Word Gets Around Part 23

"I guess so."

"And besides, there's still the Bigfoot mystery to solve."

"That's true."

"We might need to stake out the place. ... "

"We might." Her lips spread wide in a smile that was dazzling, and for the first time, all the sadness in her seemed to float away. "You did it," she whispered, the words glittering with joy and pride that made me feel larger than I was.

"We did it," I corrected, and she threw her head back, smiling triumphantly, her hair swirling in the breeze. She opened her arms, and I took her in mine, lifted her from her feet as if she were lighter than air, and twirled her into the barnyard as she laughed.

If I'd been writing the scene for film, it would have been the one in which the music rose to a crescendo, and the boy knew this girl was different from anyone he'd ever met. His mind and heart and soul would tell him he was falling in love, and so was she.

The moment would be perfect, and the ranch would fade into the cool shadows of evening, and then the credits would roll, because there was nothing more to say.

Except, of course, that they lived happily ever after.

Chapter 23.

Lauren Eldridge As the world spun around me, I saw Willie punch a fist into the air in triumph. Applause and cheers erupted near the old house. I thought of Aunt Donetta, my father, Brother Ervin, Pastor Harve, and Harvard Jr.-all the people who had loved me since the day I was born. I thought of Daily, the place that had made me, and broken me, and waited patiently for me to stop clinging to fear, stop running, and come home again.

Nate set me on my feet as Amber ran squealing across the barnyard. "That was awesome!" She cheered, then tackled me with an effervescent hug, and suddenly, everybody was hugging everybody. My father hugged Nate, Willie hugged my father, my father hugged Amber, Amber hugged Willie, Willie and Amber hugged Nate in a three-way. Nate looked embarra.s.sed. Amber took his hand and Willie's and dragged them off to the round pen to give Justin the good news about Dane.

My father slipped his arm around me as we watched them go. "That was somethin' to see," he said, then lifted a hand to give Aunt Netta the high sign. By the food tent, Aunt Netta held her hands clasped and raised them high in the air, like an Olympic athlete declaring victory.

"Yes, it was," I agreed.

"I wondered there for a minute," Dad admitted.

"I did, too."

Dad squeezed my shoulder, pulling me off balance so that I teetered on one foot, using him for support. As always, he kept me from falling. We stood for a minute, just taking everything in, then Dad nudged my shoulder and pointed toward the round pen. "Look there," he whispered, close to my ear.

I followed his line of vision to the fence, where Lucky Strike's nanny goat had spotted an abandoned Dr. Pepper atop a post. After eyeing it from several angles, she rose onto her hind legs, walked a few steps, then braced her front hooves on the corral fence, and stretched out her neck, trying to reach.

In silhouette, she was seven feet tall and hairy, manlike ...

"Could be that solves a certain mystery," Dad observed, his mustache twitching upward when I looked at him.

"I guess it does." I felt a twinge of disappointment. "Too bad, though. There won't be nearly as much to talk about at the cafe now."

Dad chuckled, his body shaking up and down. "Well, we could keep it our secret a while. Just between you and me."

"We could," I agreed, thinking that Nate and I might get to have our stakeout after all.

"Shame to spoil a good mystery," Dad said. "After all, what's a little town without its secrets?"

"I'd hate to think."

Dad chuckled again, and I knew we'd entered into a silent pact. The true ident.i.ty of the Daily Sasquatch was safe for now.

"Guess I better get back and give some pony rides," Dad said finally. He gave me another squeeze, and I wrapped my arms around his middle, holding on tight.

"I love you." The words trembled from my throat, weighted with emotion, heavy with so many other things I wanted to say, but I knew if I started, tears would come. This wasn't a moment for tears.

My father sniffed and rubbed his mustache, then cleared his throat. "Oh, I know it." His voice was hoa.r.s.e, soft like the evening air. "I've always known that. You're a good girl. You never been a disappointment to me, ever, Pug. I want to tell you that. Your mama always said, That Puggy can do anythin', and she was right."

I chuckled silently at my father's old habit of attributing compliments to my mom because he was embarra.s.sed to deal them out himself. "Dad, Mom never called me Puggy." One thing my mother never approved of was the fact that my father had christened her little girl with such an unflattering handle.

"I know it," Dad chuckled, his chin gently ruffling my hair. "But you been my little Puggy since the very minute I first laid eyes on you. I'd never seen anythin' so fine in my whole life." He kissed me on the top of my head, then balanced me on my feet. Across the way, the Dane kids were impatient for pony rides. "Welcome home, Puggy."

I watched my father walk away to the small corral, where Justin had slipped through the fence to help Corley dismount the pony. My father entered the round pen, untied the pony's lead rope, and handed it to Corley. Grabbing one of the little Dane girls by the waist, my father swung her into the saddle. In my mind, I knew just how the motion would feel-his strong hands under my arms, the high swing through the air, the plop into the saddle, not hard enough to hurt but just enough to force a giggle out. And then the words, "There you go, young lady. How about a ride? Hang on now, cowgirl. He's a wild 'un." My father was never too busy to hold the rope while I rode around in circles.

