It remained deep inside her heart—a temptation couched in two simple words—“what if”.
He could choose to let his injury define him or build a new future for himself.
He didn’t trust relationships. Promises made in the night didn’t last when exposed to the light of day.
“You’ll have to rethink your tactics, then. You can’t force a horse to do anything—they outweigh you, and they’re stronger. You’ll have to persuade and outthink him. I’d advise you to befriend Grit first with some apples and carrots. Get him to come to you. If you rush it, it’ll be rodeo time and you’ll get thrown. Count on it.”
“Home shouldn’t be static. It should be an ever evolving place, tailored to fit changing needs. The heart of it should remain the same—a place of sanctuary that’s far more than wood and stucco. But home could be a tent, or even on wheels. What makes it home is that sense of place and feeling of peace the people inside give it.”
“The CHINDI…it’s like an evil ghost?”
He considered it, then shook his head. “It’s more than that. It’s the evil in all of us that can’t join the Universal Good, so it remains earthbound. Traditionalist Navajos believe those spirits have nowhere to go, so they stick around and create problems for the living. (…)”
“I always thought my father had made my mother’s life a hell on earth,” she whispered. “I saw Dad as a man who was married to his work—and Mom took the leftovers. But I was wrong about them. The truth is right there in those old photos. There’s a lot more to my mom and dad’s story than I ever realized.”
“(…) You never showed Grit enough respect.”
“It’s a horse. You want me to bow?”
“As you said, Grit’s a horse, not your Jeep,” Gene said.
“Give me a Jeep any day of the week. Something goes wrong, you tune it up. It doesn’t toss you flat on your butt just ‘cause it’s in a bad mood.”
“Navajo men are taught to enter a room before a woman does. I know Anglo men have the opposite custom—ladies first—but we look at it a little differently. If there’s danger, the man should be the one to face it, instead of sending the woman ahead as cannon fodder.”
“In some ways, we’re two of a kind. The circumstances were different, but we both took it on the chin before we knew how to block a punch,” he said.
“Don’t try looking so far into the future. If you do, you’ll miss today.”