The Hopeful Heart

by Jaclyn Hardy

  Angela stood just outside the bunkhouse when he got to the ranch. Her eyes were red, but she smiled and gave him a hug. “I’m so proud of you.”

  “Thanks. For everything.”

  “Anything for family.” Angela picked up the last bag and helped him carry it to the truck.

  A few of the ranch hands climbed into the truck with Lance, while several others went with Carl. They’d have everything unpacked in no time. And then Lance could figure out what else he’d need for the house.

  It had been three weeks since Brianna disappeared without saying anything to anyone. He would have given anything to have her there with him. Partly because he had no clue how to decorate, but mostly he just missed being with her. Watching her laugh, or smile, or hum while she worked.

  The number to the phone Angela gave her no longer worked, which didn’t surprise him. Brianna would need a local number if she was going to be teaching in New York.

  Mom and Dad were in front of the house inspecting the yard when Lance pulled up. He climbed out and swept his mom up in a hug.

  She hugged him back. “It’s so good to see you. I was so bummed when you couldn’t make it for Christmas.”

  “Me too. Can’t do much about it when blizzards close the roads down. But I’m glad you’re here now. Isn’t it great?” Lance looked up at the house. “I still can’t believe I got it.”

  “It’s beautiful. Let’s go see inside.” Mom took the keys from Lance and went to open the door.

  Lance glanced over at his dad. “Would you go with her please? I don’t want her planning out how everything looks without me.”

  “Got it.” Dad stopped next to Lance. “I’m proud of you, son. I’m glad you stuck with what you started.”

  The words stunned him. He had never heard his dad say anything like that. Ever. Lance shook himself and ran to the truck to help unload. He stood inside, letting people know which boxes to put where. He’d have to go through everything later because he was pretty sure a lot of it was just stuff from when he was young.

  It was mid-afternoon by the time they got the van unloaded. The ranch hands had to leave to help with milking the cows, but his parents stuck around to help. Dad checked faucets and outlets to make sure they all worked while Mom unpacked boxes of dishes.

  “Aren’t these yours, Mom?” Lance placed a few of the glasses into the cupboards and moved to the plates.

  “Yes, but you needed some. Your dad and I decided to get new plates for ourselves and give you these. They’re not in the best shape, but I guess that’s to be expected after using them for twenty years.”

  Lance ran his finger along one of the plates. They were worn with a few chips, but they’d work for now. Finding a perfect matching set was at the bottom of his list of things he wanted to get for the house.

  The living room was pretty bare after everything that had been in it before. Now there was just an old couch and his dad’s old recliner. Okay, so maybe more furniture needed to be something to think about sooner rather than later.

  The doorbell rang, and Mom looked up in surprise. “Were you expecting anyone?”

  “No, but I’m sure it’s probably one of my friends bringing something I forgot.” Lance opened the door and stopped in shock.

  Brianna stood there holding a basket of fruit. “Uh, hi. Congrats on your new house.”

  “Who is it, dear?” Mom came up behind Lance. “Oh. Hello.”

  “Hi. Are you Lance’s mom?” Brianna shifted the basket in her arms so she could reach a hand out to shake. “I’m Brianna.”

  Mom glanced down at Lance. “Aren’t you going to invite her in?”

  Lance blinked and cleared his throat. “Yes. Sorry. Come in.”

  He had to be dreaming. He’d wanted this for so long, and now he was clearly imagining things. Brianna was in New York, far away from him. And yet . . . she was here laughing at something his mom had said.

  Mom leaned toward Lance. “I’ll go see if your dad needs help. Also, I’m going to call for pizza. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Uh, no one delivers out here.” Lance couldn’t pull his eyes from Brianna. “We’ll have to have someone pick it up.”

  “Ah. I forgot we’re not in Boise.” Mom laughed. “Your dad and I will go get it and be back.”

  Lance nodded. He waited for them to leave before finally turning back to Brianna. “What are you doing here?”

  Brianna bit her lip. “You don’t want me to be here? I can leave.”

  “That’s not what I said.” Lance rubbed his forehead. “Sorry. It’s just that you were gone. And now you’re here, and I don’t know what to think.”

  She sat on one of the barstools. “It’s a long, confusing story, but when I got back home, it . . . didn’t feel like home. Something was missing. Things had changed. And I knew that I belonged here. I knew that the one thing I needed was my cowboy. I needed you, Lance.”

  Lance wiped off the counter. “You’ve been gone for almost a month. Why now?”

  “I couldn’t just come back and have everything be the same. I needed a job and a place to stay. I was living out of shopping bags and scrambling to keep up with classes. It took a bit to get everything settled, but I’m back.”

  Lance’s heart lifted, but he wasn’t quite ready to let things slide. “So you couldn’t find something there?”

  “No. I actually found a job in Burley, so it’s not too far at least. I’m hoping to transfer at the end of the year, but we’ll see. So . . .” Brianna blew out a breath. “I’ll be around as much as you want me to be. We can ignore each other completely, or we can get over the awkwardness there is between us and be together. I’m really hoping it’s the latter, but I’m not going to push it if you don’t want it.”

