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He could wait, and he settled in to do just that.
6
Gerty pulled up to her parents’ house and sighed. She’d been gone far longer than it took to re-shoe a horse, and Daddy would know it. Cosette too, and they were both home from the farm already.
She wasn’t used to accounting her time to anyone besides James, and even then, he’d never given her a hard time about what she made a priority in her life.
She swallowed, because that had been a problem, hadn’t it?
“He didn’t tell you,” she whispered to herself. She couldn’t change what she didn’t know about, and it wasn’t her fault James had cheated. It wasnot.
You work all the time, and I swear, you love those horses more than you do me.
Gerty hadn’t apologized for loving the horses. She did love them, but she’d loved James too. If she’d have known he wanted her to come in off the ranch earlier, she’d have at least made an effort to do so. Half the time, he hadn’t even been home—and now she knew why.
Her parents were home, and Gerty smelled evidence that she’d be up late talking tonight in the form of spice cake. Cosette had been baking, and that had always been her way of dealing with her thoughts. Then, everyone got to benefit while they had hard conversations.
Gerty reminded herself that she’d had plenty of those over the years. Her life had not been stress-free or perfectly easy, though she didn’t have a whole lot to complain about either. Maybe her mother dying when she was so young, but she’d made her peace with the Lord on that one.
She pulled open the front door and went inside with the words, “I’m back.”
“I was just about to send out a search party,” Daddy said from the kitchen at the back of the house. He turned toward her, his trademark smile on his face. He was larger-than-life in everything he did, and Gerty had always loved him with her whole soul.
When she was a little girl, she’d run to him and say, “Swing me up, Daddy!” and he would. He’d toss her so high, a twinge of fear would strike her behind the ribs on the way down. He’d laugh with that big voice of his, and he’d always, always caught her.
He’d been the one to tell her about her mother’s illness. He’d held her while she cried when her momma had died. He’d had hard conversations with her about leaving Montana, dating boys, and becoming a farrier.
They hadn’t always gotten along, but one thing Gerty had never, ever doubted was how much her daddy loved her.
She found she couldn’t move very far into the house. She’d moved here with Cosette after she and Daddy had gotten married, and Gerty had come to feel like this was her home. She should be able to walk in at any time, any day, of any month and feel welcome—and she did.
But she didn’t know what to say right now, and Daddy knew it. He reached for a hand towel to dry his hands at the same time Gerty’s eyes started to burn with unshed tears.
“We’re having cake on the deck,” he said.
“Great. I’ll see you out there,” Gerty managed to say before she spun, whipped open the front door, and left the house.
“Gerty,” he said behind her, but she kept going. He’d catch up, she knew. She made it down the front steps and across the lawn before he came huffing up beside her. “Gerty,” he said again.
“I can’t, Daddy.” She burst into tears then and turned into him. He wrapped her up in his strong arms, the way he always did, and let her cry against his chest.
“Hey,” he whispered. “Hey, it’s fine. It’s okay. You’re home, and we love you.” He held her tightly against his chest, and she loved that about him. Maybe if he held everything together for her, she wouldn’t fall apart.
She hadn’t told her grandparents much, either, other than she and James weren’t getting married anymore and that she’d let her parents know. She had, and then she’d taken her sweet time coming back to Colorado. She hadn’t given them any more details than she’d given her grandma and grandpa, and literally no one knew why she’d ended things with James.
No wonder the world feels so heavy, she thought. In her mind, she saw the Savior, and she felt strongly that she didn’t have to carry her burdens alone. He could help her, but He’d also given her people right here on earth to help her.
She sniffled and pulled away from her dad. “I’m sorry,” she muttered. “There’s just all this stuff going on, and I’m confused, and I’d really rather just saddle up and ride away or file hooves down so I don’t have to think about it.”
“Yeah,” Daddy said. He didn’t let her get too far from him. “I figured, because that’s how you are, Gertrude.”
She wiped her face and looked up at him. “James cheated on me.”
Her daddy’s eyes widened, first in surprise and then with pure anger. “I—your mom will be upset if you tell this story without her there.” He took her hand, his way too tight around hers. “Come on. We’ll have the kids go inside.” He started back to the house.
Gerty stumbled slightly as she tried to orient her body in the right direction and walk at the same time. “They don’t have to go in,” she said.
“Amy is ten.”
