short distance between them with a bounce in her step, wrapping her arms around him as her smile landed on his lips.
Darren had come here ready to fight for her, but her soft lips and warm body took all the fight out of him.
When Maddie peeled herself away, Darren was dizzy and disoriented.
“I went to the stables and your house,” she said.
“I wasn’t there.”
Maddie smacked his arm. “No kidding, Captain Obvious. Don’t you want to know why I was looking for you?”
; “To fondle my lips with yours?” he said with a grin.
Maddie rolled her eyes and laughed. “This is who I am. I’m not afraid to kiss in public or cheer loudly for my favorite team — which will always be Army, by the way, even if they do lose every year to Navy. I can be loud and abrupt and sometimes teeter on the edge of obnoxious. I hate the gym and I love brownies, but I gave up the latter and embrace the former for health reasons. And when you smile at me like that, my entire body turns to goo.”
He pulled her against him, loving how her breath caught as her soft body molded to his.
“Oh, and I love you. I almost forgot to tell you that part. I was being kind of dumb when you said it to me, but I’m all done with being dumb. I love you, Darren.”
They were the words he had come here intending to fight for, but not having to fight for them made them that much more powerful. “You are amazing,” he said, going on instinct now that she’d upstaged his plans to fight for her. “You are amazing and beautiful and I can’t imagine not spending every day for the rest of my life showing you how much I love you for the person you are.”
Her smile made his knees weak but brought strength to every other part of him. “I have something for you,” she said, taking her hand instead of pressing her against the barn and staking his claim.
Maddie giggled as he led her though the barn like he was on a mission. When they passed through the door and into the late spring drizzle, she gasped.
“I don’t need to introduce the two of you,” he said, pulling Maddie forward and placing her hand on Chocolate’s mane.
“I don’t understand,” she said, nuzzling the horse before looking at Darren, confusion and hope making her look all the more beautiful.
“I think she was meant to bring us together. She’s not the same horse I gave my sister, but I’m not the same man. We’ve both experienced loss, but we’ve both found hope and love, because of you. I want you to have her.”
Maddie shook her head, “I—” she started but Darren placed a finger over her lips.
“Don’t say anything. Just hear me out,” he said. When she nodded, he moved his finger, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Significant life events happen every day. Some happen in just one day. We’re born on a single day and we die in a single day. I’m not even sure our hearts need a whole day to know what they want. I believe love is instantaneous, that it’s present from the first moment we meet a person.
“For some people it just takes longer to accept and acknowledge it. Life is too short, Maddie. I know that firsthand,” he removed the hand from his pocket to pet the horse standing beside them. “So I’m not afraid to accept what my heart has been telling me since the first moment I saw you and I’m not going to go another day without acknowledging it. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Darren dropped to his knee, pulling the ring he bought from his pocket. “Marry me, Maddie.”
Maddie dropped onto Darren’s knee, her arms going around his shoulders as her mouth found his.
She hadn’t expected this, Chocolate, a proposal, even Darren, but it all felt so right. Letting her wild side out, the person she really was, also felt right, especially since Darren brought out and embraced that side of her.
“While I love your response, I’m going to push you for an answer,” he said, resting his forehead to hers.
It wasn’t just unexpected, it was crazy. Maddie knew crazy — she was a therapist — she’d also lived most of her life going on the impulses that fueled her wild side. Crazy didn’t mean it was wrong though. Maddie smiled, excited for the first time in a long time about what the future held for her — and for Darren — and not afraid to face it. “Yes, I will marry you.”
Chocolate whinnied her approval.
Darren slipped a ring on her finger. Maddie gasped as she took in the design, a white gold horseshoe filled with tiny little diamonds. She traced over the horseshoe, which Darren had placed on her finger with the opening facing out. “If you wear it this way, you’ll attract all the luck to you,” he said, bringing her hand to his mouth and placing a gentle kiss over the ring. Her fingers tingled and her heart sang.
“This is the most beautiful thing I’ve even seen,” she said.
“How do you feel about a summer wedding?” he asked.
Maddie wasn’t one of those women that wanted a long engagement. She didn’t see the point. She was committed to her goals, though, and had to achieve them first. “I know you think I don’t need to lose any more weight, but I need to achieve my goal. No wedding until I lose the last seven pounds.”
“I have some ideas on how you can work that off,” he smiled.
Maddie was on board with whatever those ideas were.
“Is she really mine?” Maddie asked, looking up at Chocolate.
“All yours. She loves you as much as I do.”
“It was love at first sight. I went to see her because of her name, but her gentle spirit filled my heart.”