  Lance wanted to fight back. Push her away. She’d hurt him. But if he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t exactly made it easier for her. And those accusations. He knew that Thomas would never do anything to hurt Mandy, and neither would Brianna.

  Brianna’s smile slipped. “I assume the silence means that you want me to go. Fine. I hope to see you around sometime.”

  “Wait.” The thought of her leaving was too much. He needed her. Lance closed the distance between them and pulled her into his arms. She just fit there. Belonged there. He brushed the hair from her face, enjoyed the way she closed her eyes at his touch.

  He bent down and kissed her, allowing all of the hurt and anger to wash away as she kissed him back. Her scent of vanilla and berries was almost too much as he held her close. Her hands moved up to his face, and she broke away.

  “So, I guess that means you don’t want me to go?” She smiled, brightening up the room.

  “Never. This house just isn’t the same without you here.” Lance took her by the hand and led her to the old couch. She sat and draped her legs over his, her head on his shoulder. “I saw that the first time I came here, you know. I saw you cooking there while I worked on whatever needed to be done with the house.”

  Brianna lifted her head and met his eyes. “I have a confession to make.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m a terrible cook.” Brianna blushed. “Like, so bad. I only helped Angela with things that didn’t include actual cooking. Everything just burns.”

  Lance grinned. “Well, then I have a confession as well. I’m actually a fabulous cook. True story. Mom insisted on teaching me because she didn’t have a daughter to teach.”

  “Really?” Brianna ran a finger along the stubble on his face. “I think you need to prove it. I’m not so sure I believe you.”

  Lance put a hand on his chest and acted like he was offended. “I am amazing. Tomorrow night. You and me, right here. I’ll make you a tortellini dish that will have you reeling from its awesomeness.”

  “Tomorrow, huh? That’s assuming I’ll be back here.”

  “Oh. You will be.” Lance leaned in for another kiss. “I’m hoping that we’ll have every meal together from here on out.”

 
; “I could handle that.” She stood. “But first, we need to do some redecorating. This poor bachelor man look is not going to work.”

  Lance threw his hands up. “That’s exactly what I am.”

  “True, but you don’t have to show it in the way you decorate.” She glanced at her watch. “I better get back to my apartment so I won’t be late on my first day of work tomorrow. But I will hold you to dinner tomorrow night, and I’ll bring some things with me.”

  Lance wanted to tell her not to go, but he needed some time to sort things out in his mind. He’d worked so hard to shut her out, and now he needed to make sure he was okay with letting her back in.

  Brianna kissed his cheek. “See you tomorrow.”

  “I’m looking forward to it.” Lance watched her leave in her small Honda and missed her already.

  Mom and Dad pulled up shortly after. Mom frowned as she passed Lance and set the pizza on the counter. “Where’d Brianna go? I’d hoped to find out more about her.”

  Lance opened the box and took a piece of pizza. “Well, stick around then, because she’s going to be a rather large part of my life from here on out.”

  ***

  “Dinner is served.” Lance set out the two plates and added a sprig of parsley to the top of the pasta. “I hope you en—what did you do to my living room?”

  Pictures hung along the wall in patterns, and she’d added a blanket to the couch and chair to liven them up. Brianna tossed a pillow onto the couch and curtsied. “Congratulations. You have now graduated from poor bachelor pad to poor bachelor pad with excellent taste.”

  Lance slid an arm around her and studied the pictures. “Where’d you get these?”

  “Well, the pictures were just prints I found at a thrift store. And the frames are from the dollar store.”

  “You sure you’re a history teacher? Because it looks like you’re actually an interior designer.” He kissed her forehead.

  She laughed. “Please. This was easy. Now. Let’s see what gourmet food you made for us tonight.”

  “Tortellini as promised.” He sat next to her and picked up his fork. “Be prepared to meet heaven on earth.”

  “Right.” Brianna took a bite and stopped. “You didn’t tell me this had bacon.”

  Lance froze. “Is that a problem?”

  “Yes. If I’d known you used bacon, I never would have doubted your skills.” She tried to take one of his pieces, but he batted her hand away.

  “Seriously, though. How are you this good?”

  Lance shrugged. “I told you. My mom taught me. Plus, the cooking channel is a favorite of mine, so I learned a few things there.”

  “When did you have time to watch the cooking channel?” Brianna laughed.

  “When everyone else was out on dates.” Lance took another bite. He had to admit this was one of his better dishes. Which was good because he’d really wanted to impress her.

  Brianna finished the last of hers and leaned back in her chair. “I’m going to have to roll myself out of here. That was so good and I’m so full.”

  “Good because I didn’t have a chance to make dessert.”

  She groaned. “No more food talk.”

  Lance helped her stand. “Thank you for coming back. I wish you could stay longer.”

  “I do too. But alas, I have work. Tomorrow I’ll try to come a little earlier so we can spend more time together.”

  “I’d love that.” He kissed her softly and watched her leave. After she drove away, he closed the door and stared at his empty house. It was amazing how much happier and warm this house felt when she was here. He hoped that someday she would be here for good.

