Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120708 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 604(@200wpm)___ 483(@250wpm)___ 402(@300wpm)
When Timberlynn didn’t say anything, I glanced her way. She looked white as a ghost.
I slowed down my horse, which caused Rosie to slow down as well. The horses came to a stop and I leaned over and touched Timberlynn’s leg. “Hey, it’s okay, you didn’t know.”
She swallowed hard and then quickly looked away.
“You don’t have to feel bad for asking about him, Timberlynn, honestly.”
“It’s not…I…I know how your mother feels, that’s all.” When she finally looked back at me, she attempted to smile but failed. I saw the sadness in her eyes and waited for her to decide if she wanted to tell me what caused it.
She looked down and spoke so low, I had to strain to hear her. “I lost my mother when I was six. It was a car accident. My father told me to keep my eyes closed, not to look.”
Her voice shook slightly, and I wanted to pull her into my arms and hold her.
“He handed me to another person and ran over to my mother. I tried not to look, but I did. And I still sometimes have nightmares about what I saw. My father holding my mother. She was…already gone, I think. He’s never told me. He won’t talk about my mom. Ever.”
She quickly wiped a tear away and stared straight ahead. “I really wish I hadn’t looked.”
My lungs felt as if someone had reached in and ripped them out of my chest. I had a hard time finding air to breathe for a few moments as I let her words settle into my head. “Timberlynn, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry.”
She finally lifted her gaze back to mine, and a single tear slipped down her cheek. The urge to jump off my horse and pull her into my arms was so strong, I had to will myself not to move. I hated to see women cry, but that single tear making a path down this particular woman’s cheek did something strange to me. I would have done anything to take her pain away.
With a quick sweep of her hand, the tear was gone, and she was sitting up straight once again. Her voice was clear and strong, as if she hadn’t just told me her mother had been taken from her at the age of six. “I never talk about that day. I’m not even sure I’ve ever told anyone outside of a therapist all of that before,” she said with a nervous chuckle. “Besides Kaylee, that is.”
“I can’t even imagine what that had to be like for you and your father.”
Her head snapped up, and she looked at me. “It was hard on us both.”
I nodded. “I’m sure it was.”
“About your mom...” Timberlynn took a deep breath. “I guess I understand her thought process, not wanting to talk about the profound loss, so I can see why she shuts down about your brother. Sometimes when I try to talk about my mom, the pain hurts so bad that it’s better if I don’t talk at all. I think it’s because my father would never talk about her. I’m almost positive he still hasn’t gotten over her death.” She paused for a few moments. “But if it helps you to heal from your brother’s death, I think it’s a good thing you and your brothers talk about him.”
I nodded. “If you ever want to talk about your mom, I’m here to listen.”
Her eyes filled with tears, and she quickly looked away. She shook her head as if to shed a thought, a feeling, a memory, maybe? Before I could get another word out, she lightly kicked Rosie’s side and took off into a trot. She called back over her shoulder, “We should get going!”
I followed her and made a mental note not to push her when it came to her mother. She needed to learn to trust me first, and I could be patient.
A few minutes later, we were on another path and heading to the cabin. Timberlynn had been silent for about five minutes or so, and then started asking me questions about the area. Where the closest large animal vet was. How many large horse breeders there were in Hamilton. I answered them to the best of my knowledge, but I had no idea how many breeders were now in the Hamilton area since I was usually gone more than I was home.
“My mother would be the best person to ask,” I finally said. “She’s always had a love of horses. Bogo here is a rescue horse himself.”
“Is he? How wonderful!” Timberlynn exclaimed, her eyes finally coming back to life.
“Do all these questions mean you’re looking to change from nursing to becoming a vet or something?”
She laughed. “No.”
“What made you pick nursing, then?” I asked as we walked the horses side by side up to the cabin. The path was flanked by tall trees dusted in snow.