Page 35 of Faith for the Cowboy
“Really?” Harper asked.
“Yes,” Mom said excitedly. “Can you believe it? We’ll be able to start that list of things we’ve always said we would do one day.”
“That’s great,” Harper said, but she heard the uncertainty in her own voice.
“That’s right. It is great,” said Dad. “But it means that we have to make some changes. We want to be smarter with our money, and we want to make the best decisions for the next season of our lives.” He looked at Mom and squeezed her hand. “Because of that, we’ve decided that it’s time to sell the house.”
Harper gripped the table, feeling as if the wind was knocked out of her. She bit her lip, trying not to say all the things that immediately came to mind. She took several deep breaths. “Wow, I guess that makes sense. But I didn’t really expect you to say that.”
Mom got out of her seat and moved to sit next to Harper, putting her hand on her arm. “I know, Sweetie. This is why we wanted you to come home. We have loved this house. It’s where we raised you and your brother and made lots of wonderful memories. But we don’t need all the space anymore since it’s just us. As we get older, we don’t want to have to deal with the stairs, so it really is time.”
“I know, you’re right. I guess I just don’t think of you guys as being old.”
Mom and Dad both laughed. “We don’t think of ourselves as old either,” Dad said. “But we would like to be in a good situation for getting old because we are getting older every single day.”
Harper smiled. “Well, I guess it’s better than not getting older.”
“Absolutely,” Dad said.
“How can I help?” Harper asked.
Mom smiled and squeezed her hand. “I thought you might want to go through some of your things. I know you don’t have anywhere to keep them right now, but if you can decide what you do want to keep, we’ll save space for you.”
Tears stung at Harper’s eyes. “Thanks, Mom, but I can’t ask you to do that.” In that moment, she knew it was time. “I know you need to find the right place for you to live, and I think it’s time for me to have a place of my own.”
“Really?” Mom asked.
Harper nodded. “I don’t know where that is yet, but I’ve been praying about what’s next, and I’m sure that God is saying it’s time to settle and stay somewhere. I’m sure He will show me where.”
“Oh, sweetie, that’s wonderful. I know you’ve loved traveling and working and having the experiences you’ve had, but I’m happy to hear this.” She looked at Dad and raised her eyebrows. “And who knows? We could be open to moving somewhere if we know our only daughter will be close by.”
Dad’s eyes opened wide, and his mouth fell open in surprise. “I hadn’t thought of that. I assumed we would find something here in town, but if I’m retired, I suppose we could be open to the possibility of living somewhere else.”
Harper held a hand up. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Maybe I will be here, and you don’t have to make that decision. I don’t know yet. But I know I’m ready to stop wandering, and I know that I want to see you as much as possible.”
Mom leaned over and wrapped Harper in a hug. “That sounds absolutely wonderful.”
25
Lawson stepped onto the porch of his parents' house, sipping coffee. Moving to the rocking chair, he sat and looked out over the land. He was growing to really love it again. Over the past few months, he had let himself become bitter toward the ranch and how it controlled his life, but now he felt like a kid again who got to play and ride horses for a living. Now he knew this was where he wanted to be. His mind raced with ideas for the ranch and how he could do more with his job and make it his own. He hadn’t talked to Sawyer or the other brothers yet, but he was sure they would support him in his ideas. The other idea consuming him right now wasn’t something, but someone.
“God,” he prayed, “I want to move forward with Harper. I think You brought me to a place where I know what I want to do with my life, and now I want to tell her.” He thought about the plans he was making and how he would carry them out. “Lord, I pray that You would prepare her heart to hear what I have to say. I know she has some concerns, but I pray that we would both trust You with the future. And I pray that the future for us is together.”
Harper sat on the floor of her childhood bedroom and reached for the box she had pulled from the closet. Opening the lid, she laughed at the contents. “Mom, why did you let me keep everything I ever owned?" she called out down the hallway.
Mom entered the room smiling and sat on the edge of the twin bed with a ruffled pink bedspread. “Because you just loved everything. Trying to get you to clean out and get rid of things was something akin to torture. And I couldn’t even think about sneaking it out. You would either find it and be so hurt that I tried to get rid of it, or if I managed to get it out of the house, you would think of it months later and ask me where it was. I always said I didn’t know, which was true by then, but that look in your eye said you knew what I had done.”
Harper laughed. “I’m sorry, Mom. It’s funny to think how attached I was, and then I left it all here. I’ve owned very little over the last few years.”
“And now you get to take care of all of this,” Mom held her hands out, indicating the full room.
“Yeah, but now I see that it’s just stuff. What I really wanted was to hold onto the memories and the feelings from all the moments.” She looked at Mom and smiled. “You gave us a wonderful childhood.”
Mom brushed at her eyes. “I’m so glad you think that. Honestly, there were so many times I didn’t know if I was doing the right thing. And when you and Noah would fight, I thought I would pull my hair out.”
Harper laughed. “We did fight when we were little, didn’t we? It’s funny, I don’t think about that often. I only remember the good stuff.”
Mom nodded. “That’s how it should be. It’s what I hoped back then, that you would keep the good memories.”
