Love Reunited

Georgiana remembered how excited she’d always been to show her parents what she’d learned at each of her recitals. Mrs. Camp would make cookies and have punch for the kids, coffee and tea for the adults. And everyone dressed up for the event. Mrs. Camp had apparently described how the process worked to Abi, and now Georgiana’s little angel had decided that all three of them, Abi, her grandma and her mother, needed new dresses for the big event. Abi and Eden had already purchased their outfits for the occasion, and tonight they planned to get one for Georgiana too.

“Three weeks is plenty of time to find a dress for me,” Georgiana said. “We could wait till another night if you want.” She had no desire to leave the farm, not tonight—or ever—but she had to for Abi, somehow.

“No, Mom, you promised we’d go tonight. And you said you’d let me pick it out. Remember? And we’re going to get some candy at that candy store Grandma told us about too, remember?”

“I remember.” The Sweet Stop. The old-fashioned candy shop had been Georgiana’s favorite store on the square growing up. Well, that and the Tiny Tots Treasure Box, the local toy store. She did want to take her daughter there, but she wished that there wasn’t such a drastic possibility of her running into half of Claremont when they went to the square. On a late summer night this cool, this comfortable, everyone would want to enjoy the beauty of town.

God, let the place be uncommonly deserted.

“So, does it take long for the sun to set?” Abi continued. “I’m really ready to go to town.”

“No, it doesn’t. In fact, it should be heading behind the trees now, if Fallon’s timing is still spot-on.” Resolved that there was no way she could get out of going to the square, Georgiana slid her hand into Abi’s and stood. “Is that where the sun is, going behind the trees?”

“Yep, that’s where it is,” Abi said. “Well, almost. It sure does take its time, huh?”

“Yes,” Georgiana said, gently squeezing Abi’s hand, “it does.” Then she heard the horse in the distance again. “Abi, do you hear...”

“Hey!” Abi yelled. “Mom, there’s a guy on a horse up there. He’s waving.”

Georgiana’s arm jerked as Abi apparently used her other hand to wave back. “A guy on a horse?”

“Yep, and I think he’s coming to see us. Yep, yep, he is.”

“What does he look like, Abi?” A guy on a horse? If Abi was waving in the direction that it seemed, then the guy was on the ridge, probably coming from the direction of the Cutter farm. Georgiana’s mother had said John Cutter was running the farm now and that he’d been in charge ever since their mother died after Landon joined the army. And John was supposedly raising their younger brother, Casey. So this guy on the horse could be John or Casey. “Is he older, Abi? A man? Or is he a boy, you know, like a teenager?”

“He’s a man,” Abi said. “A cowboy, with a real cowboy hat and everything. And a pretty horse. Not as pretty as Fallon, but a pretty brown horse. A lot like Fallon though, except Fallon is gold and white, and this one is brown and black.”

A pretty brown-and-black horse. “Sam?”

“What?” Abi asked.

“Nothing, honey. So the man is coming this way?” She knew he was. She could hear the horse’s hooves clopping against the earth as the “cowboy” evidently came off the mountain and crossed the field. He moved slowly, judging from the sound of the horse’s gait, and Georgiana used his slow arrival to gain her composure.

God, I asked You to help me not run into anyone I know tonight when I go to town. Did I need to ask that I not run into anyone before we go to town? Is this John? Or little Casey? Last time I saw Casey he’d been ten. He’d be eighteen now. Goodness, he’s a man too, isn’t he? And God, if it is either of them, please keep them from telling Landon that I’m blind.

Georgiana cleared her throat. There had been a few instances over the past few years where she was able to fool people into thinking she could see. Her eyes didn’t look any different than normal according to her doctors. She simply had to concentrate on where to direct her attention or find a way to avoid eye contact. She could pull that off until John or Casey was gone, surely.

Stay with me, Lord.

“Hey!” Abi said again. “I like your horse.”

“Thanks,” the deep baritone answered. A familiar baritone that sent a ripple of awareness over Georgiana’s entire body. “Her name’s Sam.”

“That’s a funny name for a girl,” Abi said, while Georgiana focused on keeping her balance. Her knees suddenly felt weak. Head started to swim. And if she really wanted to, she could totally throw up. Her stomach pitched enough, for sure.

