Until Spring (35 page)

Jane put aside the wool she was carding and went to kneel beside Duncan's chair. "Duncan," she said quietly, "I want to buy her."

"Buy her? Are you serious?"

"Definitely. Because I want to give her to Mary Kate."

"Well, I suppose I could give him a refund," Duncan said slowly.

"I don't mean that, I want to pay for her. With my own money. I have money, Duncan, enough to buy Dearling. It's from selling my wool and my shawls and handbags and blankets and—well, once I would have used it to start a new life in California. But now I know that the best thing I could do with it is to buy Dearling back as a birthday present for Mary Kate."

He saw that she meant it and cupped her chin in his hand. Her eyes, a deep, dark blue, gazed back at him with a candidness that he knew he could trust. His heart spilled over with admiration for her kind nature.

"I'll call him and tell him that's what you want. If it really is," he said.

Jane let the vision of palm trees and aquamarine swimming pools, of training programs and friends who sported deep suntans, slip away forever. That dream had never been real to her, had only been a stopgap solution. And it had never offered the safety, security and love that she had found here at Placid Valley Ranch with Duncan and Mary Kate and Rooney, who were family to her now.

"It's really what I want," she said, and reached up to kiss him lingeringly on the lips.

* * *

Twenty-six fifth-graders, members of Mary Kate's class at the Placid Valley Elementary School, milled around the kitchen, dining room and living room of Rooney's small bungalow.

"Now who wants to play Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey?" Rooney shouted into the melee. No one paid the slightest attention.

Nine or ten children watched a cartoon video on the TV. Three were having a popcorn fight. Another was energetically grinding kernels into the carpet, and one boy was playing games on his mother's smart phone. Five were stuffing cake and ice cream into their mouths and occasionally someone else's. Mary Kate, wearing a pointed gilt cardboard hat, was arm-wrestling the class bully.

"Nice party," Jane said as she poured lemonade into glasses.

"Nice party, my eye," Rooney grumbled. "When I was a kid, we all sat around the dining-room table and kept quiet until the birthday kid opened his presents. Then we all went home."

"But I bet you didn't have half as much fun," Jane observed.

Rooney grinned. "You're probably right," he said.

"I wonder where Duncan is," Jane said, tilting the blind at the window so she could see up the driveway.

"I don't know, but I wish he'd get here pretty quick so we can clear these kids out of here soon," Rooney said, before rushing to pry apart two boys who were rolling on the rug and trying to poke out each other's eyes with their fingers.

Jane had gone to assist Rooney when she heard the rumble of Duncan's truck rolling across the cattle guard at the end of Rooney's driveway. The truck pulled a small trailer, and Duncan parked so that the trailer was directly in front of Rooney's front door.

She signaled to Duncan with an Okay sign and went into the living room.

"Mary Kate," she said over the din, "there's a package for you outside."

Mary Kate brushed her bangs out of her eyes and trod across the cake crumbs to the door. Her eyes widened when she saw the pickup and trailer.

She sent Jane a puzzled look.

"Go ahead," Jane urged gently, and by this time several of Mary Kate's classmates had gathered to watch.

Mary Kate pushed open the front door. Suddenly shy, she hung back when Duncan, smiling broadly, held out his hand.

"Come open this trailer door for me, Mary Kate. It seems to be stuck."

"You
open it," Mary Kate said in a choked voice. "I can't."

Behind Jane, Rooney snorted. "Seems to me you're pretty good at opening gates and doors and that kind of thing. Seems to me you know how to
leave
them open, too," but he said it in a joking tone.

Mary Kate said, "Oh, Grandpa, hush."

"What's in the trailer, Mary Kate?" asked the boy whom she'd beaten at arm wrestling. A girl said, "Just wait and see," and soon everyone was clamoring to know what surprise was waiting for Mary Kate.

She walked slowly up the ramp to the trailer door and fumbled with the latch. Then it sprang free and the door swung open. Finally there appeared a dazed Dearling, who, appearing somewhat startled by the watching crowd, lurched into Mary Kate's arms.

"Dearling! Oh, it's my Dearling!" Mary Kate cried, and the little llama nuzzled her cheeks, seemingly puzzled by the salty tears that now flowed freely down Mary Kate's face.

"She's a birthday present from Jane," Rooney said, pointing to the huge red ribbon around Dearling's neck.

As the group of awed children gathered around Mary Kate, Duncan slid an arm around Jane's slender shoulders and drew her apart from the group. The snow on the ground was thawing into mud, but he walked her over to the fence behind Rooney's house where they stood looking out over the pastures and at the mountains beyond.

"That was a good idea you had, buying Dearling back," he said.

"Dearling's all right, isn't she?" Jane asked anxiously. "I mean, she's not sick or anything, is she?"

"I expect she'll make a full recovery. She was suffering from a broken heart, and that, in this case, is easily mended." Duncan figured he knew a lot about the subject, considering his life experiences.

Jane leaned on the fence and inhaled a deep breath. "I smell spring on its way," she said, resting her head against Duncan's shoulder.

The sun was bright and golden, chasing the tail end of winter, and on the snow-covered mountain ridges, dark rivulets heralded the thaw. Soon the pastures and the mountainsides would burgeon with the gentle greens and yellows and pinks of spring.

There was something so optimistic about spring, Jane thought. No matter what went before, no matter how cold the winter or how many snowstorms it brought, you could count on spring coming along to make everything fresh and new. And after spring, summer, that golden flowering time when life seemed infinitely precious and beautiful.

"It was just this kind of day I used to dread," Duncan said, gazing down at her. "I thought you would leave in the spring."

"I've never been happier than I am here with all of you, Duncan. I'm never leaving. Ever. Not in spring, summer, winter or fall." She smiled up at him, loving everything about him.

"Of course you're not. We all love you, Jane. You're going to marry me and be part of our family forever," Duncan said comfortably, fitting her into the curve of his arm.

"Soon," she agreed.

"And we'll raise children," he said.

"And llamas—"

"And we'll live happily ever after, Jane Doe. You're home at last."

Mary Kate called them back to the party, and from where they stood they could see that the pink sash of her organdy dress was trailing in the mud. They looked at each other and laughed.

Then, hand in hand, they walked back through the melting snow toward a future as new as spring, as bountiful as summer, and bright with the radiance of the rest of their lives.

Jane Celeste Norton

and

Duncan Matthew Tate

invite you to participate

in the joy of their marriage

and the celebration of becoming a family

Saturday, June 12

Placid Valley Llama Ranch

Placid Valley, Wyoming

Reception immediately following at the home

The End

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Until Spring
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