“That’s how I felt when I first saw you. I wish I’d had the courage to talk to you that first time you walked into the gym.”
“That would have killed the thrill of anticipation.”
“And right now, I’m anticipating taking you—”
“Dad! Mom!” she squealed, jumping off Darren’s leg.
“Are we interrupting something?” Hank asked, a broad smile on his face. Maddie hugged him and then her mother, a little nervous how they’d take the news. She hadn’t known Darren long, but her heart knew he was the one.
“Darren asked me to marry him. I said yes.”
“We saw, honey,” her mom said, tears pooling in her eyes. “We’re so happy for you.”
Darren stood and shook Hank’s hand. Maddie knew the moment her dad tightened his grip since Darren’s easy smile tightened. “That’s my little girl. I trust her to make her own decisions and I trust you not to hurt her.”
Relief softened Darren’s expression, signaling Hank had loosened his grip. “I promise, sir. I just want to make her happy,” Darren assured her father.
“You do make her happy,” Hank said, patting Darren’s shoulder. “Congratulations and welcome to the family.”
“Thank you,” Darren said, rubbing his hand as soon as Hank looked away.
“Who is this pretty lady?” Hank asked.
“That’s Chocolate,” Maddie said. “She’s going to stay here for a while.”
Hank stroked the horse’s mane. “I guess we need to welcome you to the family, too.”
“This calls for a celebration. Will you two stay for dinner?” Kelly asked.
Maddie looked at Darren who smiled and nodded and Maddie hugged her mother. “Thanks, Mom. Can I invite Rissy?”
“As if she needs an invite,” Kelly said.
“I’ll fire up the grill,” Hank declared.
Maddie hugged her parents again before tugging her phone out of her pocket. She snapped a picture of her hand with the ring sparkling and sent it to Clarissa with the short message, Celebration Dinner, 6pm at Mom and Dad’s.
She laughed as she tucked the phone in her pocket, looking up to find Darren smiling at her.
“How about if we introduce her to the other girls,” he said, stroking Chocolate’s mane.
“Perfect,” Maddie said.
“And while they are getting acquainted, I can finish telling you all about what I’m anticipating.”
Epilogue
Maddie enjoyed the sunrise over the mountains from her bridal suite balcony. Life couldn’t be any better. She was getting married to the man of her dreams, her brother was home safe and sound, and she had achieved all of her goals, with even a few pounds to spare.
The Lucky Horseshoe — a perfect name for the equine assisted therapy center even if Clarissa did think it sounded like a bar — was actually making money after only a month thanks to Darren’s brilliant marketing skills. They had so many clients Maddie decided to give up the lease on her office in town and m
ove her entire practice to the gate house on the therapy center property.
Everything was perfect.
Well, almost perfect. The only thing that could make it better was if Matt was home for good and he and Clarissa were back together.
Maddie couldn’t dwell on that dream, though. Not today. Today was all about her and Darren.
With the sun rising in the sky, she couldn’t wait to share her morning with her best friend. Maddie skipped inside, banging on the door that adjoined her room to Clarissa’s before barging through.
“I’m getting married. I’m getting married. I’m getting marr–” Maddie sang, coming up short when she found her brother in bed with Clarissa. “You two did not!”
Matt laughed, clearly amused, but it was the sad expression Clarissa wore that broke Maddie’s heart.
“You were supposed to get back together, not have raucous sex, on the eve of my wedding.”
“What makes you think it was raucous?” Matt asked.
Clarissa smiled then. Maybe she wasn’t sad, after all, she wasn’t a morning person. Maddie relaxed, shrugging as she smiled. If Matt could tease her, she could dish it right back to him. “Well, my night was raucous, so maybe I’m projecting.”
Matt groaned and Maddie was satisfied she had delivered TMI. “Why don’t you go back the way you came so I can get dressed?” he suggested.
“You really are naked under there, aren’t you?” Maddie questioned, her eyes narrowing with disapproval.
Matt kissed the top of Clarissa’s head as he peeked beneath the blankets. “Yeah, we both are.”
This should be good, but her brother was not one to stay in Lilac Ridge and Clarissa wasn’t one to leave, which meant one or both of them were going to end up hurt.
On her wedding day.
Maddie stomped back to her room, ranting about Matt’s naughty DNA, and slamming the door behind her.
Fuming, she leaned against the door, doing her best to slow her breathing. If Matt got hurt, he deserved it. He was the one who zoomed in and out of their lives. Maddie wondered if it would have been easier had he not come home for her wedding.
