Mrs. Camp got the whole town keyed up about the children’s big day. From what Eden had told Georgiana, Gina Brown had advertised the event for weeks and was even hosting a wet-paint sale from several local artists after the recital. And Mrs. Camp had arranged for the Sweet Spot to provide desserts and for Claremont’s new coffee shop The Grind to serve specialty coffees and teas.
“Georgiana, the gallery is like a renovated warehouse, with high ceilings and exposed pipes,” Eden said. “And there are local painters sporadically all around, some painting landscapes and others painting flowers. One is working on a horse painting.”
“Hey, maybe you could get some of Gina Brown’s artwork to hang in the fishing cabins, make them look cozy,” Georgiana said.
“You know what, that’s a great idea. I’ll talk to her about that. We only need one now, since we’ve only got the blue cabin done, so maybe I can get something from the wet-paint sale.”
“When is the banker coming out to see the place?” Eden asked.
“John is going to meet with Andy Tuesday after he finishes his classes at Stockville to present the business plan. They’ll set up the appointment for Andy to come out and see the finished cabin.”
“It’s a great idea,” Eden said.
“Yeah, I think it is too,” Landon agreed, then squeezed Georgiana’s hand. “We’ve named that first cabin ‘Georgiana’s Place’ after the person who had the idea.”
That was the first Georgiana had heard of the cabins being named. “Really?”
“It’s already painted above the door.”
She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Oh,” Eden said softly.
“What is it, Mom?”
“Just, well, if looks could kill, Landon would be a dead man right now.”
“He had his chance,” Landon said.
Georgiana didn’t know what Pete was doing or how he looked at Landon now, but she didn’t have time to ask. Mrs. Camp’s voice filled the air as she announced the first young pianist.
Probably because she was the newest student, Abi was the last to perform. Mrs. Camp announced her, and then Georgiana heard her footsteps cross the stage.
“Come on, sweetie,” she whispered. Then she heard the piano bench scoot against the floor, and then the first notes filled the air as Abi played the simple piece. Georgiana had listened to Abi practice it repeatedly over the past few weeks, but knowing that a large portion of Claremont now filled the gallery and was completely silent to listen to her little girl play—and knowing that she’d garnered the courage to be here too—made Georgiana’s eyes fill. The tears spilled over and continued until she, and the remainder of the room, applauded Abi’s precious performance.
“She did amazing,” Landon said, then placed a handkerchief in Georgiana’s hand. “I had a feeling you might need this tonight.”
She dabbed at her eyes. “You were right.”
Abi darted to them as soon as Mrs. Camp announced the program had completed. “How’d you like it?”
“You were wonderful,” Georgiana said, accepting Abi’s hug and kissing the top of her daughter’s soft curls. “Incredible.”
“You were amazing, Abi!” Pete said.
“Thanks, Daddy! I’ve been practicing real hard.”
“I could tell.”
Georgiana felt odd listening to him so easily step into Abi’s world, but this was something that she would have to deal with from now on. Might as well get used to it. At least he lived in Tampa, so she didn’t have to deal with him on a daily basis.
“Listen, I didn’t think about asking you to bring a change of clothes tonight, but I was wondering if you’d like to stay with us over at Aunt Jan’s house tonight? It’s your cousin Lance’s birthday, and they’re having his party tonight. I thought you’d like to go and see everyone. We could go get your things at the farm in a little while.”
“Is that okay, Mommy?” Abi asked.
Georgiana couldn’t say no to Abi spending time at Pete’s sister’s home. “Yes, that’s fine.”
“Oh, but Grandma and I were gonna celebrate my first recital with a double chocolate milk shake.”
“We can celebrate another day,” Eden said. “I won’t forget. I think I like Nelson’s milk shakes even more than you do. You go have fun at Lance’s party. And I think I’m going to look at all of these pretty paintings they have for sale and maybe buy one for your room.”
“I’d like a horse one or a rabbit one,” Abi said.
“Then that’s what I’ll look for.”
“You ready, Daddy?”
“I sure am.”
Abi gave Georgiana another hug. “Thank you for coming, Mommy, and for wearing your new dress. I told you it’d be fun tonight. It was, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, sweetie, it was.”
“I love you, Momma,” Abi said, squeezing Georgiana even harder, and Georgiana heard Pete’s low groan.
“Come on, Abi. The party has probably already started.”
Georgiana listened to their footsteps fade.
“You okay?” Landon slid his hand against hers and twined their fingers.
“Yes, I’m okay. At least he wasn’t too mean.”
“I wouldn’t say he was nice,” Eden said, “but I guess he wasn’t overly mean either.”
Landon squeezed her hand. “The important thing is that Abi did great and was extra happy because you came to see her perform.” He touched the satin strap of her red dress. “And you wore your new red dress.”
Georgiana lifted a foot. “And cute shoes.”
“Very cute shoes,” he agreed.
