IT WAS A BLISTERING HOT DAY IN AUGUST WHEN Anna McKenna felt God reach into her heart and take away the pain of losing Miles, felt Him remove the regret for the life they would never share and the longing for the children they would never create. And into the place where the pain, regret, and longing had resided, God planted a new peace, a new understanding that she belonged to Him. She could trust Him with her future, in the valleys as well as on the mountaintops. He had been faithful thus far. He would be faithful from then on.
She rested her forearms atop a fence post and stared across the pasture. Princess, a two-year-old filly—Shiloh’s Star’s first offspring—grazed on the short grass that blanketed the paddock. Beyond her was Lucky, a yearling colt who favored his dam, and a five-year-old mare they called Snowball, Abe’s purchase last spring. In the neighboring paddock, Golden Girl stood quietly while her four-month-old foal nursed.
Looking at the horses, Anna smiled. Four years ago, she’d been an orphan with nothing but the memory of her father’s dream and the need to escape a cruel relative while holding onto her prized horse. But since then, she’d been made a member of the Leonard family, and Shiloh’s Star had already sired three foals out of Golden Girl. This wasn’t a notable Quarter Horse ranch yet—the sale of cattle still provided the main income for the Leonards—but it was a good start. Abe had caught Anna’s vision. One day, horses would be everywhere on this land. She believed it with her whole heart.
“That is enough for now,” she whispered.