The Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas

rather than her mother, which was why Ruby had been stunned when she’d caught Mia with Kevin. She hadn’t even been aware the two were hanging out.
    Right now she and Mia were going through a rough patch, but Ruby was confident they’d weather this storm, and once they settled into their new home in Kansas, things between them would return to normal.
    Ruby swung her legs off the bed and rubbed her eyes, then fumbled in the nightstand for her toiletry bag. When her fingers bumped the journal, she removed the notebook and studied the floral design on the leather cover. She’d never seen her mother write in the diary and hadn’t discovered it until after her parents died.
    Burying her parents, settling their estate, and being a single mother of a newborn was more than Ruby had been able to handle. The diary had gotten tossed into a box with other mementos, then stowed and forgotten. Not until she and Mia had cleaned out the trailer in preparation for their move had she come across the journal again.
    She’d intended to read it, but then the letter from Hank’s lawyer had arrived, knocking her legs out from under her. She’d been hurt and angry that her parents had kept her adoption a secret. The news had stirred up memories of her troubled relationship with her father, and now she didn’t have the courage to read her mother’s words, for fear she’d discover her parents hadn’t loved her as much as she’d believed.
    She returned the diary to the drawer, grabbed a pair of clean underwear, denim shorts, and a hot-pink tank top, then padded through the house, the smell of burned toast and coffee accompanying her to the second-floor bathroom. She showered and dressed, then pulled her damp hair into a ponytail before heading outside to inform Hank that the deputy might stop by.
    The horses stood in the corral but grandfather and granddaughter were nowhere in sight. Hank’s truck sat next to the shed—not where she’d parked it last night. He must have given Joe a lift into town to retrieve his vehicle. Squinting against the bright sun, she hiked across the dirt drive to the barn, pausing inside the doorway while her eyes adjusted to the dim light.
    â€œI’m gonna call the black one Pretty Boy, because he was beautiful before he got all marked up.” Mia’s voice echoed from the rear of the structure. “How come he has so many scars?”
    â€œTried jumping a fence to get to water and got tangled in barbed wire,” Hank answered.
    Ruby stepped into the open but saw only a wheelbarrow filled with soiled hay. The pair must be cleaning stalls. She had trouble envisioning Mia shoveling horse crap when her daughter had never once taken the garbage to the Dumpster in the trailer park.
    â€œThe gray one is Sugar, ’cause she loves sugar cubes,” Mia said. “I’m not sure about the brown horse. I might call him Lonesome. He always stands by himself in the corral.”
    â€œDon’t expect ’em to come when you say their name. They’re too old and set in their ways to learn new tricks.”
    Maybe that same logic applied to Hank, and Ruby should adjust her expectations.
    â€œI want a dog, but my mom says it costs too much to take care of one.”
    â€œAnimals need more than food and water. They need vaccinations and—”
    â€œDid you take Friend to the vet after you found him?”
    â€œYep. He got all his shots.”
    Ruby felt a twinge of guilt for eavesdropping, then shoved it aside. This was the most talkative Mia had been in weeks, and she didn’t want to miss hearing anything that might help her understand why her daughter was shutting her out.
    â€œI bet if I lived with you, you’d let me have a dog.”
    Hank remained silent.
    â€œDo you have a girlfriend?” Mia asked.
    â€œWhat would I do with a girlfriend?”
    â€œShe’d keep you company.”
    â€œI’ve been on