The Rancher's Return

by Carolyne Aarsen

  “What is the name of that mountain? Across the valley?” Jurgen asked.

  “The Three Sisters,” Emma and Carter said at the same time.

  “Of course,” Jurgen said with a slow nod. “Three peaks. Three sisters.”

  “My cousins always said those mountains belonged to them,” Carter said with a laugh.

  “You have cousins?”

  “Hailey, Naomi and Shannon,” Carter said, pointing to each of the peaks as he listed off his cousins’ names.

  “The girls all had their own cabin at the ranch, as well,” Emma put in. “Those were the cabins you were asking about before Carter joined us.”

  “So your family spent much time here.”

  “Whenever we could.” More regret twisted his gut. He took a deep breath and struggled to push it aside.

  “They did not want to buy this place?” Jurgen asked, pulling his hat off his head, looking over the valley again.

  “Couldn’t afford it.”

  “Your price is reasonable.”

  Carter shrugged. At the time he listed it, he just wanted to be rid of it.

  And now?

  “Carter isn’t a greedy man,” Emma said, giving him a quick smile, as if she understood what had gone through his head at the time.

  “You two. You don’t want to live on this place?” Jurgen’s voice held a note of puzzlement.

  Emma bit her lip and looked away, and again Carter felt as if he had taken something precious from her. All he could do was slip his arm around her shoulder.

  “It is what it is,” was all Emma said as she leaned into him, accepting his silent solace.

  “Is there anything else you wanted to see?” Carter asked Jurgen, bringing the conversation back to the practical and the immediate.

  Jurgen sighed as he worked his hat around his hands. “You two love this place, don’t you?”

  Emma and Carter locked gazes, sharing a forlorn look.

  “I think you do,” Jurgen said, answering his own question before Carter formulated a suitable response. “And I think you two care for each other, as well. Have you known each other long?”

  Carter shook his head. “We met after I came back to the ranch. About the same time I put the place up for sale.”

  The only sound that followed his comment was a breeze soughing through the grass, easing away the heat of the sun.

  Dusty snorted and Diamond whinnied in response. The horses were growing restless.

  “We should probably get back to the ranch,” Carter said, turning away and picking up Diamond’s reins. He handed them to Jurgen and waited until he and Emma both mounted up before getting on Banjo.

  The ride back to the ranch was quiet. Carter was in the lead with Emma bringing up the rear.

  As they approached the ranch yard, the horses left behind whinnied. The door of Nana Beck’s house flew open and Adam scooted out, running toward the corral to meet them.

  Pete, obviously alerted to their presence by Adam’s sudden departure, was close behind him. The two of them were waiting when they rode into the corral, Pete standing close to the fence, Adam astride its top beam.

  “Did you have a good ride, Mr. Mallik?” Adam called out as they rode by.

  “Very nice. Thank you, Adam,” Jurgen replied.

  “The ranch is really beautiful, isn’t it?” Adam added. “Very beautiful.”

  “I have a tree fort I could show you. Me and Carter were working on it. But now I won’t be able to. ’Cause you’re buying the ranch. I’m sad that we can’t live here anymore and so is my mommy. She loves it here. Says it’s the best home we ever had.”

  Carter saw Emma frown at Adam and give him a tight shake of her head, as if asking him to stop. Adam got the message and puffed out his cheeks in a sigh of resignation.

  “So? What did you think?” Pete asked Jurgen as he slowly dismounted.

  “It is a beautiful place. More than beautiful,” Jurgen said as he handed Emma Diamond’s halter rope. “But I am of mixed feelings. Confused, I think is the word.”

  “What’s to be confused about?” Pete said with a forced laugh, his hands spread out. “The price is perfect. The place is perfect. You’ve seen it before.”

  Jurgen scratched his forehead with his index finger, his frown deepening. “I think this is not right, my purchase of this place.” He looked over at Carter then toward Emma, who was loosening the cinch of Diamond’s saddle with quick, efficient movements.

