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“Good-bye, Hannah”
Forcing hi to the field and placed one heavy foot in front of the other until he reached Hannah’s cabin
It didn’t take long to pack There was only enough roo for two of the new outfits Gloria had helped him choose He packed the sturdiest jeans and well-stitched shirts, hoping they’d ell over the journey he’d undertake on foot back down the mountain and out of Paradise Peak
He looked down at the boots Red had given hi the his worn tennis shoes instead But he decided to wear theood—and perhaps the only—rerown to know and love as a father And soer and more whole when he wore them
The paper and collection of pens he left behind on the small desk he and Hannah had er needed therabbed his thermos, took one more look around his room, then left the cabin
He walked to the bank of the stream nearby, knelt, and filled his therered in the water’s cool current as he recalled the first tied his hands in the stream to clean them with Red by his side When the thermos was full, he withdrew it, secured the cap, then studied his clean hands, watching the clear drops of water trickle along his palht
“Good as new,” he whispered, his heart heavy
Guests began to stir about the property as he walked slowly along the streae, then returned to the dirt path Two e and dance floor in the field, then loaded the heavy pieces of the platforroup of children played nearby, dashing around theAnd to Travis’s left, in the paddock behind the stable, Juno, Ruby, and Oreo strolled along the fence, lifting their noses into the sweet spring breeze, theirbacks
Liz, standing on the other side of the paddock, s inside the stable
Travis h his heart as he approached the paddock fence Spotting hied his chest
“Hi, beautiful” Travis stroked her neck gently, ood care of Zeke, okay?”
TheTravis’s face as she breathed softly, then turned and strolled away
“Where will you go?”
Travis looked to his left where Red stood by the back of the stable, studying him Red’s expression was bleak, and his shoulders drooped as though weighed down
“I don’t know” Travis looked up, above theon