She chewed on her lip. “I was thinking…what if they did something in the summer? Like maybe a day camp or something?”
“A day camp?” I asked.
“Yes. I heard your dad mention a lake that was on the ranch. Maybe the kids could spend time riding horses, hiking, learning to shoot a bow and arrow, fishing. Maybe they can even spend a day seeing what it’s like to work on a cattle ranch.”
I stopped walking, and she did the same. “Viv, I think that’s a fantastic idea.”
She smiled. “You do? Will your parents? I mean, would they be willing to open the ranch up for something like that?”
“I’m positive they would.”
I could see the excitement dancing in her eyes. “Then I should mention it to them?”
“Yes, I think you should definitely mention it.”
She hugged me and said, “Thank you for agreeing with me!”
When she took a step back, she went on. “It’s just, all the kids were so excited to be able to ride the horses, and so many of them were asking so many questions. I even saw your dad and David take a couple of kids to the stables to show them where the horses were kept. I think they’d all love it. From the way Lily talked, the orphanage—or center, as she likes to call it—takes such good care of the kids, and they do their best to show them love, but if we could do outside events like this, it would prove people outside of the center care about them, too.”
“I agree with you. Maybe once we get the store open, we could start a program to take the kids on some adventures.”
“Ladd! That is thebestidea! Yes!”
I laughed once again. “Come on, let’s get going before the sun goes down on us.”
We walked about five more minutes until we reached a clearing. “It’s just right over here,” I said as I walked over to the spot in question. When the view came into sight, I heard Vivianne draw in a sharp breath. Down below was the river that ran through the ranch, and on the side we were on was also a lake.
A heart-shaped lake.
It wasn’t man-made; it was already here when my great-grandfather bought the land.
“It’s beautiful,” Vivianne whispered. “Ladd, the water is the color of the sky.”
I smiled as I looked down at the river, which hadn’t frozen over because of the running water. It almost looked reddish-pink, as did the lake. “I’ve seen the water turn the most beautiful colors during sunset.”
Turning to look at me, she said, “This is where your mother and father got married?”
“It is. At sunset.”
She looked back out over the valley below. In the distance, a wolf howled.
“It’s magical. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life.”
Staring at her, I replied, “I know.”
With a nod of her head, she said, “This is where I want to get married. This exact spot, at sundown.”
“Are you sure?”
Vivianne turned to face me, and I did the same. “This is the spot.”
I smiled. “Let me show you something.”
Taking her hand, I walked her over to the large spruce tree. I pointed, and her hand flew up to her mouth.
There was a heart carved into the tree, with the words ‘Gus loves Nellie’ etched inside. Above that, was another heart that had ‘Flint + Lilith,’ and above that one more heart containing, ‘Laz N Sarah Forever.’ I was guessing that Laz was a nickname for Lawrence.
“My great-grandfather asked my great-grandmother to marry him at this exact spot, and so did my grandfather. It was why my mother and father wanted to get married here. Dad carved it into the tree the day before their wedding.”
