Page 87

“I know. That was such a great summer.”
“You were such a help around here, especially with the horses,” he said.
“How’s Ruby? I miss her home-cooked meals.”
“She’s doing well. Still cooking. Still griping at me every day, but I love her.”
Genevieve laughed, fondly remembering the owners and their propensity for bickering.
“What ever happened to Roman?” she asked.
“Roman? Oh, that was the summer you were here?”
“Yeah. I’ve wondered about him from time to time.”
“Why don’t you come on out and see for yourself?” Cal replied.
“I’d love to come visit sometime.”
“I got your résumé a while back,” he told her.
“Yeah. I was looking for a fundraising coordinator job. That’s what I do now.”
“I know. That’s why I’m calling.”
“It is?” Her heart began to beat faster.
“Yes. We have a position available.”
TWENTY-FIVE
Three days. That’s all the time it took to pack up her belongings and finalize arrangements to move to Kalispell, Montana. Mom and Rhonda had been beyond excited for her and sent her off with hugs and kisses. Above everyone else in Michigan, Charisma was the hardest to leave. She’d spent extra time saying goodbye to her, promising to come back and visit as often as she could until she could make arrangements to move her out to Montana too.
Her drive across the country had been torture, because in the back of her mind was this little niggling longing to call Sebastian and tell him her good news. He would have been so excited for her, even with her moving to another state and away from him, because that’s who he was. Supportive and caring. At least, that’s who she thought he was, and it killed her that she questioned those qualities in him. She wanted to believe that not everything about him was a lie, but the deception had been too great. Hadn’t it?
Settling in at the horse rescue in Kalispell was easy and comfortable. They had expanded over the years and made improvements to the existing building and barns, making it possible to help more horses than before. Cal and Ruby welcomed her in, taking her around to meet all the horses that were currently housed there as well as the staff who were working with them. She got to work right away on raising funds for new equipment to care for the horses, repairs to some of the fences, veterinarian services, and so much more. The needs were great to heal these horses that had been so horribly neglected and injured.
As each day passed, she fell more and more in love with the work. Yet the empty space in her heart still remained.
On a lovely morning in late August, Genevieve strolled along the horse paddock to the barn. The sun glowed warm from its place low in the sky, taking the chill out of the air and ridding the ground of the dew.
“Morning, Genevieve,” Cal greeted her as he came from the barn.
“Morning.”
“I’d like you to ride along with me for a bit.” He motioned for her to follow him to his truck.
“Really?” She followed along to the other side of the barn, thinking they’d be picking up a horse, but she noticed the trailer wasn’t attached to his truck. “We’re not going to get a horse?”
“Making a house call,” he explained.
“Oh, all right.”
Cal drove about ten miles down the road and turned into a long driveway with wide open fields on either side, surrounded by fences. A few horses were roaming around, nibbling on grass. He stopped the truck in front of a barn and climbed out.
A teenage girl emerged from within.
“Hey, Libby,” Cal said. “This is Genevieve.”