"Guess that'll clinch the deal." I heard Nate's voice, and I turned to him.

"I guess it will."

He smiled slightly, his eyes catching the light of evening, turning warm brown. "I wasn't worried, were you?"

"No way."

Nate looked into my eyes, and all the other thoughts seemed insignificant. I knew he would kiss me, and I didn't care who was watching. A warmth slipped over me that made everything feel right, and perfect, gold and crimson and edged with pearl like the clouds in the darkening sky behind him. There was no need to hide any longer, no need to pull away. I abandoned myself to the kiss, let go of everything and just allowed myself to live fully in the moment.

When our lips parted, I was conscious of someone tugging at my s.h.i.+rt. I looked down, expecting one of the Dane children, but the goat was there, nibbling on my hem. Apparently, she'd given up on the Dr. Pepper. Laughing, I pushed her away, and she stood back and bleated at me, giving me a keen look, as if she knew I'd figured out her secret.

"Guess your girlfriend's worried," I told Nate.

Nate chuckled, then shooed her away. "I don't have a girlfriend."

"That's good to know."

His grin made something tighten and flutter deep inside me, and this time I didn't tether the emotion to the weight of regrets and sadness, guilt and apprehension. I let it take wing and soar. I allowed myself to feel it, to revel in it, to believe it was possible for life to move from what had been to what could be-for Nate and me, for Willie and my father, for Aunt Donetta and the town of Daily. I thought once more of Harvard Jr., who had saved my life and sacrificed his own. After all, what good is a life saved if you fail to live it?

Turning in Nate's arms, I gazed past the old house, watched it become a shadow as the horizon dimmed and the hammers went silent. I thought of all the lives that would intersect here, through film and through the children who would come to this place, and discover that no matter where you've been, or what you've done, or what has been done to you, it's all right to stop running and let yourself be loved.

It's more than all right. It is the thing that matters most. Peace doesn't lie in all that we run to, in the independence we struggle to maintain, in the things we embrace that don't embrace us in return. It is not in the noise of the world, but rests in the quiet place we last look. It waits until we stop running, stop battling the fences, stop searching outside and look toward the center. There, in the very heart of who we are and what we were created to be, we find it-the greatest thing in this world or the next, the very essence of G.o.d.

We turn toward the Good Horseman, and He opens His arms, and we come into His presence, where there is love enough to cover everything.

Discussion Questions.

1. In the beginning of the story, Lauren ponders whether it's possible to ever really leave behind your roots. What do you think? Where are your roots and how have they shaped the way you live today?

2. Daily is struggling to retain its ident.i.ty in the face of sudden fame. Lauren observes some changes when she arrives in her hometown. In what ways do fame or sudden prosperity change a community? Are these changes positive, negative, or both?

3. As Nate's story begins, he is struggling with the choice of continuing his destructive friends.h.i.+p with Justin or calling it quits. When we are involved in painful relations.h.i.+ps, how should we make the decision between self-preservation and self-sacrifice? Is there ever a time to let go? If so, when? Why do you think Nate goes to Daily with Justin, even though he's told himself he won't?

4. Justin's friends.h.i.+p with Amber has changed his behavior in ways that are not typical for him. Have you ever experienced a friends.h.i.+p or chance encounter with someone who changed your way of thinking?

5. Amber and Justin have both experienced the mega-fame American culture seems to crave, yet they have responded to it very differently. Why? What things determine the choices we make in using the resources we're given?

6. Themes of guilt and forgiveness run throughout the novel. How can a failure to accept forgiveness trap us? Do you see applications for the sermon of the Good Horseman in your own life or the lives of people you know? In what ways?

7. Many characters in the story are in the position of Lucky Strike, struggling between a new option and an old habit. Have you or someone you've known ever experienced something similar? What was the result? What made the difference?

8. The nanny goat is integral to Lucky Strike's healing. Have you ever been given a "nanny goat" when you needed one? Who or what was it?

9. Lauren realizes that in pulling away from her family and friends and trying to control her own healing, she has weakened her ability to recover from her grief. How are our families, friends, communities, and church families integral to surviving difficult times? In view of this, why do we sometimes choose to keep our struggles to ourselves?

10. Nate begins to consider that the secret to life might not be in getting past previous traumas but in looking at how those traumas have shaped us for a specific purpose. Do you see ways in which your past experiences, good or bad, have prepared you for a specific purpose?

11. Late in the story, Donetta tells Nate that sometimes G.o.d puts a new path under our feet because He knows we're ready, even if we don't know it yet. Have you ever been pushed toward something you didn't think you were ready for? How did you react? What happened in the end?

Books by Lisa Wingate.

DAILY, TEXAS.

Talk of the Town.

Word Gets Around.

TENDING ROSES.

Tending Roses.

Good Hope Road.

The Language of Sycamores.

Drenched in Light

A Thousand Voices.

BLUE SKY HILL.

A Month of Summer.

The Summer Kitchen.

Word Gets Around.