“I’m going to be fine, and so are you. Maybe your dad will get you horses, and you’ll have new horses to stay in the stalls and to ride. And if you’re here and the horses are yours, you might be able to ride on the pasture field, which you were never able to do with me. Think about how much fun that will be.”
She tried to make it sound like it would be exciting and fun. She didn’t want the kids to be sad. The whole point of her therapy sessions was to try to help them work through that, so that they could look forward to all the happy things that were going to be happening in their lives, and realize that they had the ability to take control of their emotions, and not feel like they were tossed and turned by every little thing that happened.
That was one of the problems the children had. There was so much that they didn’t control, not just with death and suffering, but having to go to school and following their parents’ rules, which was very good, but being in charge of their own horse, riding it, brushing it, gave them the chance to be strong, be the one who was in charge, and realize that they could depend on themselves for certain things and that they weren’t completely powerless. It gave them power that they weren’t used to and showed them that they were quite capable.
She thought it had worked well with the children, but she was disappointed she wouldn’t be around to see them grow up and to see the adults they would become. If things had gone well, she would have stayed in Mistletoe Meadows until she died, but it probably wasn’t a big enough town for her to be able to open a regular counseling practice. She needed to go to someplace a little bigger. Like Harrisonburg.
At last, forty-five minutes after their therapy session was supposed to be over, she finally said, “All right, guys, it’s time for us to pack it up.”
“I don’t want to leave,” Larissa said, sniffing and holding onto Cricket’s neck. “I may never seeCricket again.”
“We’ll make sure to visit her, honey.” Gilbert’s voice came from behind them.
Summer had been so aware of him when they were out riding in the ring, but she’d kind of forgotten about him as she watched the children take care of the horses, thinking about how far they’d come and how much the therapy had helped them and how much she was going to miss them.
The kids all protested, even Lucas, who didn’t want to leave Thatcher.
It broke Summer’s heart to see the children so unhappy. And she wondered if all of the work that they had done in therapy was going to be undone. They’d gotten over their mother’s passing, and they’d been taught self-reliance, patience, and a work ethic that included thinking of others before they thought of themselves, since of course, a horse person always had to take care of their horse first.
But maybe all of that would be lost in their grief over being separated from their beloved horses.
Still, in another five minutes or so, they had gotten in the car, with Gilbert giving her one last thoughtful look before he got in and drove away.
That’s when Summer finally allowed her own tears to fall, holding onto Cricket’s mane and crying softly. Everything she had ever known was being taken from her.
No. She was voluntarily selling everything she knew so that she could start another life, wherever God wanted her. She had to think about it like that. She couldn’t think about it any other way, or she wasn’t sure she would be able to function.
Chapter Ten
“Congratulations, you just bought yourself a house,” Jane said as she held the key across the table and dangled it in front of Gilbert.
Gilbert slowly held his hand out, and the key, cold and hard, dropped into it.
This was Summer’s key. The woman his children loved, who had done so much for them with her horses and her generous spirit and the love and patience and kindness that she had shown to them.
He hadn’t really grasped it until he had seen her at work. She was loving and patient but also encouraged and exhorted his children to do better, to be better, to think for themselves, to have confidence in their ability. He saw now why his mother and sisters had raved about her. She was most definitely the reason that his children were doing so well. Except, in the last few days, since they’d said goodbye, his kids had been quiet and subdued, and if he had to use a word to describe them, he would use depressed. They seemed like they were depressed.
Unfortunately, he wasn’t sure what to do about it. She said she’d already sold her horses, and she had plans to move somewhere else,and it wasn’t like he could…do what? Buy her horses back? He didn’t have the money for that. And it wasn’t like he could offer to live somewhere else so she could stay on the farm. He couldn’t do that either.
He didn’t see any solutions, and honestly, he thought that maybe this was just one of those hard things people had to get through.
It was easier to do when someone had a therapist like Summer, but what Summer had taught his children should serve them well now. Plus, school was gearing up, and they had activities that should be taking their attention. Like the Thanksgiving parade that was happening at the end of next week.
Except, the idea of a parade had made Larissa cry when she’d asked if she would be able to ride a horse in it, and he reminded her that Summer had sold her horses, and Summer wasn’t on the farm anymore.
Yeah, that had gone over well. Not.
“Thanks a lot,” he told Jane, looking at the key in his hand.
“I talked to Frederick, Summer’s realtor, and he said that the house was empty, anything that was left was yours to do whatever you wanted to with, and Summer planned to be gone from the premises last night. So, it’s all yours, and you can move in whatever you want.”
“Sounds good. It was nice doing business with you.”
“It was wonderful to do business with you as well. If you’re ever in the market for real estate, please keep me in mind,” Jane said, and Gilbert figured that she probably was pretty happy, since she made a nice, tidy sum and all she’d had to do was show the house one time.
He walked out of the real estate office, strangely sad rather than jubilant that he’d been able to turn his business around, along with his life, and provide a farm and place to live with his children. A new beginning if one would.
Instead, he thought about Summer, the horses, and how depressed his children had been. And wished that there had been away to save all of that. It seemed sad that someone who had done so much good had lost everything.