“Yeah, well, it’s short for Samantha,” he said, a light chuckle in his words. The chuckle that used to make Georgiana laugh automatically in response. He didn’t say anything for a second then said, “Hello, Georgiana.” He paused. “Georgie.”

Landon. Not John. Not Casey. But Landon. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move. And hearing him call her by the nickname that’d been his alone sent a tremor down her spine.

“Mom?” Abi coaxed, and when Georgiana didn’t respond, she yanked on Georgiana’s hand for good measure. “Mom? You okay?”

Georgiana glanced in the direction of his voice. “Hello, Landon.” She could feel her cheeks heating, prayed they weren’t as red as they felt. “I—I thought you were still overseas.”

“Just got back today,” he said. “Y’all home for a visit?”

One quality of her blindness, Georgiana had a precise sense of intonation, and she detected the additional question in Landon’s words. Are you and Pete home for a visit?

“We’re staying at Grandma’s now,” Abi enlightened. “I like the farm. Grandma lets me take riding lessons when the other kids have them. Do you have a farm too? Are you a real cowboy? How many more horses do you have? And do you just have horses, or do you have cows and chickens and stuff too, like Grandma does? Are all of your horses brown and black, or do you have other colors too, like we do? Hey, guess what? I’m six, but I’ll be seven in September, after I go back to school.”

There were many times that Georgiana loved her daughter’s ability to fill the air with words. This was one of them.

Landon laughed. “Have mercy, you remind me of someone I knew when I was your age. She talked almost as fast as you do. What’s your name?”

“My name’s Abi, and you’re talking about my mom, aren’t ya? Grandma says I’m just like she was when she was little. And Grandma says that she was a talker, like me.”

“I’d guess that’s true,” he said. “What do you think, Georgie? Is she just like you?”

She made certain to look toward the sound of his voice and said in as clear a tone as she could muster, “Yes, she is.”

“That isn’t a bad thing.” He waited a beat. “Not a bad thing at all.”

“That’s what Grandma says too,” Abi said with a laugh.

“Abi, honey, you’ve got a phone call,” Eden Sanders called. Georgiana pictured her mother walking out onto the porch, seeing Georgiana and Abi beside Landon Cutter and freezing in her tracks. But leave it to her mom; she must have recovered from the shock fairly quickly, because she hardly paused before adding, “It’s your daddy, honey. You want to come talk to him inside, so you can hear better?”

And so Landon couldn’t hear Abi’s end of the conversation, no doubt.

“Sure!” Abi said, letting go of Georgiana’s hand and starting to run away, but then her steps stalled, and she said, “Nice to meet you, Mr. Landon. You gonna bring your horse back to see us again?”

“Maybe so,” he answered, and Georgiana wondered exactly how close Abi had been to the phone when she said Landon’s name. Had Pete heard?

But before she could give that too much thought, she heard her mother’s steps growing closer and smelled a hint of her floral perfume. “Mom, did you know Landon was home?”

“No, I didn’t,” her mother said. “It’s wonderful to see you, Landon. Are you between deployments or home for good?”

“Home for good, Mrs. Sanders. And it’s nice to see you too. Been a long time.”

“Too long,” she answered. “You living back at the farm?”

“Yeah, I’m planning to help run the place for a while. Still got some things to get worked out with John, but when it’s all said and done, I’d like to stay there from now on.”

“That’s nice. It’s good when land stays in the family. That’s what my daddy always said. This was the land I grew up on, you know.”

“Yes, ma’am, it is good to keep it in the family. That’s our plan too.”

“Well, I guess I’d better get back inside. We’ve promised Abi a trip to the square tonight to do a little shopping and go by the candy store. It really was good to see you, Landon.” She paused, and Georgiana could almost see her mother smiling toward the boy—now man—that she’d always liked so much. “I hope you’ll come visit often.”

If Georgiana could glare at her mother, she would. There was no denying her tone was asking Landon—maybe even begging him—to spend time with her daughter. And she had no idea whether Landon had figured out the truth of her disability yet. If he had, it hadn’t been indicated in his voice. But once he knew, he wouldn’t want to spend time with Georgiana, not in the way her mother hoped. Or if he did, it’d only be because he felt sorry for her, and that wasn’t what Georgiana needed at all.

