The Missing Letters

These are the original letters from "ISABELLE"
that were cut and combined in the editing.

Many readers said they were left hanging as to Kyle’s whereabouts in the epilogue. Hopefully, these will make the ending more clear.

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My Dearest Kyle,

You must think me a purely silly woman, and not for the reasons you once did, but because of the flood of letters I am penning when we’ve been apart but only a matter of weeks. It seems I can think of little else but your return.

The ranch is running smoothly in your absence, I assure you. Sidestep fills the water barrel each morning and Tott leaves firewood beside the stove. Pelipa is a dear friend. She is instructing me in the creation of beadwork design and I am teaching her to read.

Even though my days are full, the nights are long and silent. I am counting the minutes until your return. The howling coyotes on the ridge sound as lonely as I feel when you are aren’t lying beside me at night.

My beloved childhood memories and the azure sky stretching in all directions like a celestial ocean were what drew me back to The Big Sky after my father’s death. But it’s more than the ownership of land and this house he built that have made this my home.

Just as my father did, you have given so much of yourself for the growth and success of the ranch. And because it was the desire of my heart to belong here, you showed me how.

How we grew this last year, my dear husband, you especially, in learning to trust. This new and wonderful sense of belonging I rejoice in is thanks to you, because you have lain down past hurts and mistrust and accepted me into your heart.

Mae was here the other day, and I gave her back the amulet. I know I doubted its power, and we probably would have loved each other anyway, but just in case those herbs made you love me, I thought perhaps some day it might benefit another.

If the joy we know can be repeated for someone who needs it, who am I to hinder the magic?

I miss you terribly. Those horses had better be worth it.

Your adoring wife,
Isabelle

My Beloved Husband,

Each day grows longer and each night darker without you here to experience it with me.

This is not the way I wanted to tell you this, but I shall burst if I do not share this most blessed and joyful news. The gladness and fulfillment that our love yields is unceasing! Next spring, when the mountain streams flow and the countryside bursts with new life, we will bring a new life of our own into the world. We are going to have a baby.

I think of the day we were married, and how skeptical I was about how things would turn out, and it seems like a miracle that we’ve reached this beautiful turn of events. The only future I could see was to keep the ranch, and you were the answer to that. You turned out to be the answer to many things--things I knew deep inside I needed and wanted, but was too afraid to dream for. How grateful I am that your determination was as great as mine, how thankful that you suggested we combine resources to keep the ranch.

If someone had told me that day as I walked toward you, wearing my mother’s Irish lace and quivering with trepidation, that I would love you as I do this day, I would have called that person a fool. Sometimes I wonder if Mae’s amulet actually had anything to do with our love, but then I think that’s foolish, too, so who can really know? All that matters is that our practical arrangement turned out to be so much more. . .and now we have made a child with whom to share our love.

I shall pray for your safe travel and expedient journey home so that we may celebrate this new and exciting chapter to our lives in the proper manner.

I remain as always,
Your Devoted Wife, Isabelle

P.S. Your Aunt Mae says it’s a son.

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