by Leann Harris
He knew Donna was shallow, but having the home-coming queen on his arm helped his ego all those years ago. She’d stomped on that inflated ego when he left for the army. She was number one in her own eyes. He knew she wouldn’t have stood by him after the accident in Iraq. But Sophie would’ve.
Sophie.
He remembered her reaction of her fingers clutching her knife in response to Donna’s thoughtless words. Thinking back on it, he could smile at her reaction. He’d seen that protectiveness in her dealings with her clients, and he knew she’d been ready to go to bat for him. He recalled her helping Andy, trying to talk him into stroking Sam’s nose or her laughing at the smile on a rider’s face when they succeeded on a ride, or Sophie talking to Prince Charming about him. Even Ollie’s cancer didn’t stop her and she helped him in his struggle with chemotherapy.
She was a natural warrior. He would’ve loved to have seen her in action in Iraq. He knew she would’ve put everything on the line for those soldiers. And she still did.
And he knew why she fought so hard, but she didn’t need to. Her brother’s death wasn’t her fault. Sophie’s work awed him, and he prayed she’d realize that God had called her to this mission field. Wounded soldiers, whether in body or soul, needed help and he couldn’t think of anyone better than Sophie. God had given her an amazing ability to work with those wounded hearts and bodies. He could vouch for that personally.
He needed her. If he was honest with himself, she’d had his heart for a long time. He’d just been too stubborn to realize it.
Her dream was in danger of not coming to fruition, but if he could do something to make it come true, he would. Picking up the phone, he called a buddy who worked in the Pentagon.
“Hey, Zach, how are you? I heard about what happened in Iraq,” Dale Grant said. He and Dale had met each other the summer between his junior and senior years in college. Dale had been Reserve Officer Training Corps, or ROTC as it’s known, at the University of Texas, Austin, and they’d been in the same summer maneuvers. They’d kept in touch with each other over the years.
“I’m fine. Been working hard to get back into shape by riding.”
“Riding?”
Zach had the opening he wanted. “Have you heard about equine therapy?”
“I’ve heard something about it. Why?”
Zach launched into his speech about the benefits of horseback riding and how it made a difference in his life and attitude. “And Sophie’s worked wonders with this stubborn soldier.”
“So your proposal was turned down?”
“It was, but I don’t know why. Could you check?”
“I’ll do it.”
“Dale, I’ve got a deadline of Friday before the owner’s son needs his money or sells the property. And if you need any allies, you might call over to Walter Reed. They have a program, or connections to a program, there.”
“I’m on it.”
Zach next called his parents and told them of the situation. “Got any ideas?”
“I’ll check with my bank to see if we can come up with the money for that ranch. What’s the asking price?”
Zach gave his father the amount needed.
“I’ve got some resources,” his father told him. “Besides, I’ll call some army buddies and get something going.”
“Friday’s the deadline, Dad. The owner’s son doesn’t want Sophie to have the ranch, so he’s not giving her anything beyond what his mother originally promised Sophie.”
“I got it.”
His mother spoke next. She had to be on the extension. “This is a lot of work to do for your sister’s roommate, Zach. Is there something more your dad and I should know?”
Suddenly, Zach’s mood lifted. His mother wanted to match him up with a nice girl and had kept after him for the last ten years.
“Mom, I’ll let you know when that time comes.”
“Okay. A mother can hope.”
He laughed. “Dad, when you find out something, let me know.”
When he hung up, he rested his head on the back of the couch. He was in love.
Love.
He stood and walked to the window, staring out into the night. What did Sophie feel? He thought she returned the feelings, but doubt haunted him. Why would she want to tie herself to a man without a leg?
Love.
Did she love him? He felt she always held something of herself back. Why? Why wouldn’t she use his town house for her loan? Was she afraid to love? Did her feelings have anything to do with pity?
“Lord, I don’t know what she feels, but I love her.” And no matter, he’d fight for her. He might not win, but it was the right thing to do.
Chapter Fourteen
Sophie sat at the kitchen table, her Bible open, and a cup sat beside the Bible. She hadn’t been able to sleep. She’d poured over Ephesians and Psalms, reading, needing some direction for hours.
Everything had fallen through. Poof. Gone.
Even Zach. She’d watched in horror last night as that awful woman made it obvious that she was shocked that Zach looked whole. Sophie watched with outrage the woman’s tactless comments and Zach’s retreat. Doubts had jumped him.
“What am I going to do, Lord?” she whispered. She stood and walked to the window at the end of the dining kitchen. From there, she could see the stable and the corral behind the stable.
Wasn’t this the dream God gave her? Then she needed to fight for it. The odds didn’t look too good for the children of Israel when they moved against Jericho. Or David against Goliath. But God didn’t fail them. If He was the same yesterday, today and forever, then why would she think He would fail her now?
With a firm resolve, she walked into the bedroom to get dressed. She wasn’t going to give up now.
Sophie walked down to the stables, looking for Ollie. She found him talking to Prince Charming.
“How you feeling this morning?” she asked.
He whistled. “What are you dolled up for?”
