LITMIR.BIZ

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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?”

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