Memories of Home

by Melissa Storm

  Ellie nodded. She liked that her new friend understood—that she, too, wasn’t perfect, that they were both struggling to fix things they had no control over. They walked in silence for a few more minutes until they came across a little village of cabins.

  “This place is a dream come true for me,” Liz said, picking up a stick and walking with it like a seasoned hiker. Occasionally she used it to gesture at the top of conversation. “When I got the ranch, the very first thing I did was set up a place for others so they could have a bit of privacy while they recovered. However long it took. I know these tiny shanties aren’t much, but all our guests really need is a place to sleep and get ready in private. Everything else you will need is in the main house. We have our meals in the dining room there, and the kitchen is always open to you for anything else you might want. We want you to feel like this is your home while you’re here.”

  Ellie smiled as she looked around her. “Somehow I don’t think that will be a problem.”

  Liz laughed. “Well, that’s just perfect. I can tell you’ll get along great here.” She threw her stick toward the horizon and turned back to Ellie with beaming eyes. “So do you feel up to meeting some of the staff and horses you’ll be living with for the next however long?”

  A loud snort drew Ellie’s eyes back toward the path where a pair of horses and rides trotted across the property. How had she ever thought she’d be afraid of these wonderful creatures? How had she even considered passing up the opportunity to come to this place?

  “I can’t wait,” she said on the wings of a satisfied sigh. And for the first time since she’d woken up from the accident, Ellie realized she was truly excited about something.

  Chapter 7

  Ellie followed behind as Elizabeth Jane led her back over toward the main corral—the same corral she had spied from her bedroom window earlier that morning. Although Liz had obviously made an effort to slow her pace, Ellie struggled to keep up. Still, she pushed through the pain, knowing it was the only way to get better and eager to see the horses again, as well as their handsome handler.

  Liz talked nonstop as they walked, leading Ellie to wonder if she had prepared a speech in advance. “Just beyond the stables you’ll see the trailhead. I know it’s exciting, but we do ask that you always have a staff member with you until you’re a bit more acclimated to the ranch. Some of our horses here have been brought in as rescues, so until we are absolutely, one hundred percent sure they’re ready to be ridden, they stay in this main pen. The pen on the other side is where you’ll find the horses that are all well-trained and suitable for riding.”

  That last part surprised Ellie, causing her to gasp before asking, “I’ve heard of rescue dogs, but horses?”

  Liz stopped and leaned on the fence, looking out at the horses on the other side. Ellie stopped beside her and watched the brown horse that stood away from the others.

  “You like dogs, huh? You’ll have to meet the two we have here at the ranch. My Akita, Samson, has been with me basically forever, and a couple years ago I rescued this adorable Pitbull from a dog-fighting ring. His name is Rigby, and he’s just the loveliest guy.”

  Ellie nodded. She couldn’t remember if she preferred dogs or cats, and right now she wanted to know about the horses.

  “But you want to know about these guys and gals right here.” Liz paused before letting out a drawn sigh. “You’d be surprised how badly some of these horses have been treated. Fed poorly, abused, given up on…”

  Elizabeth Jane pointed to an older looking horse that stood completely still with the others. “See that one? She’s gone blind, so the owner was going to ship her off to be sold as meat. It makes me so sick when an animal has given you their trust and their best years only to be treated like nothing more than property when something happens to them. They deserve to live out their remaining years in comfort, so that’s what we try to give them.” Liz swallowed and shook her head, her skin had become flush to match her bright red hair. The former plight of these horses obviously angered her to the very core. But thank goodness kind people like Liz were still left in this world to help the poor animals.

  Ellie waited until Liz’s breathing slowed to a normal rate, then pointed to the brown one she’d noticed earlier. “So what happened to that one?”

  Liz stared at it for a moment, her eyes blinking rapidly as she remembered. “That’s Penny. She was bred to be a show horse but apparently didn’t make the cut. Normally if a horse that’s being trained for dressage doesn’t meet the standards, they’re simply sold off as a regular riding horse. But for some reason, the owner of Penny was bound and determined to make her into what he wanted. When the poor girl wouldn’t cooperate, that’s when the abusive training methods started. I won’t go into all the details…” She sighed as if debating something internally. “Let’s just say that by the time we found her, she was so badly beaten we didn’t think she’d survive.”

  Ellie heard the pain in Liz’s voice, the anger. “She doesn’t trust anymore and is afraid to let anyone near her,” Liz continued. “We’re doing what we can to rebuild her faith in people, but I don’t know if we’ll ever get where we need to be. We have a couple ranch hands who are working with her to gain her trust without pushing her too hard. I don’t often give up, but…”

  A noise from the stables drew both women’s attention away from the skittish horse. The cowboy Ellie had watched earlier that day marched out carrying a gleaming pail of feed.

  Liz waved her hand and called out to him, “Landon! Can you come over here for a second?”

  He stopped and glanced over at them, considering. For a moment it seemed he would ignore Liz’s request until finally he set the bucket down in the hay and ambled over to them. As he got closer, Ellie noticed his dark eyes had fixed on hers, holding on with every step he took. She hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath until he stopped on the other side of the fence and offered a shy smile.