  Brianna stared at her empty classroom and grinned. Her classroom. No more filling in for other people’s classes. She’d been hired on for the history classes she’d taught before, but this time they were her classes. When Macey retired at the end of the year, Mr. Parker had approached Brianna for the job first.

  That meant less time to help Lance out with his house, but they’d both agreed that she needed to take this job.

  The bell rang and students filed into the classroom. There were several gasps of delight as they realized who would be teaching, and a few of the students gave her a quick hug before sitting at their desks.

  She hadn’t realized how much she missed working here until that moment. “Welcome class. I hope you had a fun summer. As you can see, you’re stuck with me again. This first week we’ll be going over what you learned in class last year, and then we’ll get into the books. Any questions?”

  “I have one.” Lance stood at the doorway, his hands clasped behind his back.

  Brianna’s eyes widened. “Yeah? And what’s that?”

  Lance winked at the class and moved inside. Several of the teachers from other classes stood in the hallway laughing and whispering amongst themselves. “Well, it seems to me that the beginning of the school year brings a lot of new things. Everyone gets new school supplies, new clothes, and new friends. Right, kids?”

  Brianna stood frozen in the center of the room, not knowing what to do. He was totally interrupting her plans for the day, but she couldn’t move to tell him to stop. “And?”

  “Well, it occurred to me, that your classroom is missing one very important detail, as is your house, your car, and well, everything else.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what’s that?”

  “A ring.” Lance knelt down on one knee.

  The squeals from the girls in the class were drowned out by the whoops from the guys. Brianna stared at the open box in front of her.

  “Will you marry me, Brianna?”

  The class erupted in excited whispers and Brianna tried to make her mouth work. Four months of hanging out, talking, and he had to choose this second to ask her. His smile soon turned to panic. She needed to answer.

  She finally squeaked out a “yes” that was immediately drowned out by cheers from her students. Her hand shook as he placed the small diamond ring on her finger. He stood and wrapped her in a hug.

  “You scared me there for a second,” he whispered in her ear.

  “I scared myself.” She kissed him and then pushed him away. “We can celebrate later, but for now, I have a class that needs to review what they learned last year.”

  He kissed her cheek. “Fair enough.”

  It took several minutes to calm down her class, and by that time, the bell was about to ring. Brianna finally sighed. “Fine. Talk amongst yourselves. And you can read the first chapter in your book tonight. Now, who wants to see my ring?”

  ***

  Lance leaned against the back of his truck and grinned. That couldn’t have gone better if he’d tried. Thank heavens Mr. Parker had allowed him to do it, or things would have gotten a little awkward.

  He dialed his phone as he drove home. “Hey, Mom. What are you up to right now?”

  “I was just finishing up with a project for Dad’s work. Why?”

  Lance turned down the road to his house. “Well, I might have another project for you, but it’ll have to be at my house.”

  “Oh? Don’t tell me that you still haven’t done anything to the inside. I told your dad I was worried you’d work too hard outside and neglect your house.”

  “Actually, you wouldn’t recognize it if you saw it. Brianna has been helping me.”

  “She was such a lovely girl. I’m glad to hear that you two are still getting along.”

  Lance smirked as he turned onto his property. He spotted Carl out in the far field with his tractor. He’d be the next one Lance would tell. “Well, I’m glad you like her, Mom. She’s actually the reason I called. I was wondering if you’d want to help plan a wedding.”

  There was a moment of silence before his mom screeched into the phone. “Are you serious?”

  “Totally. I just asked her.” Lance gestured to Carl to come in.

  “I want to hear everything.”

  Lance laughed. He went through everything he’d had to do to
get permission from the principal, and then how he actually asked. “So are you up for it?”

  “You two figure out the date, and I’ll be right there to help out.”

  “Thanks. Love you.” Lance waved at Carl and hung up his phone. He met Carl halfway. “Hey, I have something huge to tell you.”

  Brianna couldn’t help the melancholy that settled in as she prepared for her wedding day. She had the dress, the veil, and Lance’s mom had helped with the rest of the decorations. But that was the problem. Her family and friends weren’t here.

  Rachel knocked on the door. “Hey, sorry. The door was open, so I just came in.”

  “It’s okay. What’s up?” Brianna picked up the veil and settled it on her head. It was embroidered with flowers and butterflies, and had been given to her by Lance’s mom.

  “There’s, um, someone here to see you. She insists that she needs to talk to you right now.”

  Brianna stopped adjusting the veil and turned to Rachel. “Really? Do you know who it is?”

  “No, but she has purple hair, if that helps.”

  No way.

  Brianna’s heart beat rapidly. “Send her in.”

  Rachel nodded and moments later, Dr. Lachele burst into the room.

  She smiled and circled Brianna. “Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. The west seems to agree with you.”

  “What are you doing here?” Brianna watched her nervously, hoping she wouldn’t do anything drastic.

  “Helping you, of course.” Dr. Lachele gestured to the room. “Do you like it here?”

  Brianna didn’t answer for a moment. She’d been so torn for so long. The thought of going home had never really left. But now this place was so much a part of her that she couldn’t think of anything else.

  “I do. I miss my family and friends back home, but there are so many good people here. And of course, there’s Lance.”