Page 131 of Sunday Morning

“I think it would have a more significant effect if he saw you taking the first step.”

I didn’t feel that forgiving yet.

“Here,” Gabby said, setting the list on the table beside me before plopping back down in her chair.

It was a list of dates and locations in Isaac’s handwriting.

Mom craned her neck to look at it. “That Tulsa address is for the fairgrounds.”

Rodeos.

Violet was right. Isaac was traveling to rodeos, and he didn’t abandon me. He left me with a list to find him and money to get there.

“It must have fallen out of the guitar case, and I didn’t see it,” I whispered.

“What?” Mom asked.

I shook my head. “Nothing.”

“What is it? Whose handwriting is that? It’s not yours,” she prodded.

My gaze lifted to Eve’s wide eyes and parted lips. Then I refocused on the dates. Springfield was in two days, and it was only a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Devil’s Head.

With a shrug, I eyed my mom. “I won’t be at church this weekend.”

She stared at the note again and closed her eyes in realization. “Isaac,” she whispered.

“I love him.”

“Until you get pregnant or worse.” Pain lined her face.

I slowly shook my head. “I’d still love him.”

“Even if he breaks your heart?”

I folded the piece of paper. “Heartbreak is unavoidable if you let yourself fall in love.”

Friday morning,I tracked down Wesley. He was feeding the sheep, sweat already dripping from his forehead as he glanced up at me.

“Hey,” I smiled. “I have a big favor to ask.” I wasn’t happy with him, but he’d been nice to me, so I didn’t have it in me to hate him completely.

“Anything.” He tossed a bucket of feed into the bin.

On one hand, it was awful and gross that Brenda had a relationship with someone so much older than her. But when I looked at Wesley, it was easy to see what Isaac would look like one day—a handsome man with broad shoulders, a strong jaw, thick hair, and intense eyes. And he was kind, even if Violet might not have found his affair so kind.

“I love your son.”

He glanced up at me again, brushing off his gloves and tugging at the fingers to remove them. “Need I ask which one?”

“The one that’s going to be in Springfield at the rodeo tomorrow, and I want to go see him. But I don’t have a car.”

Wesley nodded several times. “I see. So you want to take the truck I loaned you to Springfield?”

“Yeah,” I said softly, wrinkling my nose.

“When will you be back? You have work on Monday.”

I thought about lying, but I couldn’t handle any more lies. “I don’t know when I’ll be back.”