She shrugged. “No.” Her tone suggested she was bored, wanting nothing more than to leave right this minute.

Talking to her was like pulling teeth.

“Alright.” I picked the piping bag back up, turning back to my cookie.

“Finally,” Gemma muttered under her breath, walking around the counter and out the door.

A pent-up breath escaped my lips as my phone buzzed on the counter. I glanced at it, keeping my hand hovering over the cookie.

Callan: Forget I said I’d text you about the date

My heart sank. I knew it was too good to be true. 

I went back to practicing with the pink icing when my phone buzzed again.

Callan: Sorry Ace hit my elbow and I accidentally hit send too early. I meant to add - it’ll be a surprise. Avery can come

I set the bag down next to the cookie, grabbing my phone to reply.

Me: Ace?

Three dots appeared as he typed his response, my eyes glued to them the entire time.

Callan: My horse. You’ll love him

The corners of my lips inched up.

Why did meeting his horse feel like meeting someone’s parents, or their child?

Like it was some kind of next step?

Stop it. I haven’t even gone on one date with the guy and here I am trying to play house with him.

It wasn’t only my feelings I had to think of, it was Avery’s, too. Callan seemed like a nice guy, but I couldn’t be too sure. I had to take this slow, for both our sakes.

I bit down on my bottom lip, sending my response.

Me: I think I will.

But my brain feared it wouldn’t only be the horse that I’d love.

18

Sage

At Avery’s next lesson, I leaned against the fence the entire hour, watching Avery become more comfortable on the horse. She’d been doing every lesson on Red, and it was clear they had a connection. He was a beautiful red roan, his head a darker shade than his body. 

Watching Avery in the saddle made me wish I could give her more. The horse, the land, the ability to ride whenever she wanted. But right now, this would have to do, and Callan making this possible for her was everything to me.

After they wrapped up, I followed them inside the barn to untack, listening as Avery told Callan how she felt during her lesson. Her ability to open up so much to him about her fears was astonishing to me. She clearly liked him, and I had to say, I didn’t mind at all. I was right there with her. 

He was sweet and attentive, always paying attention to everything anyone said. A lot of people would blow off a five-year-old talking their ear off, but he replied to every single thing she said, listening with rapt attention. 

“Has your cat come home?” Callan asked after putting the saddle away in the tack room.

Avery shook her head while simultaneously unclipping her helmet. She was still borrowing one from his rack, but I hoped I could get her one of her own soon. “Not yet. But I think she will.”

“I think she will, too,” he said with a kind of determination I admired. 

It wasn’t that I thought Pudding wouldn’t come home. As a mom, my mind always went to the worst case scenario. What if she was run over by a car? What if another family took her in? Was she in the shelter and we just didn’t know it?

“I think I’m gonna have my mom buy me a different flavor of cat food this time,” Avery told him.

Callan rested a hand on Red’s back as he looked down at Avery. “You think that will help?”

She nodded. “I do. Pudding likes different stuff sometimes.”

His hand mindlessly rubbed on Red’s back, and the horse was clearly enjoying it, with his head low and his eyes slowly shutting. “A variety, huh?”

“Yeah. Like maybe she wants chicken, or fish. Do they have others?”

“I think they have beef,” he guessed. I was sure he knew more about pet food than I did, but I’d have to ask Lennon when I visited Tumbleweed Feed next. His brother owned the feed store, so he was a pro when it came to animal nutrition. 

“I’ll grab one of each kind,” I told Avery from where I stood off to the side, my back against the wood-slat wall.

She turned to me. “Thanks, Mama.”

I gave her a soft smile in response, hoping like hell a different protein was the trick to getting Pudding to come back home.

“Hey, Cal,” Bailey interrupted, coming around the corner from the aisle. “Do you know where the rescue banner is?”

Callan looked over his shoulder at Bailey. “I think my mom has it folded away in the med room, but if it’s not there, check the shed outside.”

“You guys put shit in the weirdest spots,” Bailey mumbled, turning around and disappearing down the aisle as he headed for what I assumed was the med room. 

“Language, Cooper!” Callan called after him.

A door squeaked open, and the barn fell silent.

Callan ran a hand down his face, looking at me. “Sorry about everyone’s cursing around here.”

I waved him off, pushing off the wall. “It’s fine. What’s the banner for?”

“We have a parade we do every year to raise awareness for the horse rescue, so they’re prepping for that.” 

“A parade?” Avery asked. “I wanna see.”

He looked down at her again. “I can do you one better. You can be in it, but only if your mom says it’s okay.”