Love Reunited

by Renee Andrews

  “Oh, I would love to see that too.” Eden closed her eyes for a moment, and Landon suspected she was remembering the vision of her daughter riding Fallon through the fields.

  “Then there’s one more thing I’d like to ask you to help me with, if you don’t mind,” he said.

  She opened her eyes. “What’s that?”

  “Could you talk to her, try to get her thinking about the possibility of riding again, and I guess more importantly about the possibility of letting me help her ride again?”

  He knew how much Georgiana had always valued her mother’s opinion, and from the way she’d bolted away from him yesterday, it’d be difficult for Landon to get close enough to talk her into spending one-on-one time with him while he helped her ease back into riding. But that’s what he wanted, one-on-one time with Georgiana. Time to grow close again. Time to help her find freedom again. Time for her to perhaps find their friendship again. And, if Landon’s dreams could come true, to find more...with him.

  “Will you talk to her for me?” he repeated.

  She smiled broadly. “Of course I will.”

  Chapter Seven

  Abi tapped Georgiana’s arm. “Momma, are you done working yet?”

  “I’m not completely done.” Georgiana turned off the Dictaphone and removed her headset so she could hear her daughter better. “But I can finish later on. Did you want to talk to me?”

  Abi huffed out an exasperated breath. “No, but Grandma is still at the grocery store, and I don’t want to watch TV, and I’ve practiced my piano until my fingers hurt, and it’s pretty outside, and I’m bored.” She was usually fairly good at entertaining herself, but the summer was drawing to a close, and she’d exhausted all of the solo entertainment options for a six-year-old. She was too young to venture off by herself any farther than the barn, and she’d evidently had enough of the house and the barn for today.

  “You’re bored?” Georgiana wrapped the cord around the headset and placed it on top of the Dictaphone player.

  “Yep. Can we do something fun? Not just in the house or at the barn. Let’s go somewhere different.”

  “Go somewhere different?” Georgiana couldn’t “go” anywhere. She couldn’t drive, and Abi was quite familiar with that limitation. “Where do you want to go?”

  “You said you did fun stuff here when you were little. You did hikes and fishing and climbing trees and stuff. That’s what you said we could do when we moved here, but we haven’t done any of that yet.”

  Georgiana frowned. Her daughter was right. She’d played up the farm and all of the wonderful things it had to offer so Abi wouldn’t be too upset about moving, but then she hadn’t made an effort to help her little girl do anything more than the horse-riding lessons. And, if she were being completely honest, she wasn’t the one doing that for her daughter; Abi’s grandmother was. “We do need to do something fun, don’t we?”

  “Yep, we do.”

  “You have anything in mind?”

  “We could walk to the pond.” Abi’s voice sounded so hopeful that Georgiana felt badly for not “doing something fun” before now.

  “Walk to the pond? That’s what you want to do?” The pond was a fairly long distance from the house, practically at the other end of their property, but Georgiana thought it’d do her good to get out and get some fresh air with Abi while they journeyed across the pasture and enjoyed the pretty day. “You know what, that does sound fun.”

  “But let’s don’t just walk. Let’s put the rocks on the pond the way Grandma was talking about the other night at dinner. Remember?”

  Georgiana did remember. Eden told Abi about how Georgiana had been a pro at skipping stones when she was a little girl, and she’d said that they would have to go to the pond and see if Abi had inherited that talent. But she’d been talking about teaching Abi herself. How would Georgiana skip stones or teach her daughter to do it if she couldn’t see?

  “Remember?” Abi repeated.

  “Yes, I do.” There was no way Georgiana could turn her down. Somehow she had to accomplish the task of skipping rocks blind.

  “Let’s go do that, okay? Grandma has rocks in her flower bed. I can get some, and you can teach me how to make them walk on water.”

  Georgiana laughed. “Skip on water. That’s what you do, make them skip across the top of the water.” She remembered how much fun she and Landon always had trying to see whose rock could go the farthest. He always won, but she gave him a good run for the money.

