Chapter 63: Nana's Visit

As soon as the sun beams began to creep into Lyndy's window, she was awake and quickly slid out of bed to get dressed, make her bed, and take Skye down for his morning outing. She was anticipating her nana's arrival. She didn't really know how to express it verbally, but her little heart was rejoicing to still have this connection with her da-da. She let Skye out and waited til he finished, then she fed him and went into the kitchen thinking she'd get some cereal. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find that Nina had made them cinnamon rolls and left them out ready to be warmed in the microwave. Nina had shown her how to warm them for only a few short seconds so they almost melted in one's mouth. She poured her a glass of milk and sat down at the bar to enjoy her treat. It was rare that she was up before her mama or daddy, and she kind of enjoyed the quiet. She said a prayer of thanks and also prayed for Nana's safe travel. Skye had finished his food, so she crept quietly down the hall with him following her. She softly knocked on her parents' bedroom door waiting to see if anyone replied. She heard her mama stir and say, "Come in."

Lyndy peeked in the door and saw Amy holding out her arms. She flitted over to the bed with Skye in pursuit, and Amy lifted her into the bed as Skye jumped up to join them. Amy kissed her and said, "Good morning, Sweetie! You're already dressed?!"

"Yes, Mama! Nana is coming today!"

Mitch groggily turned over to join in and said, "Mornin' sweet girl! You're up awfully early! You're not excited, are you?"

"Aw, Daddy! You're teasing me!"

"Yes, I am!" and he reached over to tickle her. The giggles started flowing, and Skye had to get in on the action as well. When the giggles started to subside, Mitch said, "Shall we go get some breakfast?"

"I already had mine," Lyndy said proudly.

"You did?" Amy asked.

"Yes, all by myself. Nina left us some cinnamon rolls," she announced.

That was all Mitch needed to hear. He was out of bed in a flash, quickly grabbing his robe and heading to the kitchen. Amy burrowed down in the covers a little further hugging Lyndy to her as they enjoyed some snuggling time together. The next thing they knew, Mitch was bringing them breakfast in bed. He brought an extra half a roll just in case Lyndy wanted some more. She did! Breakfast in bed as a family was a rarity, and they all relished the precious time together.

They went on with their morning, and about one o'clock, a car started up the driveway. Skye let out a bark, and Lyndy was at the window immediately.

"She's here, Mama! She's here!"

Amy and Mitch headed from the family room toward Lyndy's voice and saw Lyndy and Skye disappear through the doorway. They followed them out in time to see Lily exit her car and Lyndy running up to her and hugging her around the waist. The look on Lily's face was unmistakable – one of total surprise, overflowing joy, and unexpected tears welling up in her eyes. As long as it had been since she'd seen Lyndy, she had not anticipated such a warm welcome from her little granddaughter. As they broke their embrace, she held both Lyndy's hands out to get a better look at her. Composing herself, she said, "My, oh my, how much you have grown up, Lyndy! And who is this little fellow with you?"

"Oh, Nana, this is Skye! He's an Aussiedoodle. Do you like him?"

"I think he's adorable!" she answered, and she squatted down to pet him, which he soaked up appreciatively.

About that time, Mitch and Amy had arrived in proximity to them. Lily got up from petting the dog, and Amy hugged her and said, "Welcome, Lily. Lyndy has been excited all morning awaiting your arrival. Lily, this is Mitch."

Mitch stepped forward and shook her hand as he said, "Good to meet you, Lily. May I help you with your luggage?"

"I'd appreciate that, Mitch," Lily responded.

They all went into the house, and Amy said, "Lily, let's get your things settled first. You have your choice of the guest room down here, or there are two rooms upstairs you can choose from."

"Nana, please, please, please choose to stay upstairs with me!" Lyndy said pleadingly as she put her hands together in a begging gesture and looked up at her with puppy dog eyes.

"Well, I guess that makes the choice pretty easy," Lily grinned in reply. Mitch headed up the stairs carrying her luggage with Lyndy right on his heels and Lily and Amy following. Lily chose the room across the hall from Lyndy, and Lyndy immediately pulled her nana to come and see her room. Lily was quite impressed! Amy got sheets from the hall closet, and between her and Mitch, the bed was made in short order. Lyndy gave her nana a tour of the upstairs including where the bathroom was, and when they came out, Mitch suggested to Lyndy that the two of them go down and get some cool drinks ready for everyone. Skye followed them down.

