Page 12 of There I Find Hope

Your letter came at a perfect time. Thank you for writing it.

Sincerely,

Lover of the lake

Chapter 5

Noah held the letter in his hand. She’d written back. She’d written back, and she seemed like she was better. At least, that she’d worked through the things she needed to work through, and that she was coming out on the other side.

She did not invite him to write again. But she had said that she had felt alone, after everyone left and the funeral was over.

Maybe she wouldn’t mind another letter.

He continued down the street, tucking the letter in his pocket and pulling out his phone to answer several texts that had come in while he was reading.

By the time he was done with that, he had made it to the end of the sidewalk, and he stood looking over the lake, at the horses in the pasture on either side, and further up the hill to his right, he could see a set of dapple-gray Percheron mares grazing majestically.

He had been overjoyed when he found out that Griff and Chi had decided to not just move the diner to a better location but also invest in the Percherons. What a great addition to Strawberry Sands.

He stood taking the scene in, appreciating the beauty, glad he had decided to come back.

Glancing again at his phone, he saw that it was time to meet Franklin at the diner. He hurried across the street and opened the door, figuring he would grab a seat for Franklin and himself and peruse the new menu. He’d been in once or twice since they moved it, but Griff had unveiled an entire new menu at the beginning of the month, and Noah hadn’t been in to try anything yet.

His heart almost stopped beating when he saw Sunday sitting at a booth, deep in conversation with Kristin, the woman who owned the biggest house in town. He thought she had maybe turned it into an assisted care center, since there seemed to be a good many older ladies that hung out around the place.

Noah figured he probably spent a little bit too much time in Strawberry Sands if he knew the business of everyone up and down the street.

But he didn’t spend too much time dwelling on that, because his eyes were drawn to Sunday. It had been two weeks since the funeral. Almost three weeks since she lost her son.

Even from this distance, he could tell she had lost weight. Her eyes were sallow, and her face pinched, but there was a bit of a smile around her mouth as she spoke with Kristin.

Kristin reached across the table and put her hand over top of Sunday’s, and that made both corners of Sunday’s lips turn up.

Noah’s heart turned over. He was glad she was doing so well.

He faced their table and could see her. She hadn’t looked up when he walked in, and she didn’t look at him now.