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“Is Gadfly there?”
    Baya felt a little shiver of joy shimmer over him. These were the first words Faith had spoken to him directly. He wanted the moment to linger. “You like that long-legged mare, huh?”
    Faith said nothing but for once, her expression wasn’t distrustful.
    “Yes, that’s where we put her.” He moved to stand beside her and glanced at Bonnie as she moved forward with him. His arm pointed to the grassy area behind the stable where it stretched up the hill. “She’s been eating her head off in that meadow.”
    A smile swept over Faith’s face, and her eyes lit with silver glee. “She’ll love that. Will I be able to ride her today?”
    The man looked over the scene. “I think by the time we have the truck unloaded we’ll have to wait until morning. If we get it done tonight though, I’ll have her brought in and saddled first thing after breakfast.”
    The girl turned back to the valley and squinted toward the meadow, searching for a glimpse of the mare. She stepped back to slip her hand in his, and whispered contentedly: “Thank you.”
    Baya held his breath his heart caught somewhere between thankfulness and fear. This had become his home. Here he could live the way he wanted, outside, nestled under these beautiful mountains in a green and rich valley. The strangers he had reluctantly included in his life would surround him. How it would turn out was more than anyone could guess.
    Even so, he wouldn’t have wanted to miss this moment or the feel of the warm little hand wrapped in his. His look grew fierce with the intense feeling that wrapped his heart.
    Hope turned away from her sister and raised her hands up to be held.
    Bonnie scooped her up with a groan as she settled the toddler on a hip. “You are getting too big to be toted, child.”
    “Do you want me to carry her?” He moved with the question.
    She smiled. “No. Thank you for giving us this first glimpse. It’s very beautiful.” Her brow wrinkled in thought. “Is it a nice property? I never even asked anyone. The lawyer said it was a pretty little ranch in the mountains. What exactly do I have here?” She glanced up with quick guilt. “What do we have here?”
    “ We have one of the most beautiful ranches in the world. You never knew this?”
    “Grams moved when I was sixteen. She came to see us but not often, and never after I married and settled in Florida. Mom and she were closer. They always planned holidays together. I think I just grew apart from them.”
    “It isn’t a large ranch, only twelve-hundred acres.” He paused. “That creek you see running down the center of the valley flows out of the snow covered gray mountains. It’s freezing cold but very refreshing.” He smiled at Daniel as the boy tugged at his hand with an unasked question. “Yes. That is the stream we swim in.”
    He turned back to Bonnie. “There is a road, little more than a trail that leads to several mountain meadows. You can’t see them from here but that’s where the cattle are. There’s a smaller valley just over that ridge, a small natural hollow and a tributary that empties into the creek. The valley is lush and hidden behind a jumble of granite rock. The remuda lives there.”
    He caught their puzzled looks and explained. “Horses, about twelve of them. There’s an old stallion with mares and foals.”
    Faith gasped and her face glowed. “Babies?”
    He smiled and nodded before looking again at her mother. “There isn’t much cattle stock. He must have sold a lot last year. What he has is really good stuff hidden in some really high meadows. We have the makings of a profitable ranch here. The first years will be tight, though.”
    He had barely finished speaking when Bonnie bowed her head and murmured. “Thank you, God, for the safe journey and the chance at a new life.”
    Baya felt the air around him still. A premonition of life altering changes gave his heart a kick as she brought God into the equation. He still