“I got a call from the bank last night. They refused the loan, but I’m going down there, see if I can talk to them and arrange another form of collateral.” She shrugged. “I don’t know what, but I’m going to give it my best shot. Do you feel up to running the ranch with Zach?”
“I’ve got some savings. I’ll gladly give it to ya. These kids need this therapy. And the wounded soldiers need it, too. If my son had had this…”
Ollie’s offer made her heart swell in gratitude. “Thank you, old friend, but I’m not going to do that to you. I’ll get the money somehow. Will you take care of things?”
“You bet. And I know Zach will take up what I can’t. Besides, all those volunteers can pitch in.”
Standing on her tiptoes, she brushed a kiss on his cheek. Ollie blushed.
“Go on.”
Sophie laughed and raced to her car.
Zach arrived at the ranch ten minutes after Sophie drove out. Ollie told Zach where Sophie was.
“What’s she goin’ do, if they don’t give her the loan?” Ollie asked.
“I’ve called a friend I know in the Pentagon. If we can get the contract, then I think we can turn things around. But I have another idea. Every parent here, if they knew about the situation, might donate to help keep the ranch open.”
Cocking his head, Ollie nodded. “I like your thinking. We’re going to wrestle down that bull, no matter what.”
“I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
Around nine-thirty, Zach’s new cell phone rang. He’d gotten the thing the day of graduation and knew he needed to give his parents and Sophie the number, but with all that had happened, it had slipped his mind. Pulling it out of his shirt pocket, he noted the call was his friend in D.C.
“Hey, Dale, you’ve got news for me?” Zach asked.
“I need you to fly to D.C., Zach, ASAP. I’ve got a couple of people we need to see. Can you get here by five this afternoon?”
“I can. I’ll see you then.” Closing the phone, Za
ch looked up and saw Ollie. “You heard?”
“Some.”
“I’ve got to fly to Washington to talk to the powers that be. We’ve got a shot.”
“Go.”
“If you call Beth and Ethan, they can make the rest of the calls to the parents.” Zach reached into his pocket and pulled out a tablet. “Let me give you their numbers. And my new cell-phone number. You show that to Sophie when you see her.”
Ollie took the paper and darted into the tack room for a pencil and scribbled the numbers down. “Don’t worry. I’ve got it in hand.”
Zach grinned. “We’re going to do this.” He took off, his mission clear.
Sophie sat in her car outside the bank. The loan officer was sympathetic but he wasn’t going to give her the loan. No army contract, no money.
She rested her forehead on the steering wheel. Now what? An outrageous idea popped into her head, startling her. But the more she thought about it, the more the idea appealed to her. She started her car and headed south. Her hometown of Tijeras was southwest of the city, about a forty-five-minute drive.
She prayed every mile she drove for wisdom and the words to say to her parents.
Tijeras had changed. There was a new gas station/convenience store just inside the city limits. Also a new fast-food fried-chicken restaurant stood across the street from the gas station. Down two blocks on Main Street a new Mexican food restaurant occupied the corner where McFarley’s Ice Cream shop had stood.
Sophie turned down a side street, Locust, and pulled up to her parents’ house. Her father had painted the porch. The cactus in the front yard had grown and sage bushes dotted the rocks and dirt in the yard. She pulled into the driveway. Her father’s car stood outside the garage. He worked out of his home office. He was the insurance salesman/adjuster for several counties. She walked up to the side door. It stood open, but the screen door was locked. Music floated outside.
She knocked.
Her mother appeared, dressed in jeans and a paint-splattered smock over her T-shirt.
“Hi, Mom.”
Cindy stood frozen for a moment.
“Can I come in?”
The words broke into her fog. “Sure.” She moved to the door and unlatched the hook from the eye.
Sophie climbed the two steps to the door and walked inside.
“What are you doing here?” Cindy asked.
It wasn’t a good beginning. Sophie knew she could make chitchat, but she’d never done small talk with her mother, was never ever able to tell her mother about her school days or about having a boyfriend, or going to her high school prom. “I need your help.”
“Jim,” her mother called out. “Come to the kitchen.” While they waited for her father, Cindy asked, “You want some coffee?”
“No thanks, Mom.”
Her father appeared in the doorway. “Sophie, what are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you and Mom about the ranch. The bank won’t give me a loan to buy the place.” She explained the situation. “I know you have that big parcel of land just outside of Santa Fe. I know you want to build on it, but I was hoping maybe to use it as collateral for the loan.”
Her parents looked at her as if she were speaking Chinese.
Suddenly, her mother stood, the chair tipping back and falling to the floor.
“How dare you. You know how I feel about horses and you want us to throw away our retirement on a horse ranch? No.”
“Now, Cindy—” her father began.
Turning on him, she yelled, “Don’t ‘now, Cindy’ me. How could you even think I’d want to have anything to do with horses after what happened?” She rounded on Sophie. “I don’t know why you thought we’d give you money for that.”
Sophie stood. “The ranch helps a lot of people overcome handicaps. I know it’s what I’m to do.”
“And you don’t care about my feelings?” Cindy demanded.
Sophie glanced at her father. He sat there, immobile. There was no hope here. “I’m sorry I asked,” Sophie said.
She turned to go.
