EARLY IN THE MORNING OF HER FORTIETH BIRTHDAY, Anna lay in bed in the cottage that had been built for her, staring at the ceiling and mulling over the events of her life. Later today, she knew there would be cake and presents in the main house, along with lots of hugs and laughter. But for now she was alone. Well, not completely alone. Max the cat was curled up against her hip, purring.
And the Lord was with her, His presence sweet. His presence was always sweet. Forty years had taught her that.
Forty years. She pictured herself at twenty, less wrinkled but also less wise. Some would think she was old. An old maid. Maybe she was.
She thought of Miles Stanley, the only man she’d ever loved. He’d been gone twenty-two years already, yet it seemed only a blink of time. She didn’t mourn him anymore, but she did remember him with great fondness. Sometimes she wondered how different her life would have been had they married and had children.
Thinking of children brought a different image to mind—little Chet, Richard and Claudia Leonard’s son. Chet was two and a half already and always on the go. A bundle of energy if ever there was one. Running both his mother and his Nana Anna—as he called Anna—to a frazzle most days. Oh, that child was the apple of Anna’s eye, to be sure. It saddened her that Abe hadn’t lived to meet his grandson and that Violet had known Chet only while he was still a tiny infant.
No one had been thrilled when Richard announced he was foregoing college to marry Claudia as soon as she graduated from high school. There’d been many a late-night row between Richard and his parents over that decision. Neither Abe nor Violet had thought Claudia was the right girl for their son. But in the end, they’d relented. It turned out they were wrong about the girl. All wrong.
Last December, during the televised lottery drawing for the draft, Anna had been more than a little glad that Richard had both a wife and child to keep him out of the army and away from Vietnam. Remembering it now, she said another prayer of thanks to God for his safety.
She reached down to scratch Max under his chin. The cat’s purring revved like a boat motor, making Anna chuckle.
Sounds from outside told her the ranch was coming awake. Claudia would be gathering eggs and feeding the chickens soon. Richard would be tending the livestock in the barn and corrals. She should rise and go help, and yet she stayed in bed, continuing to ruminate.
What would Abe think of the ranch now? In the last five years, all but a small herd of cattle had been sold off. Richard was fully committed to making the Leonard ranch one of the finest Quarter Horse ranches in the country. More brood mares had been purchased whenever there were funds to spare. A couple of studs with fine pedigrees had been added too. Of course, in her mind, none of those horses would ever be as fine as Shiloh’s Star had been or as good as his offspring were today, but she couldn’t argue with the wisdom of adding new bloodlines to the mix.
From outside her bedroom window, voices raised in song burst forth. “Happy birthday to you . . .” Perhaps calling it a song was a bit generous. The performance was decidedly off-key, more shouting than melody.
She reached for her robe and pulled it on as she left the bed and walked to the window. She brushed the curtains aside. There stood Claudia and Richard, Chet in his father’s arms, along with their one and only ranch hand, all of them bundled up against the chilly March morning.
Anna’s heart welled with thankfulness for the family God had given her. She might have been orphaned as a child. She might never have married or given birth. But she’d been given surrogate parents who’d loved her. She’d helped raise Richard, and now she was Nana Anna to that adorable child in his daddy’s arms. Life was sweet.
Even for an old maid at forty.