“I’m proud of you, honey.” Eden kissed her cheek. “Now, are you two staying around a while or heading on back to the farm?”
“I think we should probably leave so I can get Abi’s things together before Pete comes over.”
“Good idea,” Eden said. “I’m going to see about getting a painting for Abi’s room. Do you want me to look for something for one of the fishing cabins too?”
“That’d be great,” Landon said. “Something outdoorsy. A landscape scene or horses.”
“Or a rabbit,” Georgiana said, smiling. “It is ‘Georgiana’s Place,’ after all.”
He laughed. “Or a rabbit.”
They left the gallery and started back to the farm, while Georgiana pondered how to tell Landon everything that was on her heart. She’d made it through her first big public outing and being around Pete again with hardly any discomfort because she’d been by Landon’s side. Being with him felt right, and she never wanted to be anywhere else.
So she had to tell him two things.
One, that she loved him, with all her heart. And two, that she hadn’t been completely honest about what caused her blindness. The first would undoubtedly make him happy. But the second...
“You’re mighty quiet,” he said, turning off the engine as they apparently arrived at the farm. She’d had no idea they’d already driven that far. “What’s on your mind, Georgie?”
She took a deep breath. “You. Us.” Then she shivered, and she wasn’t certain if it was because of the chill in the air or because of her fear. Please God, let him understand why I haven’t told him before now.
“You’re cold,” he said. “Let’s go inside and get warm, and then we can talk about what’s on your mind.” He paused. “Because I’m pretty sure the same thing is on my mind.” His door slammed as he exited the car.
Her heart thumped solidly in her chest. He loved her; she was certain of it. If only she could simply tell him she loved him too and let that be it, then live happily ever after. She really wanted a happily ever after with Landon.
He opened her door and helped her out,
then they went into the house. “You want to get Abi’s things together first, in case they show up soon?”
“I probably should.” Georgiana had almost forgotten about getting Abi clothes for spending the night at her aunt’s house. She went upstairs to Abi’s room, found the small suitcase under her bed and began filling it with everything she’d need for an overnight stay. She knew her daughter’s clothes as well as her own, so she easily packed the bag. But just as she started back down the stairs, a loud knock sounded at the front door.
“I’ve got it.” Landon’s footsteps echoed across the floor and then she heard him open the door just as she reached the bottom step.
“Pete, Georgiana’s getting Abi’s things,” Landon said, civil but definitely not friendly.
“I see her. She’s right behind you,” Pete’s words were delivered with so much hate Georgiana could feel the anger. “Can’t you see her, or are you blind too?”
“You wanting trouble, Pete?”
“Landon, Pete!” Georgiana said, taking the few steps between the bottom of the stairs and the door. She stepped into Landon, then moved aside and held out the bag. “Here, take her bag, Pete. And leave, please.”
“What are you doing, Georgiana? And what are you doing, Cutter? What, do you feel guilty about what you did? Is that why you’re with her? Because it seems like you’d have come back years ago, after the damage was done. Our marriage would have been fine if it wasn’t for you.”
“What are you talking about?” Landon asked, while Georgiana’s head throbbed. This couldn’t be happening. Not tonight, not when she’d planned to tell him.
“Pete, no,” she begged.
But Pete wasn’t having any part of her request. “Of course it took her years before she told me. But you—you knew—and you stayed gone. Now you come back? You leave her blind and expect me to take care of the damaged goods, and when I don’t, then you’re going to pick up the pieces? Georgiana, is that what you want, someone who’s with you out of pity?”
“Pete, I mean it, if you don’t tell me what you’re talking about, right now...” Landon warned.
Then the pieces seemed to click into place for Pete; Georgiana heard his gasp when he put it all together. And laughed. An evil, sinister laugh.
“Georgiana, is there something you need to tell your boyfriend?”
“Pete, don’t do this. I was going to tell him tonight, and there’s no reason to hurt me this way.”
“Tell me what, Georgie?”
“No reason to hurt you? I’m not the one who hurt you, Georgiana, he is. And it’s about time somebody told him.” He cleared his throat, while Georgiana’s tears burned free. “You see, Landon, after several years of marriage and no telling how many marriage-counseling sessions, she finally decided to open up and tell me the truth about what happened in the church that day.”
Georgiana could only imagine Landon’s face, but Pete must have seen what she imagined.
“That’s right. She told me about your profession of love two days before our wedding. And then she told me about how she was running away from you, how she ran out of that church because she’d gotten so upset at what you’d said and she pulled out in front of that truck.”
“That’s not what I said,” Georgiana interjected. Pete was changing the story, and if he continued, then Landon would be even more hurt. “I told you that I left the church because—”
“Let him finish, Georgie.” Landon’s words were strained, and hurt. She’d waited too long to tell him the truth, and she’d opened the door for Pete to hurt him even more.
“But what you don’t realize is that her injuries from that wreck weren’t resolved during that first hospital stay. See that wreck—the wreck you caused—came back to haunt us just a few months later, when she started losing her vision. And then, well, you know what happened next. I had a blind wife, thanks to you.”
