“Oh, he still looks the same as he did back then,” her mother said.
“Does he?”
“Well, I mean, for the most part,” Eden continued, and Georgiana could hear the smile in her tone. “He’s broader, more muscled up, I guess you’d say.”
“More muscled up?” That would be hard to accomplish, since he was at peak shape back in high school, the best running back Claremont ever had as far as she knew. Wide shoulders, lean waist and powerful thighs that he used skillfully whenever he needed another few yards to make a first down. Or a touchdown. Landon had made his share of touchdowns during his career at Claremont High. Two more than Pete. Georgiana knew because Pete often complained about the fact and spouted the three plays where he could have scored if his line had only done their job, which would have put him over Landon’s record.
“His hair is short too, army style,” her mother continued. “That’s the biggest difference, I guess, and he looks more like a man now, not a boy.”
Georgiana nodded, wishing she could have seen the man her mother described. She’d never seen Landon with short hair. He’d always kept it long and wavy. Having his hair away from his face probably drew more attention to the chiseled jaw and the gold in his eyes. Landon was the only person she’d ever seen with eyes that were truly amber, like honey in sunshine.
“Same deep dimples,” her mother said, still describing the guy that was slowly but surely controlling Georgiana’s every thought. “They should outlaw those Cutter dimples. All three of them have those dimples, and even women as old as me notice. Landon, John and even that young Casey.”
That made Georgiana laugh. “So you’re saying Landon’s still a decent body double for Matthew McConaughey?”
“I’d forgotten how you used to say that about him,” her mother said with a laugh, “but yes, he looks like him.”
Georgiana nodded, thought about the gorgeous guy who’d been her best friend.
The barn grew quiet, with both of them evidently reflecting on how things could have been so different.
“Georgiana,” her mother finally said.
“Yes?”
“You should try again.”
She knew exactly what her mother was talking about, but still asked, “Try what?”
“Giving someone the chance to be there for you, to build you up instead of bring you down.”
“I did, Mom. Pete and I tried marriage counseling.”
“You tried marriage counseling.”
“He came off and on,” Georgiana said, then couldn’t stop herself from adding, “It was hard for him to deal with it all.”
“It was harder for you.”
Georgiana couldn’t argue with that. It was harder for her, no doubt. She was the one whose world had been upended, first with the move to Tampa and then with the loss of her sight and then finally with the abandonment of her husband. A triple whammy for sure.
“Honey, I know this hurts, but it needs to be said. Pete left that marriage before you ever went to that counselor. The minute you lost your sight, I’d say. There wasn’t anything left to save. I know that you feel like you don’t have anything to offer to another person, but you do. And it’s time for you to trust again, to trust someone not to break your heart.”
There was no point in being anything but honest. “I don’t think I can.”
“I’ve prayed for you to learn to trust again. And I honestly think God answered my prayers with Landon’s return home.”
“Mom,” Georgiana started, then decided to go ahead and tell her mother one part of the story she didn’t know. “When he came to see me that night at the hospital, I told him not to come back, that I didn’t want him in my life.”
Her mother cleared her throat. “Well, now, it looks like he didn’t listen.”
“What do you mean?” Georgiana asked, then she heard what her mother must have already seen. A horse’s steady gallop in the distance growing louder by the second. “I’m not even dressed to see anyone yet. I can’t see him now. I thought he said something about seeing Abi at her riding lessons. Surely he knows that’d be later in the day.” When Eden offered no response, Georgiana prompted, “Mom?”
“I’m going to head inside and check on Abi,” she said, then added in a whisper, “He’s the answer to my prayer, Georgiana. Let him help you.”
“Wait,” Georgiana pleaded, but her mother’s footsteps steadily left the barn.
God, please, stay with me now. Help me, Lord. Keep me strong.
She reached out for Fallon, but the horse had obviously moved to the paddock, probably because she heard the other horse approaching. “Fallon? Come here, girl.” She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and hoped her horse cooperated. She didn’t want to simply stand here and wait for Landon to enter the barn. She needed to be busy, needed to be doing something. “Fallon?”
But Fallon didn’t answer, and all Georgiana heard was the other horse’s steps easing to a stop. And then a bit of rustling as Landon obviously climbed off and tied Sam up. Slow and steady footsteps cautiously approached her in the barn. And Georgiana could do nothing but wait for the inevitable, being completely and totally alone with Landon.
Chapter Four
During Landon’s time of service, he’d faced suicide bombers, roadside bombs and rockets hitting nearby. Throughout each and every harrowing situation, he’d controlled his fear. But right now, in an Alabama barn with Georgiana, he trembled.
Her hair toppled long and wild and free down her back, a mass of golden strawberry curls. She wore a pale blue T-shirt, gray plaid pajama pants, a charcoal fleece jacket and pink work boots. She faced him now but didn’t see him, and that realization pierced his heart.
He swallowed thickly, determined to control his voice and hide the emotion wreaking havoc over his soul. “Georgie, we need to talk.”
