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“Sprout,” he chastised, but the donkey didn’t care at all. “She’s a bit of an attention-seeker, and she loves to eat.”
Charlotte’s laugh flowed easily from her, and Beau liked the casualness of it. He liked how easy everything between them had become. “I think I can relate to that,” she said playfully.
She fed Sprout and then Jasper, and then she went around again and gave each donkey a second bite of banana, reserving two chunks—one for each dog. She spoke to them like people too, which warmed his heart. In fact, as Beau watched, a deep sense of contentment settled in his chest.
He hadn’t brought anyone to meet his minis in so long, and it felt good. Right. Easy.
With the banana gone, the donkeys wandered off to find greener grass, and Beau led Charlotte over to a quiet spot on a couple of hay bales. Pepper sighed and circled as he lay at Beau’s feet, and he fell in love with his life all over again.
“Thanks for letting me come meet them,” she said.
“Figured you’d have to sooner or later,” he said. “And now you know why I like to come visit them when things get crazy.”
She adjusted her hand in his and gazed at the donkeys with softness in her expression. “Do I?”
“Can’t you feel it?” He shifted closer to her, and she leaned back into his chest with a sigh of contentment. “There’s something about this place—these animals—that’s soothing. I can talk to them, and they listen to all my hopes, fears, and prayers. I feel like God’s closer out here, in the simplicity of green grass, and hay bales, and clean mini donkeys.”
She turned to him, her gaze sparking with energy. “I feel that. There’s a peace here that you can’t find just anywhere. It’s like you can hear Him in the quiet.”
He nodded, finding courage in her shared sentiment. “Exactly. It’s where I find strength, and when things are crazy on the ranch, or I feel unsettled, I come here. You sing to the horses in the stable, and I bathe my minis.”
She grinned at him and said, “I don’t sing to them every day.”
“I still haven’t heard any singing in the stables,” he teased.
“It’s like you saying the dogs are naughty when you’re gone,” she said. “You stick around long enough, it’ll happen.” She faced the pasture again, and Beau did the same. They hadn’t eaten dinner yet, and his hunger status would probably embarrass him soon enough.
Thankfully, his stomach didn’t growl immediately, and he enjoyed holding Charlotte in his arms.
“There’s a saying my mom used to say,” she said. “‘Faith is not about everything turning out okay; it’s about being okay no matter how things turn out.’”
Beau let the words roll around in his head, trying to make them line up. No, things didn’t always turn out okay, but sometimes, it was about the learning, the growth, that happened as he went through something hard.
“I like that,” he said.
“Being here with you, with them.” She gestured at the paddock and the donkeys. Ruby had bedded down with Pepper, and they both watched the minis. “It feels like everything will be okay, and that if it’s not, I’ll still be okay. It’s that kind of faith.”
A smile tugged at his lips, one that was mirrored by Charlotte. He enjoyed the physical closeness between them, as he hadn’t had it in a while, but the emotional bond tying him to Charlotte was just as important.
Shared beliefs. Mutual respect. A burgeoning love that promised to grow as steady and true as the land they both cherished. Could he even hope for that? After so many years of striking out?
He’d been praying for such a thing—for such a companion—and as the sun slipped lower in the sky, Charlotte seemed to etch herself right on the surface of his heart.
And he hoped she’d stay there forever, burrow deeper, and become part of him permanently.
“He did what?” Beau watched Squire pace in his office, sure his ears had malfunctioned.
“He joined the Army.” Squire finally came to a stop and looked out the window. “Kelly’s throwing a good-bye party, of course. Can you text out the details to everyone?”
“Of course I can.” Beau didn’t want to leave the office, though, because the unrest stomped along the walls and coated the ceiling. Squire’s unrest.
What should I say here? he prayed, hoping God would give him the right words. Beau didn’t have any kids, and certainly not a twenty-year-old leaving for Basic Training in a couple of days.
“Finn’s a good man,” Beau said. “He’s been working real hard this summer, and I can’t imagine he won’t do the same in the Army.”
“Yeah,” Squire said. “I just know what that’s like, and I worry.” He faced Beau. “I can’t be worried at home, because that upsets Kelly, and well, I have to pace it all out here.” He flashed a smile in Beau’s direction, not really looking at him.
“What can I do for you?” Beau asked.
