Page 40 of There I Find Hope

He helped her to do that while still acknowledging that it was hard for her.

She felt like...like he understood, even though he really couldn’t. He had never been through it. But it was like he was trying to understand and not just telling her to snap out of it. She had a few comments like that, not many, but people who thought that she was taking too long to get back to normal.

Like there was a normal she could get back to. Her normal was gone. She had to create a new normal. That would take time.

And that had to include her following whatever the Lord wanted her to do. That was another thing that Noah seemed to understand and encouraged her in. He didn’t preach at her, but his comments were insightful, and they lined up with Scripture. She loved that she had a...friend—that’s what he was—who knew the Bible and who she could talk to about spiritual truths.

He would make a great husband.

That was a crazy thought. She just lost a child. She wasn’t looking for a relationship, not with anyone. Even if Noah did seem to be rather perfect.

“So she really doesn’t need a bottle?”

“Nope. Just like Matt said, horses can drink from a very young age. And Matt just figured he would try the bucket before he tried the bottle, and she drank it. So, that’s what we’re going to do. That way, she doesn’t have to be weaned from the bottle.”

“You’re saving yourself a step.”

“Yeah. Or not doing a step that we don’t need to. Since she’s drinking just fine from the bucket.”

She held the bucket while he opened the stall door.

“I’m assuming we’re going to walk in and close it behind us?” he asked.

“Yeah. That’s the way Matt did it yesterday, and although she is very tame and not wild at all, I wouldn’t want to have to try to chase her around the barn. Although more than that, I wouldn’t want her to get hurt on anything.”

“You think she’ll run into something? Don’t horses have very good eyesight?”

“She’s still learning to use her legs, but I think sometimes they just get to going too fast and can’t quite get stopped in time. Even after they get a little older, you have to watch and be careful. They’re like little kids and have tons of energy and love to run.”

“There’s lots of stuff for them to get hurt on out there then.” She assumed he was referring to the tractor that was parked on the barn floor and the various equipment that Matt had around, including a wheelbarrow, a couple rakes and pitchforks and shovels, and that type of thing.

There was plenty for a horse to get into and get hurt on.

“It’s a lot easier to prevent an accident than it is to help them get better once they get hurt.”

“I’d imagine. That’s probably true for pretty much anyone.”

“Of course. Of course, there are things that you can’t prevent against, and sometimes prevention gets more onerous than it’s worth, but you do what you can.”

She held the bucket out, and the foal walked forward slowly, cautiously, her ears up, her eyes on them.

“She’s adorable,” he murmured.

She loved the admiration in his voice, and it made her smile. “Isn’t she?”

“Are you thinking of names?”

“Sweetheart.”

“Shorten it to Sweetie.”

“Something like that.” She sighed as the foal nuzzled the edge of the bucket. “I don’t know. I guess I just want it to be something special. You know?”

“It’s not every day that you get to name a horse.”

“This’ll be the first horse I’ve ever named. So yeah. I’ve gone decades without getting to. I want to make it count.”

“Well then, you probably need to take your time and think about it.”

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