Brandon now carried some scars on his heart and in his mind. He’d been pushing and pushing God for whathewanted instead of trusting in theLord’spower and timing.
As Pastor Glover continued to preach, one single word caught in Brandon’s mind.
How?
How did he trust more?
How did he believe deeper?
How could he see the hand of God in his life more prevalently?
How?
He wasn’t sure. But as the sermon ended, and the congregation stood to sing their closing hymn with the piano, Brandon thought, surprisingly, of the homestead.
He’d had no idea how he could possibly get Lenny and her homestead to the point of functional in only three months. And yet the things they’d accomplished together in only half that time flowed through his mind as the hymn rose around him and filled the rafters of the chapel, moving on its way toward heaven.
They had accomplishedsomuch there, even when Brandon hadn’t known how. He’d gotten up every day. They both worked hard all day long. They consulted with one another. They pivoted when things didn’t pan out. They made the supplies and equipment she had work.
He believed.
The song ended, and sure enough, his mother and father came to say hello. So did Arizona and Duke, and Brandon found himself leaving the chapel hand-in-hand with Lenny, just as he had predicted.
He sighed as he got behind the wheel and looked over at her. “I want to hear what you thought,” he said. “But first, I just have to say something.”
He swallowed, the words not quite lining up still. “First, will you go to Mitch’s wedding with me next week?”
Lenore smiled. “Of course.”
Satisfied and his bravery buoyed by such an answer, he nodded. “Second…your homestead is starting to feel likemyhome. And you even said it earlier: ‘Let’s just go home.’”
He shook his head, because this wasn’t what he wanted to say. Or maybe it was.
“I’ve been really worried about what will happen with us on February first,” he said. “If I’m working somewhere else, it could be hours away, and I’ll never see you. All of the fear and anxiety you had about walking into the church today? That’s how I feel about leaving you and the homestead.”
Lenny simply watched him for several long moments, blinking in a normal way.
Brandon’s gaze dropped to the steering wheel, and then the speedometer, which sat at zero as they still idled in the parking lot. “I’m falling in love with you,” Brandon said. “And I’m scared that I don’t know what will happen. I’m scared because I’ve never been in love before. I’m scared that I might be the only one who feels this way.”
Stillness in the cab blanketed him, and then Lenore’s delicate hand slid along his on the steering wheel, unclenching his fingers and pulling them toward her.
“You’re not,” she said, her eyes down on their joined hands. “Okay? I don’t know what’s going to happen either. But you’re not the only one feeling this way.”
She lifted her gaze to his, and Brandon nodded. She didn’t say anything else, and Brandon had to trust, somehow, that God’s timing really was perfect. He had to believe that when thattime came, they’d both be able to do and say what they needed to.
For right now, he backed out of the parking space and said, “I feel like a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs. Is Italian all right for lunch?”
29
“Ithink you should do it today,” Wilder said as he hefted another portion of hay over the side of the feeder. He didn’t normally have to do much with the horses, as Rock tended to and trained them almost exclusively at Shiloh Ridge. He’d been taking farrier classes, though. He had to go to school down in Hondo for a couple of weeks every few months. He’d only started in the fall and had only been gone twice.
This time, Wilder had volunteered to care for the horses. Henry and Angel Marshall had also offered Rock the opportunity to come intern at Lone Star, which would take him from the ranch more often while he earned that certificate. Then Rock planned to return to Shiloh Ridge, where he’d work and live permanently.
“I just don’t know,” Gun said.
“Today’s the last day of school before the holiday break, right?” Wilder asked, semi-irritated with his cousin and best friend. He didn’t understand why Gun couldn’t just pull the trigger and ask Camila to marry him. She was going to say yes. Everyone knew it.
Gun sighed. “I just need to do it. I wish I knew what Rock was doing.”