“Georgie, is that true?” Landon asked, and she really didn’t want to answer. “Is it?”
“Tell him, Georgiana. It isn’t like I made that up.”
“I wasn’t running from you,” she said. “I left that church because I realized that I had feelings for you.”
“Which means that marrying me made all the sense in the world,” Pete spouted. “I’m out of here. Our daughter is waiting at Jan’s house.” His steps were hard against the porch as he stomped his way to his car.
“Landon, I was going to tell you tonight.”
“You said they weren’t sure what caused your blindness. I asked you, and you said the doctors weren’t sure.”
“They weren’t sure what happened in the wreck that actually caused it,” she stammered.
“Georgie, you knew it was the wreck. You knew that I caused it, and yet you never told me. You didn’t get word to me what had happened when I left in the army, and you never told me the truth now. I thought—I really thought you trusted me.”
“I wanted to tell you tonight. I was going to. I wanted to tell you that I love you, and I knew I couldn’t tell you that unless there were no secrets between us. So I was going to tell you.”
“Why should I believe you now?” he asked, and, heaven help her, she didn’t have an answer.
“Landon,” she started, but he’d already turned away, his footsteps slow and determined as he left her house and broke her heart.
Chapter Fifteen
Landon drove all over Claremont and then to Stockville while he thought about everything Pete had said. And the whole time he kept replaying that day at the church, his confession of love for Georgie, her running away and then the sound of her car getting hit by that truck.
His mind jumped to the hospital, seeing her in the hospital bed black-and-blue from the wreck, and then telling her how sorry he was. She’d told him she couldn’t see him anymore and that she was still marrying Pete.
And then he’d left Claremont.
And she’d gone blind.
He slammed his fist against the steering wheel. Why hadn’t he checked on her again? Why hadn’t she told him when she realized what had happened?
Because she’d married Pete, his mind whispered, and Georgiana marries for life.
His conversation with her on the ridge came back to him with utter clarity.
“I had to drive, had to think. I thought I would ride around town for a while and then find Mom, talk to her and see what she thought about what I believed I simply had to do.”
“What you had to do?”
“Cancel the wedding.”
Landon had no doubt she’d told him the truth that day. And then again tonight. She did leave that church because of him, but it wasn’t like Pete said. She wasn’t trying to get away from Landon. She was running to him.
And yes, she was wrong in keeping the blindness from him. She was wrong in not telling him that the wreck caused the blindness. But she was only trying to honor the marriage vow she’d taken with Pete. And she said she was going to tell Landon about it all tonight, and right now, he realized...he believed her.
He turned the truck around. Back then, at that church, she’d been running to him. Now it was time for him to run to her.
His cell phone rang as he headed back toward Claremont. He glanced at the display and answered. “Eden, I’m on my way back. Let her know. I’m sorry she’s upset.”
“Georgiana isn’t with you? She isn’t answering her cell.”
“She isn’t with me. Did you call the house?”
“I did, and she didn’t answer. I’m still at the square. You said she was upset?”
“Yeah, she was, but I’m on my way back.”
“I’ll start home. Why was she upset, Landon? What did Pete do?”
“It was me this time,” he said, disconnecting and then pressing the pedal to the floor.
&nb
sp; God, please, let her be okay.
Landon arrived at her farm and noticed Eden hadn’t made it home. He pulled beside the porch, slammed his foot on the brake, turned off the truck and jumped out. “Georgiana!” He jumped up the steps, opened the door to the house and yelled her name again.
No response.
Where would she have gone? His eyes moved to the barn. Fallon. “Georgie!” he yelled again.
A strangled sound echoed from the barn, and Landon jumped off the porch and took off running. He rounded the corner to the barn so quickly that his boots slid on the hay, and he grabbed the edge to keep from falling, peered inside...and saw her.
Another piercing sob rang out as she struggled to put the saddle on her horse. Her cries were escaping so forcefully that she apparently hadn’t heard him yell her name.
“Georgiana!” he yelled again, and this time, she stopped, turned and let the saddle drop to the ground.
“Landon?” She sucked in air, grabbed her chest. “Landon, I was trying to find you! I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you. I had to find you and let you know...I love—” She never got a chance to finish. He closed the distance between them, took her in his arms and kissed her forehead, her cheeks, her lips. He couldn’t stop kissing her, holding her, loving her.
“I’m sorry, Georgie. You were going to tell me tonight. I believe you. And you didn’t tell me before because you’d been committed to Pete. I’m sure it was tough for me to come back after all this time and then you instantly open up to me, especially after what you went through with Pete. I should have understood, but I didn’t, and I left you...again.” He kissed her once more. “But I won’t leave you, if you’ll let me stay. I love you, Georgie. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. And I don’t want to be away from you again.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “Oh, Landon, I do love you, with all my heart I do.”
Love Reunited Page 18
