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The last toll trailed off softly. A zephyr breeze lifted upper leaves in a rustling whisper. She breathed in clean air, with the bright blue sky above and beyond the rugged peaks of mountains.
Then she thought of that woman at Uncle Sean’s service, so happy to get a bit of news, of how one small flyer had brought neighbors and friends together.
A town worth fighting for.
She turned Honey’s Money around and re-mounted, studying the layout of the mostly empty buildings as she went by. As she scanned them, the potential opportunity gleamed beneath shoddy exteriors. Shepherd’s Crossing was a chance to start fresh, and make a difference in another way she knew well: a paper. Simple, to-the-point good reporting to reconnect the small town to its near neighbors.
But first, there was a mother dog who needed love and attention and Lizzie was determined she’d get it. By the time she got the horse settled, light was fading, but the two-story ranch home glowed from within. And inside, Betsy was presenting the world with tiny reddish gold puppies, and Lizzie sat right there, alongside the whelping box Cookie had brought in from the barn, and softly cheered her on.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Zeke’s overnight stay at St. Alphonso’s gave Heath plenty of time to think. And then berate himself. And then think again. And in between all that thinking, he did some first-class praying, the way he had when he was a kid.
How had this happened? How had everything gone so completely astray twelve years ago? Lizzie had spent all that time thinking he didn’t care enough to come to her. To help her. To be with her.
He’d have done anything to help her. Then. And now. She must think him to be the worst loser to ever walk the planet, and yet—
She didn’t. She’d come to the ranch calm and gentle. Ready to move on. He’d been the angry one, the defensive jerk, and all because he believed the lies he’d been fed like a stray dog grabs morsels of food.
Shame bit deep. Real deep. And the doctor had been correct, the chair he’d bunked in overnight was about the least comfortable piece of furniture known to man. But today was a new day. His boy was recovering. And Lizzie…well. One way or another he was going to convince her to give him a chance. To give them a chance.
“Your little fellow’s going to be just fine,” the doctor told Heath when she came into the cubicle to discharge them. “I’ve written down the name of that orthopedist in McCall. He’ll set the wrist and cast it, and by midsummer Zeke will be right as rain. Everything was fixable, and that’s a good thing.”
Relief flowed through Heath as she handed him the discharge papers. He only wished his history with Lizzie could be mended that easily.
Zeke wasn’t in the best of moods. When Heath had to help him with his seat belt latch because the boy’s left hand couldn’t maneuver the buckle, Zeke’s lower lip stuck out. “I wish I never climbed that stupid old tree. It was a dumb thing to do and I’m never, ever, ever going to climb a tree again.”
Heath saw the choice before him, plain as day.
He could agree with the kid and offer his son a measure of safety…
Or he could let Zeke grow up, encouraged to explore the world around him.
He chose the latter and kept his voice easy. “Hey, cowboy, climbing the tree wasn’t the problem.”
“It wasn’t?” Zeke peered up at him, perplexed.
“Nope.” Heath slid into the front seat and smiled at his boy through the rearview mirror. “Letting go was the problem. Next time you climb the tree, hang on tighter, okay? I climbed a lot of trees in my time, and it’s a good thing for a cowboy to know. In case you get chased by a cougar or something.”
The likelihood of that was about zero, but Zeke’s brows shot up. “So it’s really good to know how to climb a tree?”
“On my honor.” He pulled onto the road and considered his words as he drove north.
He hadn’t been honorable with Lizzie.
He’d let things go too far, then he’d left. Sure, they’d tossed him out, but what if he’d stayed and fought for the right to be with her? What kind of difference could that have made?
Eric Carrington had told the rest of the major landowners that he thought their efforts to revitalize the town were too little, too late. He’d made his view clear at that quick meeting the previous day, and Eric could be right.
But did the same thing apply here? Could he make things up to Lizzie or was it too little, too late? The thought of her losing that baby all alone—
His throat choked and his gut clenched tight when he considered the years he’d spent believing the worst. What kind of a man did that?
He’d be the right kind of man this time. The kind she’d deserved all along.
