Lantern of Hope by Lynn Donovan

Author:Lynn Donovan [Donovan, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

A few days later, Hope stepped off her back porch to go milk the cows and gather eggs, but was awestruck by the changes on her ranch. Sure, the house was in terrible shape, and the barn too, but repairs were being made. The corral had been reinforced with slats taken down from her grandparents’ original barn, which somehow still stood south of her home. Their original home was nothing more than a rock outline of the foundation and a crumbled hearth. But the barn wood was good enough to extend the corral boundary and make release chutes. Somehow, Nick had managed to gather some wood that was good enough to build bleachers, or had he bartered for it?

The cowboys had kept to themselves and not been a bother to Hope. Jaxon, of course, wanted to watch everything, especially the events. For the first time in his small life, he got all his morning chores done before the afternoon events began. Hope had no interest in going into town for the street festival. Besides, seeing all those people made her shudder. It was bad enough they all came out here of an afternoon. Thank goodness decorum kept them from knocking on her door. She generally stayed inside and prayed Jaxon wouldn’t get into trouble.

Jewell was excited about the events, too, but she was young enough to keep home with a word. Hope lined up little sewing projects for her and Jewell to do together to keep her active daughter occupied. By the end of the week, they would have built a little rag doll. Jewell seemed excited to work on her new dolly.

Hope’s heart felt conflicted, knowing only one of her children was out among the visiting cowboys gave her a small sense of peace, but guilt ransacked her heart for keeping her little girl away from the hustle and bustle out north. Every morning she promised herself she’d take the child to at least one event, but by afternoon, the fortification of her strength to face all those people withered. She’d put Jewell down for her nap and by the time she woke, Hope would tell her it was nearly over. Sonya, on the other hand, would slip out and be gone all afternoon. Seemed she had caught the eye of a cowboy and wanted to watch his event or sit in the stands with him afterwards.

A pang of jealousy plagued Hope as she sat in her rocking chair darning while Jewell napped. Her mind wandered to the mysterious but handsome veterinary doctor that had captured her son’s attention. She had to be honest, he’d captured her attention, too. There was something intriguing about him, he was kind, patient with a curious little boy who wanted to question everything, gentle with her daughter, and oh so attentive to the animals’ needs. Her papa probably would have liked him. A smile lifted the edges of her down-turned mouth. What secrets did he harbor? If it were not secrets, then what did he keep hidden from his past? There was something.

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