Page 56 of Break the Barrier

“Do you even know what that means?” I ask my stubborn daughter, wondering where she heard that.

“Well, no,” she admits with a sniff. “But I heard Uncle Stetson say it when he was doing stalls last week, and I think he’s right.”

I shake my head with a smile, watching her make the job harder on herself. “Why don’t you use the fork? It’s not as heavy, honey.”

“I don’t use the fork because I don’t want horse poop to fall through it onto my boots.” I pointedly look down at her boots that are stepping on horse poop right this minute. “It’s not the same!” she says when she sees where I’m looking.

“All right.” I lift a hand in surrender and turn off the water, leaving the stall she’s in and heading to the next.

“Like child labor, I shouldn’t be subjected to this.” I hear her mumbling and smile, shaking my head.

“It’s a rite of passage, Lue,” I say, rinsing the next bucket.

“Well, I don’t want it,” she replies, and I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing.

My phone ringing distracts me from my laughter, and I pull it out, my heart jumping a little at the sight of Thea’s name on the screen.

“Hey,” I answer, my voice sounding breathless. “How are you?”

After the rodeo yesterday, I spent the afternoon with Lue getting her some summer clothes. She still had two days of school left, but they were more about fun than actual school. So, it was basically summer for her now.

“Hey, I just got a piece of mail that I was wondering if I could come have you open it?”

I hang my head and sigh, speaking softly, “Thea, you can open it. I’m not going to sue you or something.”

“Thea?” Lue’s head perks up when she hears me talking. Dang bat ears on that one. “You’re talking to Thea? Can I talk to Thea?”

I frown. “No, you can finish your chores.”

“But I want her to rehearse some lines with me today!” she says, loud enough that Thea can hear through the phone.

“She’s working, hon, she can’t rehearse.”

“Hey, speak for yourself. I have some downtime around three if you wanna bring her by. Then you can open that mail for me.”

I smile at the first part. “You want me to bring her? Are you sure you have time?”

“I’ll make the time.”

My heart must have some sort of condition because it thumps loudly in my chest again. “Fine, I’ll bring her by around three.”

“And open the mail.”

I roll my eyes good-naturedly. “Yes, that too.”

“Great! See you guys then!”

I hang up the phone and sigh. “Guess we’re going to Thea’s.”

“Yes!” Lue pumps her fist, and for whatever reason, this gives her the energy to finish her chores in record time.

I’m sitting at a table by myself, sipping a soda, and looking through mail for Thea. Most of it is unimportant to me, considering I have nothing to do with it. So, I open it and then put it into a stack without looking at it.

Lue is up by the bar with Thea across from her, both with scripts in front of them, reading to each other back and forth. Lue makes movements with her lines, probably deciding how best to act them out, and Thea smiles at her when she does.

Part of my attention is on the mail, but the majority of it has been watching the two of them interact. I get this feeling in my gut that tells me this could be for the long haul.

When you’re a single parent, it’s one thing to fall for someone, to have feelings that are bigger than you’re used to for someone. But when your kid gets along with them great? That’s a next-level thing.