She heard footsteps leaving and realized that her mother wasn’t helping her get away from Landon. Eden could’ve easily said, “Come on, Georgiana, let’s go inside and get ready to head to town,” but she didn’t. Didn’t she know that he’d figure out the truth if Georgiana merely stood here? “I should go inside too,” she said. “It really was good talking to you, Landon.”

She felt a movement to her left and instantly realized her mistake. When she’d been listening to her mother leave and wondering how to also head to the house, Landon and Sam had shifted to the left. But Georgiana had continued looking to the spot where they’d been, and she’d spoken to dead air.

The silence was worse than if he said anything, and Georgiana didn’t think she could stand hearing pity in Landon Cutter’s voice, so she turned toward the house and walked away.

Chapter Two

John was waiting on Landon when he returned to the house and barely let him change clothes before ushering him to the truck. “I was hoping we could talk some about the farm when I got in from work, but I couldn’t find you. We’ll have to talk later, though, because we’re meeting Casey at the square. You left your cell phone here so I couldn’t reach you.”

“My habit of carrying a cell phone kind of flew out the window over the last eight years,” Landon said distractedly as he climbed in the cab and rubbed his forehead. What had happened to Georgiana in the time he’d been gone?

John rounded the front of the truck and got behind the wheel. “What’s going on with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost or something. Where’d you go with Sam, anyway?”

“To the Sanders farm. And she was there, John.”

“Who? You mean Georgiana? She’s home?”

“Yes, Georgie’s home.”

“I thought she was in Tampa with Pete. I didn’t think they came home for visits at all.” He cranked down the window on the old truck. “Anytime I asked Eden how Georgiana was doing and why we never saw her anymore, she said that Pete’s job didn’t leave a lot of time for traveling. I know Eden has gone down there occasionally over the years. She’d ask me to keep an eye on her farm while she was gone. But I don’t think I’ve seen Georgiana back in Claremont since she and Pete got married. Odd that she’s back on the same day you get back, huh?”

“Yeah, odd.” Lots of things were odd about seeing Georgie today. Most of all what he’d determined right before he left her farm.

“Was Pete there too?”

“No, but he called their daughter while I was there. I guess he could’ve been calling from somewhere around here, but I got the impression he’s still in Tampa. Their little girl’s name is Abi, and she’s the spitting image of Georgie when she was little.”

“I’m sure I’ll see her if they’re staying in town a while.” John paused, then asked, “So, how’d Georgiana look? Still the same? And how did you handle seeing her again?”

Too many questions, and each one could warrant an extensive answer. But only one thing mattered to Landon, and there was only one thing he wanted to tell his brother. He kept seeing Georgiana speaking to him, talking to him, but he’d known the entire time that something was off. Her eyes. They were still that stunning hazel he remembered, but the light that shone through them was gone. “She’s blind, John. Georgiana’s blind.”

“What?” John stopped the truck at the end of the driveway and turned to face his brother. “What are you saying? You mean, like really blind? She can’t see?”

“No, she can’t see.” And Landon suspected she hadn’t been able to see in quite a while. Obviously she’d attempted to hide the truth from him, speaking to him as though everything was normal. But he’d sensed that something was off, and then at the end, when Sam had taken a couple of steps to the side and Georgie continued talking toward where they’d been, the truth hit Landon with the same force as that bullet in Afghanistan. Catching him unaware. Unprepared.

John shook his head and started the truck down the road leading to town. “How? Did she say what happened? When it happened? Do you think it’s temporary? Is that why she’s home, to let her mom help take care of her until she’s better?”

Landon hadn’t considered that. “I don’t know.”

“Well, I see Eden often, at church and around town. She’s never mentioned anything about Georgiana losing her sight. Seems like she’d have said something.”

“Unless Georgie asked her not to.”

“Why would she do that?” John asked.

“Maybe she didn’t want me to know,” Landon pondered aloud. Georgie would have known that he would’ve wanted to help her if she was hurting. He would have done whatever he could to get home and be with his friend if she were in trouble. But she’d also have known that he was serving his country and wouldn’t have wanted him to do anything differently because of her. And then there was the whole Pete factor. No way would Pete want some other guy coming home to check on his wife. “I can see her keeping that from me, especially while she knew I was still serving.”

