Blind Squirrel Finds Nut

"May I?" Josh asked stretching his arms out indicating he wanted to pick her up.

"Okay!" she said almost jumping into his arms. "Good luck, Mom!" she said as she pulled Toro's reins to the right. "I love you!"

"I love you, too!" her mom said back. She looked at Josh then said, "You too, handsome!"

They waved and watched her disappear behind a wall then went to take a seat so they could watch the competition.

"Okay, so here's how it works," Josh said as Jenny sat on his lap. "The judges grade the horse and rider and give them grades from zero to ten. No one ever gets a zero or a one and no one ever gets a ten. A seven is a really good score. An eight is...it's like...wow!"

There were twelve horses entered in the competition. First place was a $5,000 prize. Second place was $1,500 and third place was worth $500.

"The horses are so beautiful!" Jenny said as they all came out to be introduced with their riders. She was right. They'd all been brushed and had their manes and tails braided.

"Dressage is a beautiful sport," he told her.

"Just like my mom, right?" she commented.

"Yep. Just like your mom. And you!" he said to her.

They settled in as the competition began. Jenny had seen her mom working with Toro, but watching them in full dress with the horses fully prepared was another thing altogether.

Josh explained each movement and what it was called as the riders directed their horses. She didn't understand much of it, but she loved watching them walk, trot, and canter, as well as execute more complicated movements like passage, piaffe, counter canter, leg yielding, and half pass. The pirouette was Jenny's favorite and she clapped each time a horse executed one.

"Here comes your mom!" Josh said.

"Ladies and gentleman, our next rider is from the Diamond D ranch in Jacksonville, Florida, Ms. Aspen Crawford who is riding a three-year old gelding named Toro."

"What's a gelding?" Jenny asked.

"I'll um...explain that later, okay?" he said not wanting to discuss the topic.

Josh understood the basics of dressage although he was no expert. He did however, know an excellent performance when he saw one and Aspen's was superb. Toro's movements were crisp, clean, and graceful, and he wouldn't be surprised to hear an eight called out for her overall routine.

When the last horse had finished, one of the judges announced the names of the top three riders and horses. When Aspen's name was called, Josh, Alma, and Jenny jumped up and cheered wildly.

"That's my mom!" Jenny hollered out loud enough for Aspen to hear. She smiled and nodded toward her daughter and waited.

"The competition was fierce today, ladies and gentlemen. All our riders and horses performed very well. Let's have a round of applause for all of them."

The hundred or so spectators applauded loudly for several seconds then the judge continued.

"It is my privilege to first announce our third place winner with a score of 7.2 and that name is—Allison Carey riding Topper!"

There was more applause as the woman leaned down so he could place a white ribbon around her neck.

"Our second place winner with a fine score of 7.7 is..."

Josh and Alma held their breath as the judge called out, "Tammy Renner riding Brownstone!"

"She won! She won!" Alma screamed. She turned to Jenny and said, "Your mom won! She got first place!

"And our first place winner with a score of 8.0 is—Aspen Crawford riding Toro!"

"She did it!" Jenny yelled. "Way to go, Mom!"

Josh saw Aspen fighting back tears in a losing battle. He whistled loudly then hollered, "I love you, crybaby!"

Aspen put her hands over her face as the tears fell, her blue, first-place ribbon around her neck.

"Can we go see her now?" Jenny asked excitedly.

"We sure can!" he said as he lifted her up and put her on his shoulders and carried her into the dressage ring.

Aspen grabbed her and sat her in front of her on Toro and hugged her. "You did it, Mom! You won!"

She was trying to wipe her eyes with her sleeve as she said, "I heard that, by the way."

"Oh, you did?" Josh said pretending he had no idea she'd him yell at the top of his lungs. "Well, you are a crybaby," he teased again. "But you're my crybaby."

Aspen's smile melted into a look of fear. "Oh, my God," she said in a hollow voice.

Jenny pointed and screamed, "Daddy! Daddy! Over here!" She turned around and said, "Mom. Look! It's Daddy."

Josh helped her get down and she tore off toward a man who looked to be maybe 40 or so. He helped Aspen get down and asked, "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," she said not looking at him.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"Um...no. I'll...I'll be okay. Let me just go see what he's doing here. Hold on, okay?"

"I'll be right here if you need me," he told her as she walked toward her husband and daughter.

"Congratulations," Richard said to his wife. "Nicely done."

"Thank you," she said. "Can we talk?"

"Can you give Mom and me a minute alone, honey?" he said.

"Sure! I'll go see Josh," she said as she ran back to him.

"Josh? Who's...Josh?" he asked.

"What do you want, Richard? Why in the hell are you here?" she asked angrily.

"I'm sober, Aspen. I haven't had a drink since you left. And I want you back. I want our family back."

"When it's been a year, talk to me about being sober. As to us? There is no 'us' anymore, Richard. 'Us' died the day you hit me."

"I hit you? Aspen, I've done some terrible things, but I would never hit you."

She pulled her ear back and turned sideways and said, "You can't see most of the scar because it's under my hair. But you did that, Richard. You were just too drunk to remember."

"I'm sorry. Honey, please...

"Stop. You don't get to call me that anymore. Ever. I'm happy for you if you've stopped drinking, Richard. I really am. But you and I are done. I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can say or do to change that." She saw the hurt in his eyes but was unmoved. "Nothing. If you want to see our daughter, that's one thing. But you won't see her alone until you show me a one-year sober chip from AA. After that, we can talk. But you and me? Uh-uh. No way." She stood there staring at him cold as ice. "I'll send Jenny back over to you. You can have 15 minutes then we're leaving."

"With...Josh?" he said nodding toward him.

"That's none of your business but, yes. With Josh."