  “This is Ellie Hawkins,” Liz said, gently rubbing a hand on Ellie’s good shoulder. “She’s a new guest here at the ranch, so I hope you’ll help her feel welcome. Ellie, this is Landon Hayes, one of our ranch hands who takes care of the horses. He’s been working a lot with Penny, actually. If you ever need anything, he can help saddle a horse for you to ride or even hook you up with a few lessons.”

  Landon nodded along as Liz spoke, then extended his hand between the fence beams with a knowing smile on his face.

  What does he know that I don’t?

  Ellie’s heart raced as she took it, her eyes still caught in his gaze.

  “Nice to meet you, Ellie,” he said with one, two, three firm shakes of her hand.

  The way he said her name made her heart do a little dance. Instantly, guilt filled her chest. She didn’t know anything about this Landon, but she knew for sure that she already had someone special—the man from her dreams. He deserved her loyalty, at least until she could find out what had happened to separate them.

  Oh, yes, she knew it was crazy to think this way. She had come to the ranch to move forward, not dig up the past. And what if her memories never came back? What then?

  If her memories never came back, she had to face the fact that she would probably never find her mystery man. She’d have to move on with whatever she had now, and right now a very dapper ranch hand was giving her his full attention.

  She smiled at Landon, embarrassed by her own thoughts, and raised a shaky finger toward Penny. “Do you think you can help her?”

  Landon glanced at the horse briefly before turning his eyes back to Ellie.

  She swallowed hard, unable to move her gaze from his.

  “I hope so,” he answered with a note of disappointment in his strong voice. “She’s been through a lot and deserves a second chance. She’s a good horse. Just needs someone to believe in her is all.”

  Ellie’s breaths became heavy from the intensity of Landon’s gaze. She hadn’t had a man look at her like this in a long time—well, at l
east since the time she could remember.

  Liz had said that everyone who worked at the ranch had to go through a rigorous selection process to ensure they are qualified to not only do the job they were hired for, but to also be sensitive to the needs of the guests on the ranch.

  So Landon would know she was broken. And it embarrassed her knowing he wasn’t seeing her as Ellie, a woman. He was seeing Ellie, the patient on Memory Ranch who needed special care to fix what was wrong with her.

  He was just doing his job and being nice, being sensitive to her needs. Even if Ellie found him intriguing, the feeling clearly wasn’t mutual. In fact, he stared at her the same way he’d locked eyes with Penny earlier that morning. She was like that broken horse and he was simply approaching her with caution and respect.

  Liz pushed away from the fence and turned to leave. “All right, well, we have a few more people to meet before the big house breakfast, so we’ll let you get back to work, Landon.”

  Landon nodded again, reaching up to tug on his hat. A smile played at the corner of his mouth before he said, “I’ll be seeing you around, Ellie. If you ever need anything, just give me a shout.”

  “I will. Goodbye” She hoped her voice didn’t betray her nerves. The last thing she needed here was to be uncomfortable in her own skin. And yet…

  Even as she walked away, she could feel his eyes following her.

  She pressed forward, refusing to turn back as she and Elizabeth Jane made their way down the path and back toward the big house.

  “Do the staff eat supper at the main house with the guests?” she suddenly needed to know.

  “Nope,” Liz answered, completely unaware of Ellie’s internal suffering. “Some of them live close to here and go home when they’re done for the day. Those who live here at the ranch have a bunkhouse on the far side of the stables where they have their own kitchen and facilities.”

  “What about Landon? Does he live at the ranch?”

  Her cheeks burned as Liz looked at her with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile. “Yes, he lives in the bunkhouse. He’s a hard worker and more often than not I see him out here working with the horses even when it isn’t his shift.”

  “Yeah, he seems… nice.”

  Liz raised her eyebrows at Ellie and let out a boisterous laugh. “That he is. If you need anything, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to help you, as will any of the other staff at the ranch. You know to aid in your recovery. Don’t forget those three re’s!”

  Of course, Liz was right. Not only did she own the ranch, but she’d recovered from memory trauma of her own. If anyone knew what Ellie needed now, it was her.

  She wasn’t here to flirt and have a silly schoolgirl crush on one of the men working here. And that’s what she kept telling herself even as she peeked back for one more innocent look.

  Okay, so maybe a bit of a crush would be okay. Maybe it would stop her dreams. Maybe, maybe…

  But, unfortunately, she knew nothing for sure.

  Chapter 8

  Ellie’s stomach was filled to bursting after helping herself to three servings of Dorian’s famous chicken stew. She hadn’t met Liz’s husband until supper but found she instantly liked him, and she especially loved the way he doted on his new wife.

  “Can you believe our love story started with this guy stalking me?” Liz had asked with a light-hearted roll of her eyes that evening.

  “Hey, all’s well that ends well,” Dorian had shot back, reaching out to grab her hand and kissing it before letting go.

  Wow, Ellie had so many questions to ask about that, but instead she stuffed another spoonful of the creamy chicken concoction in her mouth. All in good time. Liz will tell me when she’s ready.

  She’d met the other residents at that shared supper, and most were far older than Ellie and with far sadder stories. A few even had the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s and were working to slow memory loss rather than hoping to recover as she was.