  “What’s not right? You did sign all the necessary papers.” Pete’s voice held a note of warning, and Carter felt tiny pinpricks of apprehension at Pete’s concern.

  Jurgen sighed and looked over at Carter. “You had a big loss, when your son died here. Then you left and never came back, correct?”

  Carter nodded, the pinpricks growing, wondering where Jurgen had gotten this information.

  “Your friend Emma told me how sad this made you. While we waited for you earlier,” Jurgen said, answering Carter’s unspoken question. “But now you seem happy.”

  Carter’s confusion grew. “Yes. I am happy.” His gaze drifted toward Emma, who was laughing at something Adam said. As if sensing his regard, she looked his way and, as often happened, an awareness of each other arced between them.

  Jurgen followed the direction of his gaze. “This place, you both love it very much.”

  His voice was matter-of-fact.

  “Yes. We do.”

  “I am thinking you wouldn’t choose to sell it now, would you?”

  Carter’s gaze flew back to Jurgen, a sense of disquiet rising up inside him. “What do you mean?”

  “You wanted to wipe away the reminder of your lost son. This was why you wanted to sell. Before you and Emma fall in love.” Jurgen’s gaze was riveted on Carter, as if trying to delve into Carter’s psyche.

  Behind him he saw Pete raise his hands in a gesture of surrender.

  What was going on?

  “Would you sell it now?”

  Carter’s disquiet morphed into the tiniest beginnings of hope. “No. I wouldn’t sell it now.”

  Jurgen nodded as if that was the answer he was waiting for. Then he looked around the yard, slowly, as if committing each building, each part of the landscape, into memory. “This is a beautiful place with much memory. Much history. I would be happy to own it.” Then he looked back at Carter. “But I cannot take this away from you. From Emma and her son. I think this can be a place for you to heal.” He turned back to Pete. “I am thinking I want to withdraw my offer. If I am able to. Legally.”

  “I am thinking you can probably do whatever you want,” Pete said in a wry voice, throwing up his hands in a gesture of defeat.

  Carter’s heart slowed as he tried to absorb what Jurgen was saying.

  Jurgen turned back to Carter. “I am hoping you will not sell this place to someone else. But I think you won’t.”

  Carter stared at him, the import of what he said registering word by word.

  “You’re not buying the place?” was all he could manage, his heart pounding in earnest against his rib cage.

  Jurgen shook his head, his mouth curved in a melancholy smile. “I do not want to, how to say, take advantage of your sorrow. I think you are not so sorrowful now.” Jurgen extended his hand to Carter.

  Carter, still reeling from the shock of what Jurgen had said, could offer only a limp handshake.

  “Thanks. Thank you,” was all he could stutter out. “Thank you so much.”

  He stood a moment, surprise and awe rooting him to the spot. Then as everything came together, he said a quick goodbye and ran toward Emma and Adam.

  Toward his future.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Next time we go on a picnic, I would like to go to the upper pasture,” Nana Beck said as she set the cooler down on the blanket Emma had spread out.

  It was a glorious Sunday afternoon. When Carter had suggested a family picnic at the old yard site that Emma had, at one time, wanted to buy, she was puzzl
ed but agreed. Then Hailey found out and decided she and Nana would join them.

  Though Carter had looked less than impressed, Emma hadn’t spent much time with Hailey and looked forward to knowing her better. She seemed spunky and full of fun.

  “You have to ride a horse then.” Adam dropped down beside the basket, his expression expectant as Nana lifted the lid of the cooler.

  “Nana can ride a horse just fine,” Hailey said, setting out the plates, her gray eyes flicking from Carter to Emma as if still trying to figure out their relationship. “She taught me how to ride.”

  “Did she teach you how to snowboard?” Adam asked.

  Ever since Adam had seen the broken snowboards in Carter’s cabin, he had been curious about the owner. Carter had obliged by telling him stories of his cousin’s many escapades.

  “Actually, it was Carter,” Hailey said with an exaggerated wink for Emma. “He can shred with the best of them.”

