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“Why don’t we go take a look at the horses?” Honor suggested. “They’re very gentle, and Violet might get a kick out of petting them.”
“Let’s go,” Joshua said, walking beside Honor as she led them toward the paddock. Violet’s eyes grew wide as they reached the horses. She couldn’t seem to take her eyes off them. She pointed a chubby finger in the direction of a butterscotch-colored Palomino.
“Ba Ba,” she said, reaching out to touch the stallion.
“I think she likes him,” Joshua said, allowing Violet to pat the horse’s side. He knew better than to let her put her hands by the horse’s mouth. When Joshua was a kid, Bud had taught him how to stay safe around horses.
“She has good taste,” Honor raved. “That’s Pecan. She’s a real sweetheart. She was my first rescue and rehabilitation. I wasn’t certain she would make it at first.” Honor visibly shuddered. “She was in really bad shape. Neglected and abused. Ultimately, our goal is for people to adopt the horses, but I’ve decided to keep Pecan. She holds a special place in my heart. Just like Lola.”
Lola had been Honor’s horse ever since her thirteenth birthday.
“How many do you have at the moment?” he asked.
“About twenty-five or so. We have some wild mustangs that just came to us. They’re magnificent horses but they have some injuries that would make it impossible to be out on their own. So we’re rehabilitating them.”
Joshua let out a low whistle. “Please tell me you’re not doing this all by yourself.”
“No way. That would be tough. I have two full-time workers and a few part-timers who come in as needed. We’re all really hands-on since the whole point of the center is to provide a safe, nurturing environment for animals who’ve been in precarious situations.”
“This place is impressive,” he said with a nod. “It’s nice to see you making a difference in the community. I know it’s what you always wanted to do.”
She brushed her chestnut locks away from her face. “I consider myself very blessed. Not many people get to work in their dream job.”
Violet’s shyness faded away after a short amount of time in Honor’s presence. She couldn’t take her eyes off the animals. Or Honor. Joshua suspected his daughter found Honor fascinating because she herself didn’t have a mother. There really weren’t too many female figures in her life. Although Joshua had always dreamed of having a wife and kids, he didn’t think he was very good at relationships. He’d reconciled himself to the idea of raising Violet as a single dad even though he knew finding a wife would be a dream come true. The thing was, he still couldn’t seem to reconcile the word wife with anyone but Honor. It was probably one of the reasons his marriage to Lauren had failed.
“Do you still ride?” she asked.
“Not regularly,” he admitted. “Riding isn’t big in Seattle. It’s a large, bustling city.”
“I’m surprised to hear that. You loved riding more than anyone I’ve ever known, including Bud. You were the quintessential Alaskan cowboy.”
Honor was right. It had been a huge part of his life. “Those were the days. I miss it,” he said, his eyes straying toward the horses in the paddock. “I never felt more like myself than when I was on horseback. I don’t know how to put it into words, but sometimes it seemed as if I was one with the horse.”
“Spoken like a true horseman. You miss the ranch,” she said, a knowing look glinting from her eyes. “I know what it meant to you. You and Bud were an amazing team. Two peas in a pod.”
“I never imagined I’d leave,” he said in a wistful tone. “In the end I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”
“Not really,” she said in a soft voice. “Considering everything, it was for the best.”
The best? It stung a little hearing Honor felt that way about his exile from Love. It had been the most agonizing period of his life. He was probably being overly sensitive, but he wondered if he’d been wrong after all. Maybe Honor had never really loved him.
“It came out the wrong way,” she blurted out. “It sounded harsh, but I didn’t mean to sound so cavalier. Bud probably never told you, but things were really tense around here after the fire. People were really up in arms. I remember hearing Boone say if you had stuck around there could have been retaliation against you.”
He jammed a hand through his hair. “I’m not surprised. Tensions were running high before I left town,” Joshua said. “Bud never said a word about it though. I hated it for him. It makes me angry he had to suffer for our actions.”
“Bud was tough. He could handle all the backlash. He was also beloved in this town. The majority of residents had his back.”
Warmth settled over him at the idea of his grandfather being supported by the residents. He had deserved no less. Bud Ransom had been a wonderful person.
“So, where did you go when you left Love?” Honor asked. “I was at school, but I heard a lot of things through the grapevine.” She began to giggle, then placed her hand over her mouth. “It’s not funny, but rumors were running rampant about your whereabouts. Someone even surmised you’d joined the traveling circus.”
Joshua burst out laughing. Never in a million years had he ever thought he’d laugh over the circumstances of his expulsion from town. But, as in the past, Honor had the ability to make him chuckle.
“After completing the first-time offender program, I traveled with my parents. My dad got an assignment overseas. So I was in Singapore for a year. I took some business classes and stretched myself.”
Honor’s eyes widened. “Wow. Singapore? That’s impressive. And here I imagined you were sitting in a dungeon somewhere.”
Joshua met her gaze. He sensed her comment was on the passive-aggressive side. Did she think he hadn’t suffered? “I didn’t get off scot-free in case you were wondering. I had to pay restitution in addition to what Bud paid to repair the church.”
