Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83379 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
That was the thing I’d learned about mercy—the word, not the horse. Though they definitely went hand in hand. It took patience and compassion to get over the toughest hurdles in your life and finally let someone in. So in a way he was my salvation, and maybe I was a little bit his too.
It was just me and Marta when I stepped inside to have lunch, and I quietly ate my sandwich while she set the oven timer and whipped up chocolate-chip cookies from scratch.
I was surprised I hadn’t gained twenty pounds from her cooking.
After lunch I was going to finish painting the large counter that would serve as a checkout area in the silo. And I was busy making a special sign for the front door, that was now painted with a pop of sunflower yellow—Sienna’s idea.
So I thought the sign above it would only be fitting. Firefly Goods.
“You’ve been working hard, Mr. Julian,” Marta said as she placed down the pot holders and started unloading the dishwasher.
“I could say the same about you.” I rarely caught her sitting down or taking a break.
She smiled sheepishly, busying herself with the glasses and cupboards. “My husband was an officer in the Navy,” she said, not meeting my eyes, and I sat up straighter since she seldom mentioned him outside of explaining that he died a decade ago of a sudden heart attack. “He served in the second Iraq war. It changed him.”
“I’m sorry.” My heart felt fragile from hearing the emotion in her voice. “I would’ve liked to have met him.”
She nodded, her forehead wrinkling. “He was like you. He would have bad dreams about the war…sometimes in broad daylight.”
I tensed, wondering how long she’d been wanting to say this to me and what made her finally approach the topic. Maybe because she knew our time was coming to an end.
“Apparently a lot of us do,” I responded, again thinking of the soldiers I’d encountered at the VA. “How did he handle it?”
“He would see somebody about it.” Her gaze swung to the door. “He would’ve also liked working with the horses…if that’d been an option back then.”
I dipped my head. “I feel very lucky.”
She squeezed my shoulder as she passed by my chair. “The horse is lucky too.”
And that only made me blush harder, so I took the last bite of my sandwich and pretended not to be so moved by the compliment.
As I watched her bustle around the kitchen so effortlessly, it made me wonder all kinds of things. “Why did you decide to come to Firefly Farm?”
“I’ve known Mr. Kerry since he was this big.” She demonstrated with her hand, and now I remembered him saying she used to be a part-time member of their staff at the ranch. “He’s a good man.”
I met her eyes. “He is.”
“He cannot help…who he is,” she said, and I held in a gasp.
“True.” I nodded. “Everybody is exactly who they need to be.”
Marta smiled in a motherly way that made my chest tighten. “He deserves to be happy too.” She gave me a knowing look that made me flush.
“He does.” I rubbed at the stitch in my chest. “But sometimes…life has other plans.”
She finished drying a dish and stacked it in the cupboard. “And sometimes life shows you things in plain sight.”
Before I could even begin to unpack what she meant, Sienna and Ainsley came bustling inside, Ainsley eager to show me the new nail polish she’d bought.
But I couldn’t get out of my head what Marta had told me, and it prompted me to make a late-night visit to the stables, hoping Mercy wouldn’t mind the company. He chomped on a couple of sugar cubes I’d found in my pocket—go figure—as I stroked his nose from outside the gate.
“Do you have nightmares too?” I asked him, and he nickered as if in response.
“There are plenty of others like us,” I told him, thinking of Marta’s husband. “Carrying sad and scary stuff inside.”
He neighed a little like he could understand me, when he probably only wanted another treat. “But maybe in the end, it’s a blessing. Makes us more sensitive to the world around us.”
Or to things in plain sight, to use Marta’s words.
I chewed on that a bit longer, imagining a different sort of life for myself. Simple and tranquil, filled with laughter and soft looks and making love under the stars.
My heart ached with longing as I hummed a muted melody to Mercy, one that reminded me of my dad when I was a kid.
I nuzzled Mercy’s neck, taking in his scent and the suppleness of his coat. The feel of his gentle snuffles against my nape calmed me enough that I was able to pad back to my bed and fall asleep.
26
Kerry
I watched from the end of the paddock as Julian finished what would be his last session with Dr. Barnes. He had groomed and exercised Mercy, and that was a big deal not only for him, but also because it was one step closer to Mercy trusting someone to ride him again.