  “Okay, skip on the water.” Abi hugged Georgiana, then ran across the room. Georgiana heard the door leading outside creak open. “I’ll go get the rocks. What kind do we need?”

  “Small, flat ones. About the size of a quarter, or a little bigger. Those will work best.” Georgiana started toward the door. “I’ll help you get some good ones.”

  “Awesome! This will be so much fun!” Abi’s footsteps pounded the front porch and then Georgiana heard tumbling rocks as she apparently searched through the flower beds that spanned the length of the house. “Is this one good?” Abi ran to Georgiana and put a smooth flat stone in her palm.

  “That one is perfect.”

  “Okay. How many more?” Abi asked.

  “Fill your pockets, and I’ll fill mine too. But not too many to make your jeans heavy when we walk.” Georgiana wasn’t sure how many it would take for her to get the hang of skipping stones again, or if she’d even be able to accomplish the task when she couldn’t see the water. But she desperately wanted to do something with her daughter, and since she was still skittish about doing anything that required leaving the farm, she really needed to find some “fun stuff” for them to do on the property. Skipping stones would be the first step, and she was glad to hear Abi so excited about doing the simple excursion together.

  God, this isn’t something that I’d typically pray for, but I know all things are possible with You. So today, if it be Your will, let at least one of my stones find its way across the top of the water before it sinks.

  They walked for at least twenty minutes with Georgiana letting Abi tug her in the right direction. Oh, she knew her way around the farm, but the open fields were a little more difficult to navigate with the occasional small hills and valleys along the way. Abi chatted nonstop, and Georgiana reveled in the sound of her daughter’s enthusiasm. She was so much like Georgiana had been at that age, full of energy and seeing every day as a potential adventure.

  Georgiana had thought her whole life would be that way, one big adventure after another. But now she rarely even left her home. And her daughter was over-the-moon excited about Georgiana joining her for a walk to a pond and an attempt at skipping stones.

  Suddenly, Abi’s happiness hit Georgiana for what it was—anticipation of actually doing something with her mom, just the two of them making the day special by simply being together. Abi would undoubtedly want to go lots of places, do lots of things, with her momma. There would be field trips and school plays and festivals. And Georgiana wanted to be there.

  God, please, help me get past this rut. Help me to stop being afraid, Lord. For Abi...and for me.

  “There it is! The pond!” Abi yanked on Georgiana’s arm and picked up her pace until they were practically running across the field.

  “Abi, you’d better tell me when we’re getting close, or I may go toppling right in,” Georgiana said breathlessly as they ran.

  Abi giggled and slowed her run to a trot. “Okay, okay,” she said, still laughing, “we can slow down. It’s right there.”

  Georgiana may not have been able to see it, but she could sense the water ahead. She could hear the liquid gently moving against the edge of the pond. Crickets chirped loudly, and at least one frog attempted to give them some competition in the noise department. She inhaled thickly, enjoyed the clean, crisp air filling her lungs
, then exhaled. “It’s nice here, isn’t it?”

  “It’s prettier than the beach,” Abi said, which was huge by Abi standards. She’d loved the beach in Tampa and was hesitant to move to a place without sand, even if it was where her grandma lived. But Georgiana could hear the sincere appreciation of the farm’s beauty in her daughter’s voice, and it touched her heart.

  She visualized the large pond, its moss-covered bank and occasional wild clover blooming along the edge. “I always thought it was prettier than a beach too.” Georgiana had never wanted to move to Tampa, but she’d been willing to for Pete. And she’d stayed there trying to make their marriage work. But Claremont was home.

  A fairly loud splash sounded nearby. “Abi? Did you throw a rock already?”

  “No, but I saw that. It was a fish! Did you hear how big a splash he made? Oh, look, another one splashed over there!”

  Georgiana nodded. Her father had stocked the pond when she was little, and apparently the fish still thrived. “I’d forgotten about how many fish are in this pond. We’ll have to come out here and fish sometime too.”

