Excerpt
Chapter One

Nothing seemed right that morning, from the time she got up—two hours later than normal—to the eerie silence that met her in every corner of the house, something just felt off. Looking for John inside proved futile, so she slipped on her windbreaker and made her way out to the barn.
A beautiful, early October morning met her as she swung open the screen door to meet the day. Even though the air was perfect, the outside felt wrong. Her heart began to pound hard as an overwhelming need to race toward the corral and stalls caught her. Each step brought her closer, yet she seemed further and further away as if she were running backward in slow motion.
Opening the barn door, she called for John, but he didn’t answer. She made her way to the back of the barn, checking each stall and behind every pile of hay bales as she walked by. Then, in the back, inside the last stall she found him, lying on the barn floor with his favorite coffee cup close by. For just a moment, she thought he was dead. He was so still.
Screaming, she ran toward him and fell to her knees at his side, tapping his cheek, trying to roust him. Nothing worked. She quickly rushed to the phone they had put in the barn a couple of years before; with trembling fingers and tears streaming down her face, she dialed for an ambulance. She tried to quickly tell the person on the other end of the line that she found her husband unconscious, but all she could stammer was for them to hurry, her husband wouldn’t wake up; however, she managed to give the address.
They arrived in five minutes with sirens blaring, screeching to a halt in front of the barn. She directed them to where her husband lay. The paramedics saw that he was breathing, but it was labored. After a few, very tense moments, they got him stabilized and loaded him into the ambulance. Rose insisted on riding with her husband. She worried and cried all the way as she sat in the back, holding his hand, begging him to be all right.
Then, after the ride to the hospital—which seemed at the time to take forever—she found herself pacing inside the emergency room lobby waiting to hear how he was. The doctor came out after twenty minutes to talk with her.
“Mrs. Grayson, I’m Doctor Peterson,” he said extending his hand to shake hers. “Your husband has suffered a massive heart attack.”
“No,” she said emphatically, shaking her head, “no, that’s not possible. He’s as healthy as a horse.” Not even realizing the irony of what she said, she continued, “It must be something else. He’s never been sick a day in his life.”
“He’s a very sick man now.”
“Is he going to be okay?”
“I’m not positive at this point, but the paramedics did get him here in time. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the results of the tests I ran on him and he needs to get lots of rest.”
“What can I do?”
“Sit with him, give him support and love. As soon as I know anything, I’ll be in to see you both.”
“Can I take him home after you get the results?”
“I’ll have to see the chart first, but my initial answer to your question is no. At least not today,” he said, in an attempt to ease her obvious anxiety.
“Is he awake?”
“Yes, he’s a bit groggy though, I gave him something to calm him down, he was pretty upset when he came to and realized what happened. Don’t tire him out, he really needs the rest.”
“I won’t. Doctor?”
“Yes?”
“I love him, I can’t lose him. We’ve been together for more than thirty-five years.”
“Mrs. Grayson, I’ll do whatever I can, I give you my word, but you have to make sure he rests right now.”
“I will. When will you have the test results?”
“Soon, I asked the lab to put a rush on them because of the severity of his case.”
“Severity?”
“I told you, Mrs. Grayson, this is very serious. He’s suffered a massive heart attack.”
“Please, call me Rose.”
“Okay, Rose. He’ll be okay, believe that, hold onto it and tell him that too. If he sees you feeling reassured it will help him a lot.”
“All right, I’ll do whatever you say.”
“Go, be with him now. I’ll be in as soon as I can.”
“Thank you, Doctor Peterson.”
“You’re welcome.”
Rose sat with John for more than an hour. The room was quite plain: hospital gray is what she noticed the walls to be. A dark, blue curtain was drawn straight across the opening of the “slot” they had him in. A silver tray sat on a stand in the far left corner. It held various instruments for examinations and next to it was a metal nightstand of sorts, which held a pitcher of water and several disposable, paper cups. When the doctor came back in, he told them there was no permanent damage to his heart, but he would have to be careful from now on. Having a heart attack like he did, now made him more prone to having another. If he wanted to have any kind of normal life, at least one that didn’t involve having another heart attack or possibly even a stroke, he’d have to give up the physical side of horse farming. He would need to have some help with the manual labor, but he could do other things that were much less stressful.
That was the fateful day when she thought she lost her husband. She remembered how panic-stricken she was. Even though John made a full recovery, recalling that day always made her heart twitch with fear.

After a lot of arm-twisting from Rose and the children, John agreed to do the books and just be there to consult and direct. He knew he had to be careful if he wanted to see his grandchildren grow up and to have more time with his beloved Rose.