He looked so tiny standing beneath that huge horse. She silently prayed the horse wouldn’t step on him.
“He’s an old man, like me.”
“What’s his name?”
“My wife had always said if we had a son we’d call him Junior. We only had a daughter. My wife had always loved horses, I never knew much about them. Me and this guy, though, we bonded immediately so I called him Junior. He’s my namesake.”
“Why did you buy a horse if you didn’t know anything about them?”
“I didn’t. Someone owed me money, and this is how I got paid. Small-town living. Bartering is still alive and well,” he said with a laugh. He leaned his head forward against the horse’s long face. “He’s been a faithful friend.” He patted the horse on the shoulder. “We take care of each other, don’t we, old man?”
The horse shook his mane and sputtered.
“Wow. This was unexpected,” said Natalie.
“I’d ask that you didn’t share what you’ve seen here today. Most of the folks in this town think I’m some kind of rich recluse who lost his mind anyway.”
“Why the facade? I don’t understand.”
“No one has been upon this property since I lost my wife.”
“What about your family?”
“Family can be strangely difficult. And ‘no one’ is a bit of an exaggeration. No one except for a few special friends and family, as you mention.”
“At least you had one. I don’t have any family. All I ever had was my parents, and when they died, there was no one. No cousins, no grandma. You can’t imagine how lonely that is.”
“Imagine this, young lady. That level of loneliness when youdohave a family. Family that doesn’t want you, or has to be apart because of circumstances.”
That struck her, leaving her a bit off-kilter. “But how could that be?”
“A broken family can break people too.” He ran his hands through his hair, tugging it into submission as if he’d had years of practice doing so. “I made mistakes. People do the best they can, and sometimes that isn’t so good.”
“People in this town love you. I saw how they reacted to you at church and at the pharmacy.”
“Thank you. People are quicker to dispel their own family, I’m afraid. It happens all the time, and quite honestly, sometimes for a good reason.”
“I can’t think of one good reason.”
He eyed her carefully. “Your situation is rare. It’s very rarethat a person would have no family at all. Not a second cousin or aunt, in-law… someone.”
“I always thought so, but when I met my husband, he didn’t have anyone either. You can’t imagine the comfort I found in that. We needed each other. We were each other’s family.”
“And now there’s only you?”
“Yes. I’d have given anything to have someone to call family. Especially since Jeremy is gone.”
“You are a special soul, Miss Natalie.”
“You are too. I don’t understand why you’re alone. I love your company.”
“And I yours, young lady,” he said. “For a long time, self-preservation kept me from letting anyone know what was going on up here. Then I knew people wouldn’t understand why I did the things I did, and I didn’t want to explain.”
“I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No. I’ll tell you. Someone ought to know, I suppose. Besides Jesse. Jesse and Junior here… they know why my family relationships abandoned me. Or me them—who could make that call?”
“I don’t understand,” she said.
