For her, I would do it a thousand times over.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MARLEY
HALLIE ISmumbling low enough that I can’t hear what she is saying to the horse in the stall next to the one she is cleaning up. The mare is leaving in a few days, I’ve arranged for her to be transferred to a lodge close to Keystone Lake to be a trail horse. She loves riding the trails on our property, and even though it took some convincing that not every human is going to hurt her, she loves people.
I smile to myself, I know just how good it feels to connect with a horse. Some people see them as just another animal, even worse, a volatile animal. But just like people, they like connection and they want to be accepted and loved, too. Just like we bring out the best in them, they bring out the best in us.
Over the past week, she has got attached to that particular horse. I’ve been calling her Maisey. I’ve seen her press their foreheads together several times, and I know just how healing that can be.
Needing more pellets to mix with the grain, I walk past and hear her quietly say something that makes me stop in my tracks.At least you don’t have to worry about anyone coming back to get you.
Turning to face her, I can’t hold my tongue. “Are you worried about that?”
Hallie jerks up, she didn’t know I was right outside the stall. She sighs and scratches Maisey’s nose before she walks to the door of the stall and leans on the frame. “I worried it was too good to be true.” She looks down at the piece of hay in her fingers and twists it nervously. “You know, when they told me he would be in jail a long time.”
I don’t say anything. I’m too afraid that anything I do or say will scare her into silence.
Her eyes meet mine, and she looks so remorseful. “But, I wanted out so bad that I grabbed onto that shiny little nugget of fool’s gold and I ran. I let myself believe he wouldn’t be able to get out of it this time.”
Not able to hold back, I ask, “How would he get out of it?”
Her shoulders fall when she looks at me, and I can see the guilt in her eyes. “He always gets out of it because he knows people. I’m so stupid.” Her voice is low and raspy as she drops her hands to her sides and defeat wraps around her like a second skin.
All this time, I’ve thought ‘D’ is just a low-level drug dealer. Do they have connections? The kind that can get them out of jail time?
Several months ago, when she got the call about him being released, she was told it was a crowding issue. He was sentenced to four years and only served seven months. We didn’t question it too much, but maybe we should have.
Setting the bucket down next to my feet, I try to use a conversational tone, but the worry is obvious in my voice. “What kind of people, Hallie?”
Joining her hands in front of her to pick at her nail, she looks down. “The bad kind. I’m not sure what all they are into, but I know that drugs and money laundering are involved.”
My thoughts jump to the new car he was driving when he showed up at the wedding, his nice clothes, the expensive bouquet of flowers, and the cruelty behind the cat. I realize that my image of him being a second-rate drug dealer who hung out on corners peddling pills and little packages was way off. I think he may be a little more dangerous than that.
Taking a cautious breath, I decide to go for it. “What I don’t understand is why he wants you back after all this time and you pressing charges.”
Her eyebrows pinch together. “He always said he would never let me go, and I thought it was just because he was so possessive and jealous, but I’ve wondered the same thing. It’s been nine months. I don’t know why he’s doing this.”
“How many times have you tried to leave before?”
She shakes her head once. “Only the one time before, but when he found me, he beat me up so bad that I was in bed for days. I was too afraid to leave again after that. The last time he beat me up, it was over the dinner I made, he said I put too much seasoning on his potatoes.”
“Oh, Hallie, I’m so sorry. You must have been so scared all the time.” I take a step toward her.
She looks up and her naturally berry colored lips tip up in a smile. “After a while, I got used to it, you know? I just adapted and adjusted to avoid setting him off.” One side of her lips tip up further than the other and she shrugs her shoulder. “But now, sometimes, I don’t make my bed just because I don’t have to.”
“Where’re my girls?” We hear the old, scratchy familiar voice at the front of the stable, and we both light up as we smile ear to ear.
“Opal!” I say and turn to meet her. Hallie is hot on myheels.
The old woman hasn’t changed a bit since I was a little girl. Her smile is big as she sees both of us walking to her and we both crash into her. I inhale her familiar smell of laundry detergent and baked bread as her arms go around us and hold us tight.
Opal may be older, but she’s stout. When we ran into her, she didn’t falter, she only threw her arms around us. When Opal came to work for us after my mom died, she became like a live-in aunt that took care of us kids.
It definitely took some of the work off me, Mason and Gray, especially when it came to Breanna, she was still a newborn and even though we tried to help Dad as much as possible, taking care of her was hard.
I don’t think I have ever seen Opal wear anything besides a pair of Wrangler jeans and a button-up shirt, whether its flannel or short sleeve depends on the weather. Her long gray hair is always in a braid and hangs down her back. She was widowed not long before my mom died and she always used to tell us kids, ‘God knew you young-ins needed me more’n my husband did, so he went home to the Lord so I could take care of yuns’.
