Love Reunited

“What?” Abi asked.

“Nothing, honey. So the man is coming this way?” She knew he was. She could hear the horse’s hooves clopping against the earth as the “cowboy” evidently came off the mountain and crossed the field. He moved slowly, judging from the sound of the horse’s gait, and Georgiana used his slow arrival to gain her composure.

God, I asked You to help me not run into anyone I know tonight when I go to town. Did I need to ask that I not run into anyone before we go to town? Is this John? Or little Casey? Last time I saw Casey he’d been ten. He’d be eighteen now. Goodness, he’s a man too, isn’t he? And God, if it is either of them, please keep them from telling Landon that I’m blind.

Georgiana cleared her throat. There had been a few instances over the past few years where she was able to fool people into thinking she could see. Her eyes didn’t look any different than normal according to her doctors. She simply had to concentrate on where to direct her attention or find a way to avoid eye contact. She could pull that off until John or Casey was gone, surely.

Stay with me, Lord.

“Hey!” Abi said again. “I like your horse.”

“Thanks,” the deep baritone answered. A familiar baritone that sent a ripple of awareness over Georgiana’s entire body. “Her name’s Sam.”

“That’s a funny name for a girl,” Abi said, while Georgiana focused on keeping her balance. Her knees suddenly felt weak. Head started to swim. And if she really wanted to, she could totally throw up. Her stomach pitched enough, for sure.

“Yeah, well, it’s short for Samantha,” he said, a light chuckle in his words. The chuckle that used to make Georgiana laugh automatically in response. He didn’t say anything for a second then said, “Hello, Georgiana.” He paused. “Georgie.”

Landon. Not John. Not Casey. But Landon. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. And hearing him call her by the nickname that’d been his alone sent a tremor down her spine.

“Mom?” Abi coaxed, and when Georgiana didn’t respond, she yanked on Georgiana’s hand for good measure. “Mom? You okay?”

Georgiana glanced in the direction of his voice. “Hello, Landon.” She could feel her cheeks heating, prayed they weren’t as red as they felt. “I—I thought you were still overseas.”

“Just got back today,” he said. “Y’all home for a visit?”

One quality of her blindness, Georgiana had a precise sense of intonation, and she detected the additional question in Landon’s words. Are you and Pete home for a visit?

“We’re staying at Grandma’s now,” Abi enlightened. “I like the farm. Grandma lets me take riding lessons when the other kids have them. Do you have a farm too? Are you a real cowboy? How many more horses do you have? And do you just have horses, or do you have cows and chickens and stuff too, like Grandma does? Are all of your horses brown and black, or do you have other colors too, like we do? Hey, guess what? I’m six, but I’ll be seven in September, after I go back to school.”

There were many times that Georgiana loved her daughter’s ability to fill the air with words. This was one of them.

Landon laughed. “Have mercy, you remind me of someone I knew when I was your age. She talked almost as fast as you do. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Abi, and you’re talking about my mom, aren’t ya? Grandma says I’m just like she was when she was little. And Grandma says that she was a talker, like me.”

“I’d guess that’s true,” he said. “What do you think, Georgie? Is she just like you?”

She made certain to look toward the sound of his voice and said in as clear a tone as she could muster, “Yes, she is.”

“That isn’t a bad thing.” He waited a beat. “Not a bad thing at all.”

“That’s what Grandma says too,” Abi said with a laugh.

“Abi, honey, you’ve got a phone call,” Eden Sanders called. Georgiana pictured her mother walking out onto the porch, seeing Georgiana and Abi beside Landon Cutter and freezing in her tracks. But leave it to her mom; she must have recovered from the shock fairly quickly, because she hardly paused before adding, “It’s your daddy, honey. You want to come talk to him inside, so you can hear better?”

And so Landon couldn’t hear Abi’s end of the conversation, no doubt.

“Sure!” Abi said, letting go of Georgiana’s hand and starting to run away, but then her steps stalled, and she said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Landon. You gonna bring your horse back to see us again?”