She blinked, moistened her mouth, then turned back toward the stall where Fallon had reentered and moved back to her owner. Georgiana’s hand reached for the mare, and Fallon positioned her silky white mane against her palm. “I didn’t think you would come this early,” she said, and he noticed not only the tremor in her voice but also the shudder in her hand as she stroked Fallon’s mane.
“I remembered how you always woke up early to see Fallon, and since I was up too, I rode over.” He decided it best to keep his distance, because she was obviously uncomfortable with his arrival and because he didn’t know if he could control himself to merely touch her without embracing her, without holding her the way he’d dreamed of holding her each and every night in the heat of battle. He’d thought he would never have that chance, because she was Pete’s, but he suspected that was no longer the case. What had Pete done to ruin their marriage?
“You used to hate getting up early in high school,” she said.
“That’s because I wasn’t a fan of having so much to do around the farm before I went to the morning football workouts. For most of the team, that was their first work of the day. I’d already been sweating hard for a couple of hours by the time I got to the field house.” He shrugged. “That came in handy when I went to basic training though, so I shouldn’t have complained.” He stopped a few feet away from Georgiana. Fallon stepped toward him and sniffed his sleeve. “And I’m still adjusting to the time difference too, so my sleep is sporadic.”
“What is the time difference?”
“We’re nine and a half hours behind Kabul,” he said. “Kind of throws off your sleep schedule.”
“I bet it does.” She continued stroking Fallon. “How was it over there? I mean, in general, what’s it like? You hear things on the news, but I’ve never talked to anyone who has actually been there.”
Landon hated this, making small talk when he wanted to delve into what they both were thinking, but he also hated the fact that
she was apparently scared about this conversation. He hoped and prayed it was only the conversation and not him.
“Kabul. That’s in Afghanistan?” she continued.
“Yeah. I was there a while, as well as a few other areas over the years. I spent some time in Kuwait. Some in Iraq. Mostly Afghanistan though.”
“There’ve been a lot of injuries there,” she said, then added, “a lot of deaths.”
Landon nodded. He’d lost three of his best friends. Their names and death dates were now tattooed on the inside of his left wrist, but Georgie couldn’t see that. She’d never see that. Then he realized she also couldn’t see him nod and said, “Yes, there have been a lot of deaths. Way too many.”
“Were you ever...” she started, then squinted as she reached again for Fallon. “Did anything happen to you over there? Were you ever hurt?”
He’d never lied to her before. He wouldn’t start now. “Just once.”
Her hand stopped stroking Fallon’s mane, and she pivoted a little, providing Landon with a full display of her beauty, red-gold hair framing a heart-shaped face and showcasing an adorable sprinkling of faint copper freckles on her nose and cheeks...and those exquisite hazel eyes. He studied the full mouth that he’d kissed only once and the cheekbones that made her face automatically give the impression that she was about to smile, even if she wasn’t.
Landon wondered how long it’d been since she released that ample smile he’d always loved. Or the laugh that echoed from her very soul. Even though she looked as though she could smile, she also had a tone that said she wouldn’t, that maybe she couldn’t. Her face portrayed a distance, an invisible wall, and Landon didn’t think it was entirely because of her blindness.
“You were hurt?” she asked.
He’d been so absorbed in looking at her that he nearly lost track of the conversation. He cleared his throat. “It wasn’t bad.”
“What wasn’t bad? What happened?”
“A clean hit to the shoulder. Went straight through.”
Her mouth opened in a small O. “You were shot?”
“Like I said, it wasn’t bad.” Nothing at all compared to some of the other injuries he’d seen. Or the fatalities. His mind catapulted to that day when he had to identify the body of one of his friends. The image haunted him often at night, as did the sound of Calvin’s parents when Landon called to offer his condolences. Yes, Landon had seen plenty during the past few years, but he wouldn’t get into that now. That wasn’t what he was here to talk about and certainly wasn’t what she needed to hear.
“I’m so sorry that happened,” she said, her voice strangled with the words. “I can’t believe you were shot and no one told me.”
Landon had an answer for that. “I’m pretty sure that’s because no one knew.”
“You didn’t tell anyone? Not your family or your friends or anyone? What about John?”
“No, no one.”
Her sightless eyes still held so much compassion that Landon’s heart squeezed hard in his chest. “Why not?”
Georgiana’s concern touched him in more ways than he could describe. He’d never told John because his brother had enough on his plate raising Casey. Plus the wound wasn’t life-threatening. He didn’t tell Casey, of course, because he was just a kid. And all of Landon’s buddies in the unit already knew and merely thought of it as part of the job.
Landon hadn’t had anyone who actually sympathized with him over the bullet that rocked not only his body but also his soul. He’d felt so defeated at that point. It was only six months after he’d lost his mother and for the briefest moment, he’d wondered if he’d let his guard down on purpose, if he’d wanted to get shot so he could see his parents again. And there hadn’t been a single person that he could admit that to at the time.