  And now she sat on the front porch of her own little cabin taking inventory of her day. After supper, songs, and socializing—the three S’s, as Liz joyfully called them—Liz had helped Ellie move from the guest room in the main house to her own private cabin.

  A wolf howled in the distance, sending a shiver down her spine. The noise was eerie, even with the night sky still being lit up. She shook her head once more in awe of how much daylight was still out here even though it was well past eleven. Liz had told her it wouldn’t get much darker than it was now until well into the night, and even then it would only be for a couple of hours.

  She was thankful, however, that she had a perfect view of the corral from her cabin. She could even see Penny grazing on the far side of the pen. The poor thing stood all alone, looking over the fence into the distance. Ellie could almost feel the horse’s sadness in her own heart as she watched her take another mouthful of hay.

  “I thought with such a busy day you’ve had you’d have been sleeping long ago.”

  Ellie jumped as the voice interrupted the quiet of the night around her. She quickly brought her hand up to her chest to slow her racing heart when she realized it was just Landon. He came around the corner of a small shrub that had hidden his approach and stood silhouetted with the setting sun behind him.

  “Oh, I didn’t even hear you coming. You must be very light on your feet considering the boots you’re wearing.”

  He laughed and shrugged. “I don’t think anyone has ever accused me of being light on my feet before. You looked like you were deep in thought, and I was afraid to intrude, but I have to walk past here to get to the bunkhouse so figured I might as well say hi.” He grinned sheepishly as he pointed in the direction of the staff quarters at the far end of the compound.

  She pulled her eyebrows together suspiciously. “Isn’t there a path from the stables directly there? In fact, I’m pretty sure Liz pointed it out to me earlier.”

  Laughing again, he shook his head in amusement. “Yes, there is. I went out for a late ride tonight and well… I might have noticed you sitting over here all alone when I came back out of the barn. Figured I might as well come over and check up on you to make sure you were all right.”

  He gestured toward the step with a sheepish grin. “Mind if I come over and sit for a spell?”

  “Well, I guess it would be impolite to say no after you came all this way over to check up on me.” Ellie feigned irritation, but then smiled to let him know she wasn’t really annoyed with him. In fact, she secretly thought it was a bit sweet that he cared enough to check up on her. “Is this a service you provide to all guests—looking in on them when they are sitting alone enjoying the peace of their surroundings?”

  His laughter sounded from deep in his throat as he moved to sit down and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Truthfully? Only the pretty ones. If you were a balding middle-aged man, I don’t imagine I’d have taken the time to walk around the long way home.”

  Her cheeks warmed as he grinned in her direction. “If I was a balding middle-aged man, I don’t imagine I’d have appreciated the company.” Her skin burned as the words came out. Was she seriously sitting here flirting with the cute cowboy who worked on the ranch where she was supposed to be focusing on healing?

  She forced her sights back on Penny, pretending she didn’t notice Landon’s eyes zoom toward her as if they were coming home after a long time away. The sounds of the night surrounded them and, once more, the wolf cried out. But this time Ellie wasn’t afraid. I’m safe with Landon, she told herself, but still crossed her arms in front of her, hugging her body tight as she pulled the sleeves of her large sweater down over her hands.

  “I always thought it would be so much colder up in Alaska,” she prattled on, hoping that a conversation would make their togetherness feel a bit less awkward.

  “Common misconception of those from the lower forty-eight,” he answered with a flick toward his hat. “Alaska isn’t covered in snow year round. It’s still July so all the igloos h
ave long since melted and we can actually be outside without losing body parts to the frost. Thank goodness for that!”

  Ellie’s head snapped up in surprise. “Igloos? You’re kidding me, right?” Immediately she saw the grin on his face and rolled her eyes. “Haha. Very funny. I knew there wasn’t snow year round, and I didn’t really believe people lived in igloos up here. I just meant that I expected it to be a lot colder even in the summer.”

  “I know. I’ve been told I have a strange sense of humor. But I just like trying to make people smile. Whatever it takes is what it takes.”

  At last she allowed herself to laugh as she leaned back in her chair and eased into Landon’s company. “I thought cowboys were supposed to be tough, brooding, macho. Not amateur comedians.”

  “Oh, I can be brooding. But for some reason, when I’m around a pretty woman, I end up acting more like an immature teenage boy than anything else.” He winked at her and it felt really, really good.

  Sitting here talking with him like this made Ellie realize she hadn’t felt this comfortable or relaxed for a very long time. After she’d been discharged from the hospital, her mom had brought her back to her childhood home. And since her dad was determined to stay around whether or not he was welcome… let’s just say the constant tension between the two of them had been hard to cope with.

  But with Landon, the whole world looked different. Better.

  “So, have you ridden a horse before?” Landon asked as he casually leaned forward with his elbows resting on his thighs. Did he feel the same way around her? Did it matter? They’d only be in each other’s lives for as long as Ellie stayed at the ranch. She could be his friend for now, and that wasn’t such a scary thing to be.

  She thought about his question for a moment. “I think so,” she said. “My dad tells me I used to ride when I was a child, but I don’t know if I have lately.”