Amy hung back with Lily, and said, "Lily, before we go downstairs, I wanted to give you a heads up, so you aren't caught unaware. Several months back, before we married, Mitch made a most special gift for Lyndy and me. It's a beautiful, large shadow box that contains a number of mementos from our life with Ty. It's hanging in our hallway. I just didn't want you to come upon it unprepared."

Lily looked at her appreciatively, and responded, "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Amy. I look forward to seeing it."

"Also, I should let you know that we've established a tradition of having a family night together on Friday nights. However, since we knew you were coming, we decided to wait and have it tonight so you could join us. In fact, Lyndy has planned this one out. And one more thing, we now go to church together on Sunday mornings. You are most welcome to go with us if you like?" Amy asked.

"That all sounds wonderful, Amy. However, it's been years since I darkened a church door. Are you sure I'd be welcome?"

"Of course, Lily! We'd love to have you join us!"

"Well, I suppose I can give it a try. I'm sure it would disappoint Lyndy if I didn't go with you." Lily hung a few things up, then turned to say, "Amy, Mitch is extremely good-looking, and he seems really nice. I look forward to getting to know him."

Amy smiled and said, "I don't know why God gave me two such handsome men in my life, but he has richly blessed me because they have both been even better on the inside than the out, and that's saying a lot!" she chuckled. "Shall we go down and join the others for an afternoon refresher? I'd guess you are thirsty, maybe even a bit hungry after traveling. What is it? About a three-hour drive from Medicine Hat?" Amy asked.

"Yes. A little longer with stops. I did stop for lunch a little early on the road, but that sounds perfect," Lily replied. "And Amy, thank you so much for letting me come."

"Of course! We want you to be a part of our lives, and especially for Lyndy to be able to keep her relationship with you," and Amy walked across the room to hug her, then they headed down.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Lyndy said, "Nana, we made lemonade, and we also have some cookies. Do you like snickerdoodles?"

"I do like snickerdoodles," she replied.

"Oh good! They are also Daddy's favorite," Lyndy said excitedly. For one brief moment, Mitch and Amy detected a flicker of sadness behind Lily's eyes as Lyndy called Mitch 'Daddy,' but it quickly vanished as they all sat down at the island to enjoy their afternoon refreshment. Lyndy carried a lot of the conversation with her mind racing a mile a minute telling her nana everything she could think of from the past several days. They also talked about what things she might like to do while there.

After finishing their snack together, Lily said, "Amy, I think I'd like to see the shadow box you talked about now."

"Sure, Lily," Amy replied and motioned toward the hallway. Amy walked down the hall with her, and Mitch and Lyndy hung back a little watching from a distance. When Lily saw it, she gasped softly as her breath caught, and her hand covered her mouth. Of course, the first thing to stand out to her was Ty's jacket that he wore so often. Then she began to take in each item, and her eyes filled with tears as one or two worked their way down her cheeks. She gently wiped them away, and when she saw the horseshoe, she asked the significance of it, then Amy was able to tell her the story of finding it.

"And Lily, the money you sent to us from Howler's winnings…I was able to use a good portion of it to establish a legacy for Ty and our Borden family. I'd like to take you on Monday to see what we did with it. I think you will be pleased. I also set aside the remainder of the funds for Lyndy's future," Amy said.

"I look forward to seeing what you decided to do with it. I'm glad to know you were able to put it to good use. And what is the drawing about?"

Amy turned to Lyndy and said, "Sweetheart, do you want to come tell Nana about your drawing?"

Lyndy walked over and held her nana's hand and told her how the moon was where her da-da had said he'd be.

"It's a beautiful picture, Honey," and she and Lyndy hugged. "And the two paintings…what is their significance? They are beautiful, by the way!"

Then Amy and Lyndy were able to relate those two stories to her.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Lyndy taking her nana to visit the animals in the barn and to show her the new arena, then playing with Skye in the backyard and swinging on the swing. Amy was feeling the need for a nap, but she pushed through the afternoon. Lyndy had requested pizza and ice cream sandwiches for family night, so Mitch went to pick up the order while Amy made a salad and got everything ready. Zeke and Nina were on a date and so were Logan and Miley.