"Aspen?" he called out as she walked away. "I won't fight you. On the divorce. I'll sign the papers as soon as the mandatory time limit is up. And...whatever you say about Jenny. I'll support that, too."

"Thank you, Richard. You're a day late and a dollar short, but...thank you."

"This probably isn't my business either, but...are you happy?"

"You're right. It isn't your business, but yes, I'm very happy."

Jenny ran back to her father and Josh asked Aspen, "You okay?"

"Do you still love me?" she asked him.

"Of course I do. Why would you even ask?"

She smiled then said, "Then I'm okay. Oh, and I can afford to take you out now."

"Oh, really?" Josh said as they went to get Toro and put him the trailer.

"Yes, really. I just won five-thousand dollars."

"So you can afford a hotel room, too. Nice."

She took his hand and said, "I should be mad at you for assuming we'd got a hotel room again, but since that's all I can think about myself, I suppose I'll let you slide—this time."

Two days later Aspen had another new dress to wear and took Josh to dinner in Middleburg. The hotel was a very nice motel, but it wasn't the Crown. Then again, Aspen didn't care because it was safe, clean, and Josh was there with her.

The following week, Aspen had her certification reinstated in Virginia which had reciprocity with Florida, so she began applying for teaching jobs in the local area. She worked up a short resume and an even smaller portfolio with her rather meager past accomplishments and waited.

To her delight, the principal of Jenny's school asked her to come in and interview with her the following week.

"As it turns out, Jenny's teacher just told me she's not coming back next year. That means I have an opening. I know you've been away from teaching for a while, but I like what I see, Ms. Crawford. If you're interested, the job is yours."

Aspen told her she was positively interested and thanked her profusely. "School starts August 10th and the first day for teachers is August 5th. The county will be contacting you to attend a pre-employment workshop. Once that's done, you're all set."

While her starting salary was $12,000 less than it had been in Virginia, it was $38,000 and that was a lot more than Alma could afford to pay her. And it meant she'd be doing the thing she loved most again. Working with horses was a distant second and she'd enjoyed it tremendously and planned to work at the Diamond D until a few days prior to school starting as she had no other source of income, but teaching was her first love.

Richard had promised to pay child support, but he was currently out of work and she wasn't about to put her daughter's father in jail where he couldn't get a job. He was evidently still sober and because of Jenny, she felt she owed him at least that much.

She couldn't wait to tell Josh the news that evening after dinner. He'd spent a lot of time in the little guest house of late and she'd managed a visit or two to his room after Jenny fell asleep.

Aspen was so thrilled with Josh's genuine excitement for her that his support for her seemed even more important than having been offered a teaching position. She wanted nothing more than to be with him at that very moment but settled for knowing Jenny would be in bed in a few more hours.

The following Friday, Josh asked Aspen out to dinner again and at one point said, "I've been giving a lot of though recently to buying a home."

"You have?" she said somewhat surprised. "What brought this on?"

"Well, I realized how difficult it would be to raise a family while living in my mom's house so it only makes sense to get a place of my own. You know, just in case."

"I see," she said. "Won't it be lonely living in a house all by yourself?"

"It would, but I'm hoping not to have to do that," he told her. He pushed a small, fuzzy box her way and said, "I'm hoping with all my heart someone will agree to live there with me. And...if I'm really lucky, maybe her beautiful daughter could move in, too. That way, I could start raising a family with the woman I love more than anyone on earth."

Aspen knew it was coming, but she couldn't help it. She started crying as he opened the box. Josh shook his head, and as he got on one knee he said, "Crybaby." He looked up at her then said, "I love you, sweetheart. With all my heart. Please marry me and make me the happiest man on earth."

"Then put that ring on my finger and make me the happiest woman on earth!" she said, the tears streaming down her face.

"Is that a 'yes'?" he teased as he did just that.

"Of course it is, you gorgeous stuf! Yes, I will marry you."

He got very serious then said, "But will you also move in with me?"

She pushed him into his chair and sat on his lap and kissed him in front of everyone. "Yes, yes, and yes. Anything you want—yes!"

"Really? Because I kind of want more children, so you may want to think about it for awhile."

"As long as we can practice making them while we think about it, that sounds wonderful."

"I can live with that," he said as he kissed her back.

Richard signed and forwarded the divorce papers the day they arrived at his brother's house where he was living since being evicted from the home he and Aspen once shared. Three days later, Aspen signed them and the following week, her parents flew to Florida to attend their daughter's wedding at the Diamond D ranch. Jenny was a bit old to be a flower girl, but that didn't stop her from wanting to be one. Wearing a beautiful white dress like her mom was an opportunity she wasn't about to miss.

On the one hand, their wedding was a hugely important event. On the other, it was no big deal. They'd been living together in their new home for some time so when the wedding day finally came, they all climbed into the F-250 where this most excellent adventure had begun and headed back to the ranch where Josh continues to work. They were married in front of the wood pile where Old Red still crowed each morning at the guest house where she'd temporarily lived with Jenny.

The first day of school, she welcomed her class and said, "Good morning! My name is Mrs. Sutherland and I'm your teacher this year."

Aspen finally had the life she'd always wanted. A loving, caring husband, her beautiful daughter with an amazing stand-in dad who loves and cares for her like his own, and a chance to once again do what she loved the most—teaching children.

Leaving her former life was the hardest thing she'd ever done. She'd taken risks she knew she shouldn't have taken. But as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures. It doesn't get much riskier than a beautiful woman hitchhiking with her daughter at night, but sometimes life forces us to make choices. Sometimes they end tragically while every now and then they bring us more happiness than we could ever imagine.

The following year, when she learned she was expecting, Aspen sometimes felt like her heart might burst from trying to contain all the happiness in her life. Sometimes, a blind squirrel does find a nut—or a handsome young cowboy.