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I debated my answer.

So is stubbornness. But that doesn’t win any prizes.

Maybe I was being ridiculous, but a little hope was everything I needed. When he didn’t respond right away, I grew frustrated. When I clicked on his empty profile pic, I didn’t anticipate seeing anything different than the bluish white silhouette of nothingness.

Sadly, I was correct.

However, he’d followed another account. When I checked what it was, my heart almost stopped. There was no chance. None. What if my girlfriends were right?

Don’t get yourself worked up. You know him.

My inner thoughts did nothing to calm my nerves. I clicked on the new profile, my hand shaking.

I leaned in, studying the photograph used for the profile. A swell of emotions rushed through me, thoughts and images that I’d worked so hard to drive aside. The strange sense of knowing, realizing why I hadn’t been able to commit to taking back my life was peaceful. How was that possible? A single tear slipped past my lashes that I didn’t bother to wipe away.

I moved my finger over the trackpad, studying the incredible pictures uploaded hours before. He hadn’t sold the sanctuary. My pulse raced as I moved to the description that had also been added.

“The Horse Whisperer Sanctuary,” I whispered, sucking in my breath as a sob rattled my stomach, dislodging the goddamn butterflies. “A healing place for beautiful and intelligent creatures of majesty.”

I bit my lower lip, every muscle trembling.

What was it my mother had told me a long time ago?

Life was what you made of it, but if I waited too long, all the wonderment would pass by and suddenly, I’d lose the ability of finding enjoyment.

No. This was wrong. What I was thinking was insane. I had to work. I had to make money.

Maybe I was crazy. Maybe I was wrong. But I refused to take a backseat to my life any longer. Another chance. Another… No. Not possible. To hell with it. Time to close a chapter, to forget the anger and sadness.

Doing so was the only way I’d find the happiness that I’d only found once.

One beautiful moment a lifetime ago…

EPILOGUE

Two weeks later…

Kage

“You’re early,” Ben said as he leaned against the barn wall.

“Like my mama used to say, the early bird gets the worm.” I laughed at the insanity of me making a joke. I was terrible at it. He rolled his eyes in response.

“Then you might as well get to work, boss man.” He handed me the usual paperwork to sign off on.

I took a deep breath as I looked over the pages, enjoying the crisp mornings more than I had before. I’d come to love working at the sanctuary, feeling like I had a purpose again. Plus, I’d finally managed to sleep a whole night through. There was nothing like being too tired to think or eat to achieve that.

Alongside freeing myself of several ghosts. Although there was one that would never stop haunting me.

“Thanks, Ben.” I handed the clipboard back to my facility manager and stretched my back. “When are we expecting him?”

“Majesty will be arriving tomorrow. Just so you know, he’s in pretty bad shape.”

“The injuries?” I asked. I’d watched the goddamn video of the horse taking the horrible fall on the last lap of a race he should have never been entered into several times. The fucking owner should be shot. At least instead of being sent to a glue factory, a patron had purchased the incredible horse with our sanctuary in mind.

It was our job to try to make him spiritually whole again. And who knows? Maybe the local vet would work her wonders physically with the prize winner as she’d done with every other semi-permanent and permanent resident.

“Emotionally. Won’t eat. Testy with all humans. You know the drill.”