When Mitch returned, Lyndy took charge and gathered everyone together in a circle holding hands and asked her daddy to lead a prayer of thanksgiving for the food. Then they filled their plates and moved to the family room to eat on TV trays that Lyndy had set up.

Lily asked questions about the building of the arena, and Mitch and Amy filled her in and also shared about the additions that had been made to the barn. When Lyndy retrieved the ice cream sandwiches for their dessert, Lily exclaimed, "Oh my! I don't think I've had an ice cream sandwich since your da-da was a little boy! Thank you, Lyndy, for thinking of these for dessert!"

"Oh, Nana! I'm so glad they made you think of special memories with my da-da!" Lyndy smiled as she handed one to her.

Mitch had been assigned to read the story of David and Goliath and one story from the animal stories book. Before he started, Lyndy laid out the night's agenda – stories, Chinese checkers, and since they had church the next morning, she said a movie would take too long – maybe they could do that at the next one and maybe even have a sleepover in tents in the family room! She wanted her daddy to sing "Goodnight, My Angel" with his guitar when they put her to bed. As they settled into their seats for the story, Mitch was in an easy chair, and Amy, Lyndy and Lily sat on the couch. When Lyndy snuggled into her mama, Skye jumped up to join them, and though he sat in Lyndy's lap, he laid his head onto Amy's tummy. Lyndy noticed he seemed to do that a lot lately, and she commented, "Mama, Skye seems to like your tummy."

Amy looked a little taken aback, but quickly recovered, and answered, "It seems he does," as she winked at Mitch and thought to herself, "This little girl is just too smart! I wonder if we are going to be able to keep it from her much longer."

Mitch read, and they discussed David's bravery and faith before he read an animal story, then they followed Lyndy's schedule. They played three games of Chinese Checkers, and Lyndy won the last one. When they sent her upstairs to get ready for bed, Mitch told Lily the story behind him singing the song to Lyndy. Lily was really touched, and at the same time, she felt some additional sadness of how much of her granddaughter's childhood she'd already missed. It made her even more grateful to be where she was now. Lyndy called down to them after she'd brushed her teeth to let them know she was ready. They all three headed up the stairs. When they got to her room, Skye was already lying on the foot of her turned down bed, and Lyndy was ready to kneel and say her prayers. Mitch sat on the bed beside her with his guitar close by, and Amy and Lily knelt on the other side of the bed. Lyndy began…

"Dear heavenly Father,

Thank you so much for getting Nana to us safely and for all the fun we could have tonight, and for all the fun we will have this week. Thank you that she was finally able to come visit us.

Thank you for Mama and Daddy and thank you that Da-da was able to love us for as long as he did. We really miss him, but we thank you for the time we had with him because he really loved us a lot!

Give us a good rest tonight so we can pay attention when we worship together tomorrow. I'm so glad that Nana will be with us!

In Jesus name, Amen"

Lily knew from what she had just heard that this was going to be a very special week in her life. Lyndy got up and gave hugs to everyone before crawling into bed and reminding her daddy to sing. Amy and Lily kissed her and moved toward the door to listen as Mitch began to play and sing in his beautiful tenor voice. Before he was halfway through, Amy and Lily both had tears in their eyes, and had reached out to hold each other's hand. That little angelic face with the soft golden curls framing it and her gentle rhythmic breathing revealed a child deep in slumber by the time Mitch finished the song. He bent over to gently kiss her cheek and tuck her in. Lily knew her precious granddaughter was in the best of hands. It had taken no time at all to be assured of that.

Lily attended church with the family Sunday morning. The preacher spoke on God's love and His grace. Lily was moved by the message. They came home and had lunch, and while she and Amy were cleaning up, she brought up how the message had affected her, and that she wasn't really sure why she'd never been a churchgoer. Then she thought again and said, "Well, in thinking about the life I was living, maybe I do know." She also brought up the friend she'd mentioned to Amy on their phone call a few months back.

"Amy, I know I mentioned to you a while back that I was seeing someone. His name is Trent Garrett. Would you and Mitch be ok with him coming for the weekend? I really want you all to get to meet him and him you."

