Homespun Bride

Jillian Hart 163She smiled at him, and it was tentative and unsure,but he was glad for it all the same.“No trouble at all.” He felt much taller, suddenly,at her side.After spending the last hour listening to the soft bedof straw rustling and the soothing nickers as the mamaspoke to her sleepy baby, Noelle sighed with contentment.She hadn’t felt this happy in a long time. Maybeit had something to do with seeing Thad in a new light.Or, she realized, maybe, because she was now blind,she had to rely on a deeper way of seeing—with herheart. Understanding why he’d left was coming to heras softly as a Brahms’s air.“I suppose it’s time to leave Solitude and her babyalone together.” She regretted saying those words. Shewanted to make this moment last forever.“You’re shivering. You must be getting cold.” Thadmoved closer with a rustle. “I kept you out too long.”“Not nearly long enough.” She wasn’t sure if shewas talking about the time spent with the horses or thetime spent with Thad. Maybe both.“I can bring you out to see the little filly again.”“That’s very generous. I just might accept youroffer.”“Then I just might come for you tomorrow about thistime.”She let her smile of pleasure be her answer, becauseshe didn’t trust her voice. No, her emotions weretangled up like a knot in a skein of yarn.“Come with me.” His intonation was light andfriendly.She reached out and before she realized it, her hand