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He hadn’t given up, but he didn’t know where else to turn. Thus, when his parents had suggested they come to the farm for the summer, Mike hadn’t had any reason they shouldn’t.
“Mikey,” Uncle Gray said, and Mike didn’t have the heart to tell him he didn’t go by that nickname anymore. He was an officer in the Marines, and he hadn’t been Mikey for over ten years.
Uncle Gray grinned at him, every strand of hair on his face and head the color of his name. He pulled Mike into a hug, and Mike put his good arm around his uncle. For some reason, his eyes burned with tears, and he clung to Uncle Gray so no one would see until he could compose himself.
“Welcome home, son,” Uncle Gray said, and when he stepped back, Mike actually felt like he’d come home. His cousins came to greet him, and then the cowboys. Mike did his best to smile and laugh with all of them.
Cord Behr was still here. Travis Thatcher. Cosette and Boone. Matt and Gloria. Keith and Britt hugged him simultaneously, and Mike felt a new kind of kinship move through him with the Whettstein kids. Keith was only a year older than him, and Mike looked him in the eye.
“You’re here,” he said.
“Yeah.” Keith nodded. “Been back about two years?” He looked at his father. “Almost three, I guess.”
To Mike’s knowledge, Keith wasn’t married either, and he suddenly didn’t feel so alone.
“I’m a counselor here now,” Britt said, her absolutely bright personality exactly the same as it had been as a child. She was tall and willowy, with long, thin limbs, and bright blonde hair, a pair of blue eyes to go with it.
She reminded him slightly of Gerty, and Mike found himself looking around for her. It seemed like the news of his return to the Hammond Family Farm had reached far and wide, and perhaps Gertrude Whettstein would be here.
He didn’t want to ask Keith or Britt, so he walked with them toward the steps that led to the porch. Aunt Elise hugged him and put an arm around him. “Come eat,” she said, smiling all the while. Aunt Elise was the epitome of kindness, and his mother had been best friends with her for decades.
He didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him, but he couldn’t hide the sling his arm sat in. He didn’t want eyes on him, but everyone stared at him. He did his best to talk to everyone, eat everything his aunt and mother put in front of him, and laugh with as much authenticity as he could muster.
After an hour, he met his father’s eyes, and Dad stood up from the table where he’d been sitting with Hunt and Uncle Gray. “Let’s go see the horses,” he said, and he opened his arm for Mike to step into.
He nodded and did just that. Dad went outside with him, but he didn’t come down the steps with Mike. “You go on,” he said, and Mike didn’t hesitate. He walked the length of the fence alone, his steps somewhat halting because he couldn’t swing his right arm.
“Mike!”
He turned and found Jane jogging toward him. She made him smile, and he laughed as she reached him and threw her arms around him. She wasn’t careful with him, and Mike appreciated that. Sometimes his parents looked at him like their eyes alone would shatter him. Jane didn’t treat him like that, and he hugged her hard with his left arm.
“There’s so many people inside.” She exhaled and ran her hands down the front of her body. “So many questions.”
“Tell me about it,” Mike said. They started walking again, and he didn’t want to start in on the questions for Jane either. “Are you staying here for the summer?”
“Uh, yeah,” Jane said, her voice pitching up. She exhaled again. “I just quit my job actually. I’m starting at HMC next week. Accounting.”
“You’re kidding.” Mike felt like someone had hollowed out his chest. “That’s great, Jane.”
“Do you really think so?” She looked at him, and Mike cut her a glance out of the corner of his eye.
“I mean, it makes me feel like a loser, but yeah. It’s great.”
“You’re not a loser,” she said quietly but with plenty of emphasis. “You’re an amazing pilot, and you served your country for almost eight years.” Every word she spoke filled him with more confidence. “Just because you don’t get a check from HMC doesn’t mean you’re not amazing.”
Mike wanted to show her his dysfunctional arm; he wanted to argue; he wanted to tell her all his fears. He didn’t say anything as they continued toward the barn.
“You datin’ anyone?” he asked.
“Oh, now you sound like my mother,” Jane said dryly.
Mike laughed. “At least she’s askin’. My momma knows everything I do, all day long. Every day.” He needed space, and the wide open sky, and to get lost in these mountains. His soul settled as a pretty bay horse looked his way.
Jane’s phone rang, and she said, “Speak of the devil.” She answered the call and said, “Yes, Momma, I just got here.” She rolled her eyes at Mike and went back the way she’d come. “I’ll be right in.”
Mike smiled at her back, because Jane could be a touch overdramatic sometimes. She was a genius with figures and numbers, and she knew exactly who she was. That was why she’d called off her wedding only five weeks before the I-do’s, and why she could quit a good job and go to work at HMC.
He went down the footpath between the administration barn and the pasture, his goal the very last stable. He surely wouldn’t know any of the horses here at Pony Power now, but his pulse settled into a slower rhythm as he approached the bay at the fence.