John grabbed his old baseball cap off the seat and put it on. “I can see that, I guess.”

“Still can’t believe it,” Landon said. “She looks exactly the same. There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong, except she can’t see.” His heart ached for Georgie. How long had she been this way? “She definitely didn’t want me to know. I’m fairly certain she was trying to disguise the fact.”

“How do you disguise it? Couldn’t you tell looking at her? Or was she wearing sunglasses?”

“No sunglasses. And her eyes looked normal, but you know, like she wasn’t really paying attention. Kind of like someone daydreaming.”

“She didn’t have a cane?”

Landon shook his head. “No, she didn’t have anything like that.”

John’s mouth quirked to the side, brows dipped, and then he nodded. “Maybe she doesn’t need one. I mean, think about it. When the power goes out at the farm at night, we can’t see our hand in front of our face, but we still find our way around. Spatial memory, I think it’s called. Or something like that.”

“Yeah,” Landon said. “That’s probably it.” But his thoughts weren’t really focused on how Georgiana got around. He was more concerned with why she’d lost her sight to begin with. And he also wondered where Pete was while his blind wife and their daughter were at the farm.

John pulled into a parking spot behind one of the shops on the square. “Think you can stop thinking about it long enough to have dinner with our little brother?”

Landon nodded. “I’ll try. Why are we meeting Casey at the square instead of having dinner at the farm?”

“Because he leaves for the University of Alabama next week, and he’s trying to spend as much time as possible with Nadia Berry before he goes.” John grinned. “He’ll be home late tonight, so I thought it’d be nice for all of us to eat together. Nadia works at Carter Photography and is joining us for dinner.” He paused. “I haven’t told Casey about the troubles with the farm.”

“Good. I don’t want anything keeping him from going to college,” Landon said.

John nodded. “And he’d stay here and try to help if he knew. All that kid has on his mind right now is spending as much time as possible with Nadia before he leaves. And, oddly enough, a pretty girl takes rank over his brother returning home from the army.”

Landon smiled, thought of another pretty girl he’d seen a few hours ago. A beautiful blind girl. “I get it.” He had another idea that might lend him a bit of information about what had happened to Georgiana. If any of their old friends were still in town, maybe she was still close to some of them. And maybe someone could enlighten him as to how she lost her sight. “You see any of the old gang while you’re around town? I mean, did most of them stick around Claremont, or have they moved off?”

“Most have stuck around. Chad, Mitch, Daniel. They all still live in Claremont. But I haven’t seen anyone much over the past couple of years. Just the ones I see when I get to go to church,” John said. “Too busy.”

Landon realized that he hadn’t acknowledged everything John had done over the past few years, taking care of Casey after their mother died and while Landon was still serving overseas. But he had a plan for letting John know how grateful he was, and he’d put that plan in motion soon. For now though, he simply said, “Hey, I appreciate everything you did for Casey, working yourself to death and saving for his college.”

“I didn’t touch his college money to help with the farm. There has to be another way.” John glanced at Landon. “I thought you’d agree.”

John had handled so much on his own.

“I do agree. Casey needs to go to school, and we will save the farm.” Landon shook his head. “I should’ve come home after Mom died.”

“We aren’t going there again,” John said. “All of that ‘oldest child should’ve taken care of this or that’ stuff. You came home during the roughest part. That was the important thing.”

Their mother had never been the same after they lost their dad. He’d only been forty-one when he lost his arm in the hay baler and bled to death on one of the back fields. Their mother had become a widow overnight and had sunk into a depression equally as fast. But Landon hadn’t realized just how bad she was, that she’d given up on her life and turned her focus to pills to help her forget the pain...until he got that call in Afghanistan and came home for the funeral. John assured him he was fine on his own to raise their little brother and take care of the farm and then Landon went back to serve the remainder of his tour of duty. But now he wondered if he should’ve requested more than the allotted emergency leave.