“You should’ve known,” her mother cried.
Pausing at the door, Sophie glanced over her shoulder. “You’re right. I should’ve known, but I thought after so many years…” She shrugged. “I’m sorry, Mom, that it wasn’t me who died that day. I’ve regretted my actions every moment since then. And there’s not been a moment when I haven’t tried to make up for it. But Zach finally made me see that Matt’s death was an accident. I pray you can see that, too.” She pushed open the door and walked to her car.
Numbness settled on Sophie until she reached her grandmother’s house on the opposite side of town. She sat in her car, frozen, until her grandmother noticed her in the car. The older woman coaxed her inside and sat her on the sofa. After several questions, Sophie told her what had just happened with her mother.
“I thought, Grandma, if I tried hard enough maybe Mom would love me. And maybe Dad would speak up for me. If I tried to save others, give my life to make up for what I did, maybe—” She shook her head. “I was wrong.”
Her grandmother wrapped her arms around Sophie. “I love you, child. And I think your mother loves you in her own way. It was easier for her to live in her grief than go on. I was never so proud as I was when I saw those kids riding yesterday.” Her grandmother cupped Sophie’s face. “It’s going to be okay.”
Sophie laid her head on her grandmother’s shoulder and tried to shut out the pain.
When Sophie pulled into the parking lot of the ranch, she saw an ambulance by the stable. Quickly parking, she ran to the ambulance. She saw an unconscious Ollie on the gurney.
“What happened?”
The paramedic turned to her. “He was found unconscious on the floor. Are you related to him?”
“No, but he’s a longtime employee and friend. He’s on chemo for cancer.”
The paramedic nodded. “Thanks for the heads-up.” He climbed in the back and started to close the door.
“What hospital?”
“ABQ General.” He closed the door and the ambulance took off.
Sophie looked around at the volunteers. “Anyone know what happened?”
One of the teen volunteers said, “I walked into the stable and found him on the floor by the tack room. When I couldn’t wake him, I called 911.”
Scanning the crowd, Sophie asked, “Where’s Zach?”
“You know, I haven’t seen him, but I got here about three.”
“Has anyone seen Zach?” Sophie scanned the faces of the volunteers, but no one had seen him.
“Let me change and let’s cancel all lessons and feed the horses.”
The five volunteers standing in the parking lot scattered.
Sophie raced into her house. As she changed she wondered where Zach was and what had happened.
The doors to ICU closed. She walked into the waiting room for another chance to hold Ollie’s hand for five minutes in the next hour. He looked old and frail, not like the hard-as-nails foreman she knew.
She dialed Zach’s home phone number, but only got his answering machine. She called Beth. “Have you heard from your brother?”
“Zach? No. Why?”
“He’s vanished. He wasn’t at the ranch today, and he’s not in his apartment. Did he ever get a cell phone like we begged him? I know he said he would, but I haven’t heard anything.”
“He talked about getting one, but I don’t know if he did. He hasn’t called me, so I don’t know where he is. Call my parents. They might know.”
“Is there—”
“I’ve got to go, friend. That’s the last call for my plane.”
The phone went dead.
Sophie stared at the useless instrument. She wasn’t going to call Zach’s parents. She’d sound like a desperate woman. Maybe he didn’t want to hear from her after meeting his ex-girlfriend last night.
Lord, I thought he’d healed. Was I wrong? What’s happened? They’re all gone. Zach
, Ollie, my parents, Margaret. There’s no one.
Despair overwhelmed her. After she saw Ollie one more time, held his hand and prayed, she drove home. Her heart led her to the stable. Horses had always been a comfort for her. She found Prince Charming in his stall. He bobbed his head, greeting her. In the corner, opposite the stall, rested a cane. Zach’s cane, which he kept here for times when he was exhausted and his leg was bothering him.
Resting her head on Prince Charming’s dark neck, the fear and despair overwhelmed her.
“Oh, Prince Charming, what am I going to do? It’s all vanished overnight.”
Prince Charming stood quietly. Well, at least she had her horses for now.
And God was there in the silence and grief.
Sophie woke up and looked around her. The morning light streamed through the crack in the walls of the stall. Straw under her hands and a saddle blanket under her cheek confused her. Prince Charming nosed her.
Prince Charming? Straw?
Suddenly the memories flooded back. She’d fallen asleep in Prince Charming’s stall. He nosed her again.
“Thanks for the wake-up call, boy,” she said climbing to her feet. She picked straw out of her hair. Letting herself out of the stall, she walked to the office and splashed water on her face. Looking into the mirror, she saw the circles under her eyes.
She moved out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone. She called the hospital, asking for Intensive Care. Sophie discovered that Ollie had awakened and been moved to a private room.
“Thank You, Lord,” she whispered, hanging up the phone.
She needed to rush up to the house, change and snatch an apple before she started with the horses. Racing back to Prince Charming’s stall, she grabbed her purse and started toward the house.
The sound of tires on the gravel drew her attention to the road. Zach’s truck drove up. He stopped by her car and he got out, but there was another passenger in the front seat. The stranger opened the passenger door and joined Zach beside the car. Whoever he was, he was an army major.
