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Joshua’s words made Honor’s chest swell with pride. Following her passion hadn’t always been easy, but she had forged through and completed her education. With her family and the Lord by her side, Honor had persevered. Boone had always advised her to keep her eyes on the prize. And she hadn’t lost sight of the big dream—creating a wildlife center in Love.
As Joshua turned into the entrance to the wildlife center, Honor took a moment to survey the property. It wasn’t as big as the Diamond R Ranch by any means, but it was spectacular in her opinion. She didn’t want to dwell on the fact that Bud had mentioned merging the properties. It was all water under the bridge. There wasn’t a single thing she could do to change it. Filing the injunction had only been about preventing the Ransom brothers from selling to a developer. If the wildlife center never gained another acre, Honor would still be content.
“Seems like you’ve got company,” Joshua said as he pulled up to the house.
A car sat parked outside the main building. Its motor was still running.
Honor would recognize the distinctive vehicle anywhere.
“It’s Lee,” Honor said. Her heart sank. The timing of the attorney’s visit couldn’t have been worse. Joshua knew full well that Lee had helped her pursue the injunction against him and Theo.
The mood in the truck immediately became tense. She and Joshua had been getting along so well, with little or no discord. She’d thought they had turned a corner. The appearance of Lee served as a reminder that sides had been taken in the matter of Joshua’s inheritance. It was as if there was a huge neon blinking sign up ahead reminding Joshua of the injunction.
Honor couldn’t help but notice the change in Joshua’s demeanor. His jaw was tightly clenched. He was gripping the steering wheel so hard she could see his veins threatening to burst through the skin.
Perhaps there was still some way of salvaging their goodwill toward one another.
“Would you like to stay for a bit and see how Bashful gets acclimated?” Honor asked.
“No, thanks,” he said tersely. He nodded in
Lee’s direction. “It looks like Lee wants your time and attention.”
“Joshua, I don’t want—”
His expression softened. “You don’t need to say anything. We’re just on opposite sides of things. That’s just the way it is.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s always been this way.”
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“Think about it. When we first fell in love, your family tried to put up roadblocks at every turn. Then I created a bunch of them myself. Theo always had a problem with you. There was always one thing or another separating us. We never had a shot, did we?”
“That’s not true!” she said. “I can’t believe you’ve become so cynical.”
“Do you blame me?” he asked in an anger-filled voice.
“Yes, I do,” she said. “I guess you’ve forgotten what we shared, Joshua. Because it was real. It mattered. And you can try to reduce it to something trivial if you want, but it wasn’t. It was pretty epic.”
Their gazes locked. Honor reached out and swept her palm across Joshua’s cheek. “I’m sorry if my filing the injunction hurt you. Or if you feel I’ve tied your hands. I truly am. But it’s separate and apart from what we once meant to each other. Our love was real. And after everything I went through, I’m not going to let you say otherwise.” Honor wrenched open the door and hopped out of the truck. She might have slammed the door behind her if Bashful wasn’t resting peacefully. She moved toward the back of the truck and tugged the blanket toward her, bringing Bashful along with it. Next thing she knew, Joshua was beside her, lifting up the arctic fox.
“Where do you want her?” Joshua asked, looking around him.
“I can take her,” Honor said, reaching out her arms for the animal. Joshua tenderly placed Bashful in her arms, then nodded at her, murmuring a quick goodbye. Lee raised his hand in greeting as soon as he spotted her. He knit his brows together as his gaze veered toward Joshua. Honor saw the questions lurking in her friend’s eyes, but she had no intention of addressing them. At the moment, she was all talked out.
As Joshua roared away from the wildlife center, Honor found herself wondering how things had ever gotten so complicated between them. It seemed that they were destined to be at odds over every little thing in this world.
* * *
It had been several days since Joshua had assisted Honor with locating the wounded arctic fox at Nottingham Woods. He and Theo were making great progress on tidying up Bud’s estate, with the glaring exception of the ranch. According to their lawyers, they had immediately filed all the necessary paperwork to dispute the injunction. They appeared to be very optimistic about the injunction being lifted based on similar, precedent-setting cases. The judge could render a decision any day now.
Violet seemed to be as happy as a clam despite her broken arm. Joshua was blown away by her resilience. He loved taking her out to the paddock every day so she could greet the horses with her natural brand of enthusiasm. He had even taken her to church for Sunday service. His elementary school teacher, Mrs. Henrie, had made a beeline to him after the service. It had been a nice interaction, with Joshua introducing her to Violet and Mrs. Henrie telling him how proud she was about his turning his life around. It had left Joshua feeling a tad emotional. There were still some folks in this town who thought he was worth something after all.
“I’m going a little stir-crazy,” Theo announced with a loud moan as he walked into the great room and flopped onto the love seat. Violet, who was playing in her playpen while Joshua worked on the computer, stood up and held on to the sides with her hands. She gurgled at Theo. He covered his face with hands and said, “Peekaboo,” causing Violet to cackle with glee. It amazed Joshua how easy it was to entertain kids. All they needed were simple things to keep them laughing and joyful.
“What does that mean? Do you want to fly the coop?” Joshua asked. He should have known Theo was bored. It had always been difficult to keep him focused.
“Yes. Don’t you? This place has gotten old really quickly.”
Joshua shrugged. “Not really. I like being here at the ranch. It’s peaceful. And I get to ride whenever I want. Despite her broken arm, Violet seems really content. To be honest, I can’t wait to teach Violet to ride when she gets old enough.”