“You did the right thing, going back,” John said, able to read Landon’s thoughts as well as he had when they were kids. “You were serving our country and fighting for our freedom, and there isn’t anywhere else you should’ve been.” He punched Landon’s arm. “And that’s as mushy as you’re gonna get from me, so let’s leave it at that.”

“Works for me,” Landon said, and thought that John would probably feel a bit mushy tomorrow too, but he’d wait until he actually took care of his surprise before he let his brother in on the fact. That was one thing about being away from his family and friends for so long. Landon was a bit more sentimental for it, appreciated life more, he supposed, and appreciated his brother’s hard work immensely. Until he returned home today, he had no idea John had been working three jobs to keep the farm afloat. John never said a word in his e-mails, and Casey never said much about anything but school and sports.

Nor had John told Landon how he’d saved enough money to pay for all of Casey’s college education. Or how Casey’s auto accident last year had been the result of alcohol. No, John took care of all of that and simply told Landon after the fact, along with the news that Casey had fallen for Nadia and consequently found God through his relationship with Brother Henry’s granddaughter.

Thank You, Lord, for Nadia. And thank You, Lord, for John. Help me to never forget everything he’s done over the past few years for our family. And Lord, if it be Your will, let us find a way to save our farm.

“Here we are,” John said, leading Landon toward the back of Nelson’s Variety Store. “Look familiar?”

“Smells familiar.” Landon got a full whiff of the hamburgers from the five-and-dime. Then he heard an abundance of squawking geese and remembered how they always gathered around the three-tiered fountain that centered the square. “Sounds familiar too.”

“Yeah, those noisy birds are kind of taking over for some reason. They had an article on it in the paper,” John said. “I’ve only been down here twice this year when I was getting Casey’s senior portraits set up, but I try to stay in touch with what’s going on through the paper and the church bulletins.”

Landon nodded, reminded again of how much John had done over the years he’d been gone. His brother wasn’t trying to gain admiration, though. On the contrary, John was merely stating the facts about his life. John was like that, always spouting his thoughts in black and white, which is why it didn’t surprise Landon when he didn’t hold back his opinion about Landon’s life either.

With one hand on the Nelson’s door handle, John waited before entering the store.

“What’s up?” Landon asked.

His brother looked back at him. “You never got over her, huh? After all these years?”

For someone who didn’t want to get all mushy, John sure pushed the limit, and if Landon started talking about how much he hadn’t gotten over her, they’d go well beyond mushy. He might be pushing thirty now, but not only had he never gotten over Georgie, in his heart he didn’t know if any other female would ever do. He’d always compare them to the girl he loved, and no one measured up. Wasn’t fair to do a girl that way. Wasn’t fair to do himself that way either.

“We going to get one of those hamburgers I’m smelling or not?” he asked, and his brother had the courtesy to nod and stop probing.

“Sure.”

In no time at all they were seated at one of the red vinyl booths with Casey and Nadia. Landon had embraced his youngest brother in a hug that he was fairly certain would’ve embarrassed him years ago, but something had changed in Casey and he hugged Landon just as tightly and told him he loved him, while Nadia beamed at her boyfriend.

“He talks about you often,” she told Landon. Then she smiled and added, “Thank you for serving our country.”

Landon was drawn to the pretty Asian girl’s sweet smile, her honest admiration for his service and the way she made Casey’s face light up with unhidden love. “I enjoyed serving,” he said, “but I’ll admit I’m glad to be home.”

She nodded, and the four of them chatted over burgers, mostly about Casey’s plans for heading to the University of Alabama on Monday. Landon tried not to stare at his baby brother, but he couldn’t help it. John had sent photos over the years, but there was something so different about seeing Casey in person. He was a carbon copy of Landon and John, almost eerily so, with light brown hair that was a little longer than Landon would’ve liked, but probably right in tune with what was “in” for teens nowadays, a broad-shouldered build that said he worked out regularly and loved sports as much as his older brothers, deep dimples creasing both cheeks and a smile that said he was happy with life and with his place in this world. Or at least with his place right now, sitting beside Nadia.

“Hey, if you aren’t going to eat that, I will,” Casey said, pointing to the rest of Landon’s hamburger and fries.

Landon had been enjoying the conversation and seeing his family so much that he’d stopped eating. He grinned, pushed the plate forward. “Have at it.”