  “Don’t try to pin your kamikaze snowboard routine on me,” Carter said with fake indignation as he snapped open a lawn chair. “I didn’t even like snowboarding that much.”

  He set the chair down, and with a wave toward Emma gave a short bow. “Your throne, madam.”

  “I like how this man thinks,” Hailey said with a laugh.

  A flush warmed Emma’s face as Carter bent over to place a kiss on her cheeks. He touched her nose with his finger and winked at her. “Have a seat, my dear.”

  Behind the flush came a rush of love so complete, so full, it threatened to overwhelm her. She wasn’t so independent that she didn’t like having a man fuss over her from time to time. “Thanks. I think I will.”

  Carter brought over a second chair to her grandmother, and as she sat down Nana Beck looked around, her smile wide with pleasure. “Isn’t this nice. Too bad Shannon couldn’t join us.”

  “Cluck, cluck,” Hailey said with a laugh as she dropped down on the blanket beside Adam. “Nana won’t be happy until all her little chicks come home to roost.”

  “Where they belong,” Nana said. “But for now I am so grateful to God that three of my chicks are back in Hartley Creek. And that Jurgen changed his mind about buying the ranch. I prayed for a miracle, but I didn’t think it would come this way.”

  Carter sat down beside Emma and laid his hand on her knee. “It was a miracle,” he agreed. “And I’m thankful for it.”

  “No such things as miracles,” Hailey said, her voice taking on a surprisingly tough edge.

  “Oh, yes, there are,” Nana said, patting Hailey on the shoulder. “You’ll see. Someday.”

  Hailey’s only answer was a light shrug.

  Emma leaned back in the chair, unwilling to let Hailey’s little negative comment ruin the moment for her. The sun shone like a blessing on the moment, and Adam was happier than she’d seen him in months.

  As for herself, she sat beside the man she loved.

  “Ironic that you picked this place to have a picnic,” Hailey said to Carter. “Wasn’t this the homestead Emma wanted you to subdivide for her?”

  “It was.”

  “So why did you want us to have the picnic here?”

  “I planned a picnic for just her and me and Adam. And I wanted to have it here because I wanted to bring things full circle.”

  “What are you talking about?” Hailey asked.

  Carter scratched the side of his nose, then pulled his hat off and laid it to one side.

  “Uh-oh. I see a serious face,” Hailey said.

  Carter laid his finger over his lips. “To everything there is a season, and now is the time for quiet. You weren’t supposed to be here, so pretend, for the next few moments, like you’re not.”

  Hailey frowned, and as Carter pulled out two tiny boxes from his shirt pocket, Emma felt her heart quicken.

  She hardly dared breathe. Hardly dared let her mind go too far ahead.

  Carter turned to her and, to her amazement, got down on one knee.

  Emma looked down into Carter’s gentle blue eyes, wondering why she had ever thought them cold when they shone with such warmth now.

  “I think I like where this is going,” Hailey whispered to Adam.

  “Where is it going?” he whispered back.

  “Wait and see,” Nana said. “Hush, now.”

  Carter took her hand in his and everything and everyone else faded away until it was just Carter and her.

  “Emma, I love you. More than I ever thought I could love a person again.” Emma’s heart tripped in her chest at the expression of devotion on his face. He opened the first box. Inside she saw the wink of a diamond, and tears threatened.

  “Emma Minton, will you marry me?”

  She nodded, blinking away her tears.

  Then she was in his arms, his mouth pressed against hers, and a faint breeze picked up and swirled around them like a benediction.

  Her heart felt like bursting, and she couldn’t hold him close enough, couldn’t be held close enough.

  “Thank You, Lord,” she whispered in Carter’s ear.

  She drew back, and Carter slipped the ring on her finger. The diamond winked in the sun, like a promise.

  “I love you, Emma,” he said, his voice breaking. “And I’ll try to be worthy of the trust you said you placed in me.” Carter turned her hand over and pressed a kiss to her palm, as if sealing that promise.