What he would have given to have heard even one person sound as though they really cared, ask about him in the same tone he now heard from Georgiana. He swallowed through the flood of emotions her words created and answered, “There wasn’t any reason to worry anyone. It wasn’t all that bad.”
She turned her head away. “No one should have to go through something that horrible alone.”
Landon realized that she might very well be talking about more than his bullet. She might be talking about what she went through alone. “Georgie, why didn’t you tell me about your blindness? Why didn’t you get word to me when it happened?”
“You had already left the country by the time I realized what was happening.”
“What did happen?” he asked. “What caused it?”
She kept her head facing Fallon, probably because she knew if she looked in his direction he’d see how much she hurt. She shrugged. “Three months after we were married, right after I found out I was pregnant with Abi, my vision started getting blurry. It was a gradual thing, but the doctors couldn’t correct the problem, and eventually, I lost my sight completely.”
“They don’t know what caused it?” he asked.
Another shrug of her petite shoulders, then she whispered, “They couldn’t tell for sure.”
“I hate it that you went through all of that,” he said, desperately wanting to comfort her and no longer able to keep his distance. He moved even closer, close enough to smell a hint of sweet apple shampoo enveloping the only woman he’d ever loved. He lifted his hand to her face, placed his fingers softly against her cheek.
She jumped, obviously startled, and Landon realized his error. She was blind; she couldn’t see that he was going to touch her, and he’d scared her.
“Georgie, I’m sorry.”
“No,” she said, backing away. “Landon, please don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Don’t give me your pity. I can’t take it.” She shook her head. “Really, I can’t.”
“It isn’t pity.” What kind of number had Pete done on her? “I want to be your friend again. I want to help you. I care about you, Georgie. I always have, and I always will.”
“I thought that I could do this, be around you again, but I can’t.” She quickly turned to leave the barn, but her foot slipped and she lost her balance. Landon moved toward her but wasn’t fast enough, and she fell hard, her head popping solidly against one of the wooden stalls. She yelled, and Fallon reared up, spooked by the sudden scream.
“Let me help.” Landon moved toward her, but she scurried backward like a trapped animal, her boots pushing frantically to edge as far away as possible.
“No, Landon,” she said, her words sharp and clipped, and her eyes as wide as those of her spooked horse.
“Georgie, you’re hurt.”
“Leave, Landon. Please.” She crawled up to her hands and knees, then awkwardly stood and put a hand to the back of her head.
He saw red seeping through her fingers and knew she’d cut her scalp. “Georgie, let me help.”
“I. Said. No!”
Her mother entered the barn. “Georgiana?” She looked to Landon, gave him a regretful shake of her head.
“Mommy? Mommy, you okay? What’s wrong?” Abi ran past her grandmother to get to her momma.
Georgiana blinked, moved her bloody hand to her face and rubbed her forehead.
“Oh, Mommy, you’re bleeding!”
“Georgiana, what happened, honey?” Eden asked.
“She hit her head on the stall,” Landon stopped talking when Eden held up her hand.
“It’s okay, Georgiana,” Eden soothed, inspecting the wound. “Not too bad at all. We’ll get it cleaned up. Everything is going to be fine.”
“I know where the medicine stuff is, Grandma,” Abi said. “Remember, you showed me the other day. It’s in the back bathroom, right?”
“Right, Abi. Why don’t you help your mommy go to the house and hold one of those big square white bandages on it
until I get there in a second, okay? That would really help Grandma and Mommy.”
“I can do that.” Abi took Georgiana’s shaky hand and led her out of the barn.
“Momma,” Georgiana said, her tone holding a subtle warning.
“I just want to tell Landon bye.”
Georgiana left the barn with Abi without another word to Landon.
Eden waited until they were gone then looked pointedly at him. “A lot has happened since she last saw you.” Her lower lip quivered. “She isn’t the same girl. She’s doing much better, I think, but she won’t ever be the same. It was bad enough that she went blind so soon after the marriage and while she was pregnant too. She was worried about being a good mother and about how she would take care of a baby without being able to see.” Eden shook her head. “And somehow, Pete managed to make all of that worse. Oh, he never said anything negative in front of me, but Georgiana told me the things he’d say when I wasn’t around. I’ve got to tell you, I wish she’d moved back here years ago, but she was so determined to save her marriage. She sure didn’t want a divorce.”
“She always said she’d marry for life.”
“And she did. But Pete didn’t. He married until trouble came, and then he was off with someone else in nothing flat.” A tear slid down Eden’s cheek. “I thought maybe if she came back here she’d find happiness again. And then, when I saw you, I thought you would be an important part of her finding it.”
“But now?”
“I haven’t given up on her, Landon. She’s hiding. Hiding in this house and hiding from life. But she wants to make Abi happy. The only way we got her out of the house last night was because Abi made her promise she’d go to town. But one time out every couple of months isn’t living.” She took a few steps to the end of the barn and peeked toward the house. “I should probably get in there and check on Abi’s nursing skills.”
Love Reunited Page 5