  “Nah, I don’t think I want to,” Abi said. “We’d have to touch them, wouldn’t we?”

  Georgiana grinned. “Assuming we caught some, then yes, we would. And we’d have to bait hooks as well.”

  “Definitely don’t want to do that,” Abi said. “We can just throw our rocks.”

  “Yeah, I guess fishing might not be all that appealing for a girl if you have to bait your own hook and touch anything you caught.” Georgiana’s father had always done both for her during their trips to the pond. She hated that Abi didn’t have a man in her life to do those kind of things. She’d have her weekend with Pete every month, but Georgiana was certain Pete wasn’t a “take his daughter fishing” kind of guy. She couldn’t even recall whether Pete liked fishing.

  The thought of another guy, one who loved the outdoors, came to mind, but she shook the image away. Chances were she wouldn’t see Landon Cutter again after the way she’d run away from him Saturday.

  Stones clunked together loudly, and Georgiana could tell Abi was in the process of emptying her pockets. She tucked away the unpleasant memory of leaving Landon in the barn and concentrated on enjoying this time with her daughter.

  “I’ve got my rocks ready,” Abi said. “What do I do now?”

  Georgiana slipped her hand in her own pocket and withdrew a slick rock about the size of a half dollar. She rubbed it between her thumb and first two fingers and then eased one foot ahead of her to see how close she stood to the water’s edge. When her foot found air fairly quickly, she gasped. “We’re right by the water.”

  “I thought that’s where we were supposed to be,” Abi said.

  Georgiana took a step back, reached her hand out and made sure Abi moved back too. “Yes, but not quite that close,” she said. “Right here should be fine.”

  “Okay, so what do I do?” Abi asked.

  Georgiana turned to the side, rubbed the smooth stone again, and then did her best to flick her wrist sideways as she pivoted and released the stone toward the water.

  She wanted to hear the pit-pit-pat of a stone hitting the surface in intervals. Instead she heard one solid plunk. “Oh, what did it do?”

  “It fell in,” Abi said. “That’s not the way Grandma said it works. That didn’t even kind of look like walking on water.”

  “No, I suppose it didn’t.” Maybe she sent the rock out with too much of an arch instead of flat above the water. Without being able to see, she had no way of viewing the water’s surface, no way to know how to gauge when the stone would hit or how hard. So she focused on listening, hearing the liquid against the bank and determining about how far she should attempt to send the rock out to get it started on its journey. “I’m going to try again.” She listened, turned, twisted her wrist and flicked it toward the water.

  After a pause that seemed to go on forever, she heard a beautiful pit-plunk.

  “Mom! I think you did it. It bounced before it dropped.”

  Georgiana laughed. “So it skipped once. Good deal. Come here, and I’ll show you how to do it, then you can try too. And I will see if I can get it to take more steps.”

  Abi situated herself in front of Georgiana and let her mother wrap an arm around her to show her how to hold the stone.

  “Gently in your fingers, like this. And then you’re going to turn your wrist, kind of quick, like this.” She moved Abi’s wrist. “You’ve got it?”

  “Yep, I’m ready.”

  “Okay, flick your wrist toward the water, and when your stone is going that direction then you let it go. You kind of pretend like you are pushing it out over the top of the water, or that’s how I did it when I was your age. Now I have to dream how I want it to work, but back then, I could look at the water and tell where I needed the stone to go.” She had no idea if her words were making sense, and since she couldn’t see Abi’s expression, she was unable to tell whether her daughter understood. “You get it?”

  “I think so.”

  “Want me to guide your hand the first time?”

  “Sure.”

  Georgiana wrapped her palm around Abi’s hand then helped her make the motion with her wrist. The stone made a solid thunk when it hit the water.

  Abi grunted. “Nope, that wasn’t it.”

  “It takes a little time to get the feel of it,” Georgiana said, and then put another stone in Abi’s hand. “Let’s keep trying.”