“Maybe so,” he answered, and Georgiana wondered exactly how close Abi had been to the phone when she said Landon’s name. Had Pete heard?

But before she could give that too much thought, she heard her mother’s steps growing closer and smelled a hint of her floral perfume. “Mom, did you know Landon was home?”

“No, I didn’t,” her mother said. “It’s wonderful to see you, Landon. Are you between deployments or home for good?”

“Home for good, Mrs. Sanders. And it’s nice to see you too. Been a long time.”

“Too long,” she answered. “You living back at the farm?”

“Yeah, I’m planning to help run the place for a while. Still got some things to get worked out with John, but when it’s all said and done, I’d like to stay there from now on.”

“That’s nice. It’s good when land stays in the family. That’s what my daddy always said. This was the land I grew up on, you know.”

“Yes, ma’am, it is good to keep it in the family. That’s our plan too.”

“Well, I guess I’d better get back inside. We’ve promised Abi a trip to the square tonight to do a little shopping and go by the candy store. It really was good to see you, Landon.” She paused, and Georgiana could almost see her mother smiling toward the boy—now man—that she’d always liked so much. “I hope you’ll come visit often.”

If Georgiana could glare at her mother, she would. There was no denying her tone was asking Landon—maybe even begging him—to spend time with her daughter. And she had no idea whether Landon had figured out the truth of her disability yet. If he had, it hadn’t been indicated in his voice. But once he knew, he wouldn’t want to spend time with Georgiana, not in the way her mother hoped. Or if he did, it’d only be because he felt sorry for her, and that wasn’t what Georgiana needed at all.

She heard footsteps leaving and realized that her mother wasn’t helping her get away from Landon. Eden could’ve easily said, “Come on, Georgiana, let’s go inside and get ready to head to town,” but she didn’t. Didn’t she know that he’d figure out the truth if Georgiana merely stood here? “I should go inside too,” she said. “It really was good talking to you, Landon.”

She felt a movement to her left and instantly realized her mistake. When she’d been listening to her mother leave and wondering how to also head to the house, Landon and Sam had shifted to the left. But Georgiana had continued looking to the spot where they’d been, and she’d spoken to dead air.

The silence was worse than if he said anything, and Georgiana didn’t think she could stand hearing pity in Landon Cutter’s voice, so she turned toward the house and walked away.

Chapter Two

John was waiting on Landon when he returned to the house and barely let him change clothes before ushering him to the truck. “I was hoping we could talk some about the farm when I got in from work, but I couldn’t find you. We’ll have to talk later, though, because we’re meeting Casey at the square. You left your cell phone here so I couldn’t reach you.”

“My habit of carrying a cell phone kind of flew out the window over the last eight years,” Landon said distractedly as he climbed in the cab and rubbed his forehead. What had happened to Georgiana in the time he’d been gone?

John rounded the front of the truck and got behind the wheel. “What’s going on with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something. Where’d you go with Sam, anyway?”

“To the Sanders farm. And she was there, John.”

“Who? You mean Georgiana? She’s home?”

“Yes, Georgie’s home.”

“I thought she was in Tampa with Pete. I didn’t think they came home for visits at all.” He cranked down the window on the old truck. “Anytime I asked Eden how Georgiana was doing and why we never saw her anymore, she said that Pete’s job didn’t leave a lot of time for traveling. I know Eden has gone down there occasionally over the years. She’d ask me to keep an eye on her farm while she was gone. But I don’t think I’ve seen Georgiana back in Claremont since she and Pete got married. Odd that she’s back on the same day you get back, huh?”

“Yeah, odd.” Lots of things were odd about seeing Georgie today. Most of all what he’d determined right before he left her farm.

“Was Pete there too?”

“No, but he called their daughter while I was there. I guess he could’ve been calling from somewhere around here, but I got the impression he’s still in Tampa. Their little girl’s name is Abi, and she’s the spitting image of Georgie when she was little.”

“I’m sure I’ll see her if they’re staying in town a while.” John paused, then asked, “So, how’d Georgiana look? Still the same? And how did you handle seeing her again?”