Living With No Regrets Read Online Free PDF Page A

anyway.”
    “Yeah,” he said softly as they reached the first barn.  “I disappointed myself with that one, but then I think about everything that happened and get angry all over again.  I know, given the chance, I would probably do the same thing again.  I get my hot headed temper honestly you know.”
    “True, but I overcame mine.”
    “How?”
    “Every time something happens to upset me in any way, I give it to God and he calms me.  Same if I’m happy or celebrating; I give Him my thanks.”  They started leading the horses out to the pasture.  “You believe in God and go to church, and that’s good.  You’re a good man.  But one day you will examine your life and you’ll see what a difference it would have made if you lived your day to day with Him, too; if you had included Him in all aspects of your life.”
    That fed Russ’ thoughts for the rest of the morning.  He had always gone to church with his parents every Sunday, and he tried to treat people with respect; as he liked to be treated.  He really thought he was a good man.  A Christian by heart, but he had his hang ups and he knew it. 
    Russ had lost all faith in love and commitment.  The mere mention of Leigh’s name seemed to send a dagger through his heart.  It was like the pain of her betrayal never left him.  When he found out what happened, he did a terrible thing and hurt more than just Leigh, not that he cared how she felt after what she’d done, but he’d been so hot headed and stubborn in his vengeance that he had made it where Mary Leigh only got to see her daughter, the only family she had left, a few times a year. 
    Leigh was too embarrassed to come back to Pine Grove, so she made Mary Leigh go to her.  He hated that for Mary Leigh, but was glad that he’d not had to see her face in years.  Mentally slapping himself, Russ wondered how thinking of God and being a good Christian had led to thoughts about Leigh, and he got angry all over again; like he did every time she crept up in his thoughts.
    Leigh had left messages at first, but after tuning out the first message, he just deleted all others without listening.  A couple of months later he changed his phone number and put an end to that.
    Then the letters began.  At first they came every other day, and then they slowly started spreading out to where he only got one a month.  It stayed that way until the last year and a half or so, then they stopped altogether.  The only thing that changed in all that time of receiving the letters was that after about seven or eight months, it went from small lavender stationary envelopes to medium sized manila envelopes.
    Russ didn’t know what Leigh put in any one of them.  He had returned them all to her un-opened.  There wasn’t even the faintest hint of curiosity in him…until they stopped.  He had made it a point, after the third month of not receiving anything, to go by Mary Leigh’s house to check on her.  He casually worked things into the conversation to try to get a hint of what was going on with Leigh, but all he gleaned from the conversation was that she was still alive.  The fact that he had needed to know about her had pissed him off.
    At lunch time, Russ and his dad headed in for the hardy meal his mother usually made for them.  He was thinking about the fact that he would have to advertise for a cook and hated that his mom was right.  He hadn’t meant to make her feel like that, but maybe he had taken her for granted.
    Over the meal, he apologized to her; saying it had never been his intention, but of course she just laughed it off.
    “If we made you feel bad, I’m sorry.  We were teasing you.  I’ve been cooking for everyone on this ranch since the day I married your dad.  I love it and wouldn’t have had it any other way,” she said.  “I’m just ready for a long vacation.”
    After the meal, just before Russ was to head out for the afternoon, his mom handed him a package.
    “Andre brought