"I'm sure that would be fine. We'd love to meet him," Amy answered.

"He's different than anyone I've been close to before. He truly makes me feel like I matter. No one has ever loved me the way he does. He makes me feel valued and cherished."

"You know, Lily, perhaps Trent is God's way of bringing you to a better knowledge of His love for you. Ty showed me so much about loving and being loved. And with Mitch, understanding more about God's love has been so amazing! I'd never read the Bible until Mitch and I became closer, and I'm learning so much. We try our best to read some together every night."

"Amy, I have so many regrets. I missed so much of Ty's life, and it was all my fault. If only I'd been able to get sober and stay that way earlier…," she reflected as her quivering voice trailed off for a moment. "I feel so grateful that we were on good terms before he passed and that we got to spend some good time together. Thank you so much for still allowing me into your life, especially your new life with Mitch and Lyndy."

"Lily, we all have regrets. But we can't let them define or rule us. You've come so far. I'm really proud of you! And it's obvious that Lyndy is delighted to have you here."

That brought a smile to Lily's face. She said, "You know, Amy, I think I'll get a Bible when I get back home and talk with Trent about maybe us starting to read it together. I think he would be open to that."

"That's wonderful Lily! I hope it brings you the joy it has me!" Amy said, and continued, "And another thing I really hope brings you joy is seeing Ty's legacy that I want to show you tomorrow. I'm sure Lyndy would love to go with us as well. Shall we plan on going after breakfast?"

"I'd love that!"

Around four-thirty, the Heartland family started to arrive for supper. All were happy to see Lily, and everyone had a good visit and enjoyed great food. It was getting harder for Amy to keep from saying anything about the baby, but she knew they needed to tell Lyndy first. The conversation was lively, as there was much to catch up on since the last time they'd seen Lily. Once again, Lily felt very warmly received by this wonderful, big family!

Logan ate early the next morning when the only other one up was Nina, and then he was off to the Centre to get a head-start on the day. When the rest of the family gathered for breakfast, Amy introduced Lily to Nina praising what a good cook she was. "In fact, we could even call her our personal chef!" Mitch threw in.

Nina blushed a little and said an embarrassed but appreciative, "Thank you, Mitch!"

After savoring the delicious breakfast that Nina prepared for them, Amy, Lily and Lyndy were getting ready to leave, and Lyndy asked, "Mama, can Skye go with us?"

Amy thought for a moment and answered, "I don't see why not. Sure!"

"Yay!" Lyndy replied as she proceeded to let Skye know the plan.

They loaded up, and on the way, Lily said, "Nina seems really sweet."

Lyndy answered from the back seat, "Oh, Nana, she's the best! We love her a lot!"

Amy added, "She has been a Godsend, and she has quickly become like a part of the family!"

When they got to the Centre, it was a day that Clint was there, and Logan was spending a couple of hours working with the kids. As they exited the truck, the sign was the first thing that Lily saw. Her immediate thought went to the story Amy had told her about the horseshoe. Amy introduced her to Clint, and he gave her a tour of the Centre. He mentioned that they currently had eight young people they were helping. He also said that they often mentioned Ty to them and how he turned his life around and how much working on a ranch and working with horses had aided that process. Though Lily felt some guilt at that revelation, she also felt pride and great joy that his influence had been able to leave such a legacy with Amy's help. Amy also got to introduce Lily to Logan and tell her a little bit about his story, and how he was now living in their barn loft and working with her.

The rest of the week was spent with Lily spending some special times with Lyndy. One day, they went for ice cream together, and then they shopped for a couple of school outfits for Lyndy. Another day, Amy, Lyndy and Lily went on a horseback ride. There were walks with Skye, times of watching Amy and Logan work with the horses, chatting with the hands, Lyndy teaching her nana to clean tack, playing with paper dolls and board games, and making cookies together. That one made Mitch extremely happy to share in the bounty! It was a week for lots of grandmother/granddaughter re-bonding, and for Lily to grow closer with Amy and the whole extended Whispering Meadows family. By the time Friday rolled around, which seemed to come much too soon, everyone was looking forward to a fun family night. Trent was supposed to arrive on Saturday for the weekend before he and Lily would head back home sometime on Sunday. It had been a wonderful week together!