She yanked the dice out of the box and shook them. “Is this for bunko night?”
“Rae said you joined the group permanently.”
“I did.” She laughed, and it felt so good. “Thank you, Darren.” She reached in and pulled out a package of pencils with green vines all over them. “And what’s bunko night without the cutest pencils to keep score with?”
He grunted and kept driving. She noticed he’d taken the turn toward Steeple Ridge, but she didn’t say anything. Her giddiness over his gifts wouldn’t allow anything to ruin this moment.
“Thank you, Darren.” She stretched up to kiss him on the cheek, and then she looked at her designer dice again. She could definitely plan something to go with the purple dice when it was her month to host. Purple foods, purple decorations…. Her mind spun with the possibilities.
Darren pulled into the public parking lot at Steeple Ridge. “We’ve got hours until dinner,” he said. “Want to ride?”
A sense of peace filled her. “Yeah, I’d like that.” She got her horse saddled, and she and Darren set out on a worn path in the snow.
“So are you still seeing Doctor Kenna?” he asked.
“No.” Farrah squirmed in her saddle. “I stopped seeing her just before Thanksgiving. She…wasn’t helping.”
“What did help?”
Farrah let several strides of the horse go by as she thought about the past several months. “Learning to trust how I feel,” she said. “And relying on the Lord, not what someone else said, or did, or thought.” She glanced over at him and saw a strong, patient man who had figured that out long ago.
“I’m glad, Farrah.”
She was too, and she tilted her face toward the sun, trying to soak up all the warmth she could. She was glad she’d stopped trying to please Dr. Kenna. Glad she’d stopped second-guessing herself. Glad she’d learned to rely on God.
Glad she was here, on this farm, with Darren. Though he rode his brother’s horse, he belonged on a farm like this one. And Farrah realized she did too.
“So what are you going to name your farm?” she asked as they approached the tree line.
He exhaled, as if the topic had been weighing him down. “I think I’m going to stick with what the Bybee’s started. I’ll just change Bybee to Buttars.”
“Buttars Botanical Farm,” she said, a smile spreading her lips. “I like that.”
“Yeah, me too,” he said. “My mother always told me it means something to be a Buttars, so I better be a good one. Might as well drive by that sign everyday to remind myself of that.”
“I would’ve liked to have met your mother,” Farrah said, the words barely leaving her mouth loud enough to be heard.
“I would’ve liked that too.” Darren met her eye, and though they still had leagues to go to unpack everything between them, Farrah saw the love in his eyes. She hoped it was shining in hers too.
chapter
twenty-three
On Christmas Eve,Darren touched down in California to golden sunshine and a blue sky. For some reason, he still expected the breath-taking cold to enter his lungs when he stepped out of the airport at Long Beach. It didn’t come, but Layla’s squeal and Logan’s laughter did.
Darren embraced them both and had only taken one step when Logan said, “Farrah showed up yesterday?”
He nodded, a smile coming to his soul though he tried not to be too giddy. But he’d been happier since he’d nearly trampled her yesterday than he had been in a while. He’d told Ben and Rae about it, and then texted Logan right before he’d gone to bed.
He’d lain there for a while, staring up into the darkness, begging God to guide him when it came to Farrah. Give him patience. Compassion. Understanding.
“Well, what did she say?” Logan asked. “We’ve been dyin’ out here, waiting for you to arrive.”
Darren tossed his bag in the back of Logan’s truck. “She apologized.” He looked at his brother and sister-in-law. They’d always supported him, talked with him when he needed it. Heck, it was Layla who had matched him with Farrah. “We’re talking.”
“That’s it?” Layla’s eyebrows rose. “She didn’t say she wanted to get back together or anything?”
“She asked me to help her move, and she invited me to her housewarming party.” Darren waited for her to climb in and slide into the middle of the bench seat. He got in beside her. “She only invited me to the party. I guess I’ll have to go.”