  “I love you too,” she said, her voice breaking. “I love you so much.” It was all she could say.

  “Is that where this is going?” Adam asked.

  Carter turned to Adam and gestured for him to come over. Adam scrambled to his feet and ran over. Carter caught him in a one-armed hug and pulled him close. Adam pointed. “What’s in that box?”

  “Let’s see,” Carter replied. He let go of Adam.

  Carter opened the other box and pulled out a golden necklace. From it dangled the gold pendant Emma had seen shortly after Carter had come back to the ranch. “You were there when Nana told the story about this pendant,” Carter said quietly, unclasping the necklace. “I want you to have this as a reminder of the choices my grandfather made. And as a reminder that you are now part of this family. Woven into the stories and the legends.”

  He placed the necklace around Emma’s neck and kissed her again.

  “I love a happy ending,” Hailey said in a choked voice.

  “I do too,” Nana replied.

  “Is this the end of the picnic?” Adam asked sadly.

  “No, Adam. It’s just the beginning.” Carter pulled Emma close and wrapped Adam into the three-way embrace.

  Emma returned the hug, trying to take it all in. Trying to absorb that she and Adam were now a part of Carter’s life, present and future.

  As he drew away, her eyes flitted from Adam to Hailey to Nana Beck, her heart full of love, joy. And below all that, a comforting thread of peace.

  This was a homecoming.

  She and Carter and Adam—they had all found home.

  Dear Reader,

  I had a hard time finding the right emotional tone for this book, because losing a child is such a heart-rending experience. As my grandmother said, to bury parents is the normal flow of life and death. To bury a child goes against every part of our nature. She knew what she spoke about. She buried three. When I wrote this book, I wanted to be true to what a parent experiences when a child is lost and yet hold out hope that the pain does shift. The edges wear off. It doesn’t go away, but after a while you don’t mind living with the sorrow.

  Eighteen years ago, my family followed the small coffin of our son out of our church and into the adjoining graveyard and watched it being lowered into the earth. The pain did ease off and the sorrow lost its bite. And through it all, our family felt the prayers of the community and the strength of God’s abiding and unfailing love.

  Carter had to learn to let people into his life so that he could share his pain and, by sharing it, lose some of the burden of it. I pray, if you have suffered a deep loss, that you too wi
ll know that even in the storm, God is there, holding you. I pray you will feel the prayers of the people around you and let them hold you too.

  P.S. I love to hear from my readers. Send me a note at caarsen@xplornet.com, or stop by my website www.carolyneaarsen.com. On my website, be sure to check out the Hartley Creek Herald for news about happenings in and around Hartley Creek.

  Questions for Discussion

  One of the statements that is repeated in this book is “Peace is not the absence of trouble, peace is the presence of God.” How do you feel about that statement?

  Has this been true for your life? If so, how?

  Why do you think Carter struggled with so much guilt over his son’s death when he wasn’t even on the ranch when it happened?

  As a parent, we always want to protect our children. How does this show in Emma’s relationship with Adam?

  I have discovered that so many parents struggle with guilt over various things they have done to their children. I know I do. Why do you think that is?

  Emma felt she couldn’t trust men again. Do you think she was justified in feeling that way? Why, or why not?

  Have you or someone you know ever experienced a loss like Carter’s? How did you cope, if it was your loss? How did you extend comfort if it was someone else’s?

  How can we help people who lose a child?

  Emma and Carter both loved the ranch. What did the ranch represent to each of them?

  Have you had times when you didn’t feel God near to you? What did you do?

  Carter’s grandmother gave him a nugget and a Bible. What did they represent to his grandmother, and what did they mean to him?

  What was your reaction to Carter and Emma’s relationship? Did it ring true? Why or why not?

  What changes did they have to make in their lives to accommodate each other?

  ISBN: 978-1-4592-1277-0

  THE RANCHER’S RETURN

  Copyright © 2011 by Carolyne Aarsen

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the editorial office, Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.