  “O-kay.” Abi tossed three more stones straight to the bottom, then she stepped away from her mom. Georgiana heard her collapse against the grass. “I’m never gonna get it.”

  “Sure you will. It just takes a little practice. Let’s not give up, okay?”

  “You do another one, and then I’ll try again,” Abi said.

  Georgiana withdrew another smooth stone from her pocket, followed the same motions as before and sent it toward the water to hear pit-pit-pit-plunk. “Yes!” she cheered, clapping her hands together.

  Abi had obviously gotten back to her feet. “You did it! You did it, Momma!” She grabbed Georgiana in a hug.

  “So now you try again,” Georgiana said. “Because, like Grandma said, you’ve surely got the talent too.” She sat on the grass and listened to her daughter.

  Abi sent two more stones in without any success. “I can do it.”

  Georgiana loved hearing confidence in her little girl’s tone. “Of course you can.”

  Then with a grunt, Abi sent another stone sailing.

  Pit-pit-pit-pit-plunk!

  Abi cheered, and Georgiana jumped up to celebrate. Unfortunately, she hadn’t realized that as she moved around near the bank, she’d evidently moved closer to the edge. Her feet hit the mossy side and the next thing she knew...she was in. Completely. And wet. Completely.

  “Mom!” Abi yelled. “Mom, are you okay?”

  Georgiana came up out of the water laughing. “I’m—fine.” She pushed her way up to the grass, then pulled her heavy, jean-clad legs around the edge. “I guess in the future I should pay closer attention to where the water is before I start celebrating your rock walking on water, huh?”

  Laughing, Abi plopped down beside Georgiana and hugged her. “Yes, you should! Oh, you’re all muddy,” she said, with an ew factor underlying each word.

  Georgiana pushed her wet hair away from her face and actually felt a little mud against her forehead. “I’m a mess, aren’t I?”

  Laughing, Abi pulled something—probably grass—out of Georgiana’s hair. “Yeah, Momma, you are a mess.”

  “Wait till you tell your grandma!” Georgiana’s laughter rang out, and she was overcome with how wonderful it felt to really laugh again. When was the last time she’d laughed? “Oh, Abi, thank you.”

  Still giggling, Abi
asked, “For what?”

  “For being bored today and for getting me out of the house to have fun.”

  “We should do this again tomorrow!”

  Georgiana smiled. “I think we will, except tomorrow I’ll try not to get so excited when you skip your stones, and I’ll plan to stay dry.”

  “Okay!” Abi clapped her hands together. “Aren’t you glad we didn’t give up?”

  Georgiana smiled. “Yes.” Very glad.

  “I still have six more to throw,” Abi said. “Can I throw them now, or do you need to go back and take a bath or something?”

  Georgiana laughed so hard she snorted. “No, I can wait until you toss the rest of them, if you can put up with looking at me all dirty. Here.” She emptied her pockets. “Throw these as well. I’m done.”

  They stayed at the pond long enough for Abi to successfully skip several more stones, then headed back toward the house. And since they’d been having so much fun, laughing and skipping rocks, Georgiana didn’t notice the sound of the truck that headed up the driveway. Nor did she realize that a muscled cowboy was busy working in her barn...and hoping to catch a glimpse of Georgiana.

  * * *

  Landon wouldn’t have to worry about finding a gym where he could work out now that he was back in Claremont. Every day provided enough physical activity for a week. In fact, he’d wager he was getting more exercise now than he did in the service. He’d been making deliveries for the feed store nonstop from the time he arrived early this morning until the end of the day, which meant he’d hauled fifty pound sacks of feed and more hay bales than he could count...from the time he arrived early this morning until the end of the day. And when he returned home, he’d need to get everything done around his own farm.

  Definitely plenty of exercise.

  His shirt and jeans were stuck to him from sweat, the muscles in his back stung. And his arms hadn’t hurt this bad since he was a private doing PT and running the cinder track by the barracks...carrying twenty-five gallon jugs of water until he dropped.