Page 49 of Touch the Sky

“Help me out here, man. My guesses are just getting worse.” I give up on brushing the horse I’m working on and lean against the rail to face Tess instead. “Is it Captain? Mayor? M’lord of the English Manor?”

She gives in and drops her hand so she can clutch her stomach while letting out a belly laugh that echoes through the yard.

I try to look offended, but I end up laughing too.

“No,” she says between hiccups, “but you were pretty close with that last one.”

I tilt my head and give her an expectant look.

“Fine,” she says. “His name is Baron.”

Now it’s my turn to snort.

“Ben là,” I drawl, shaking my head “No. Really? I don’t remember it being that bad.”

“Sorry to say, but that really is his name.”

I make atsksound and go back to my grooming.

“Well, you boned the dude, not me.”

Tess lets out a bark of shocked laughter this time. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a real smart ass?”

I pretend to flip some invisible long hair over my shoulder. “All the time,chérie.”

I don’t think I’ve called herchériebefore. It was a joke, but I still have to turn my face away when my cheeks start to burn.

Tess gets back to her tasks, moving on to the horse next to mine.

“Well, to answer your question from before you started berating my life choices,” she says, “no. Baron is not coming here. We’re meeting halfway to his parents’ place in Peterborough. Thankfully, they’ve got their heads screwed on a bit more than he does, so Shel can at least count on Thanksgiving happening.”

The bitterness in her voice makes me want to drag this dude into the barnyard and sic Joaquin on him.

“Does he bail on her a lot?” I ask.

“He’s only completely missed a visit a couple times,” she answers. “My parents and I chewed him out enough that he hasn’t done it in years, but the visits themselves are usually a let-down for Shel. He just promises so much more than he can deliver.”

“I get that,” I blurt before I can stop myself.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I can’t remember the last time I mentioned my father to even Natalie or Maddie, but Tess seems to break through the fence around him in my mind without even trying.

“I wish I got it,” she says in a dull voice. “It never even entered my mind as a child that my parents couldnotbe together. They’ve always had a very solid marriage, and as much as Baron frustrates me, I don’t know what it’s like to deal with that from your dad.”

She stops moving. I can see the shadow of her legs under the horses.

“Sometimes I have no idea what to say to her,” she mumbles, just loud enough for me to hear

I go still too.

“You don’t have to say the exact right thing every single time,” I tell her. “You just have to be there for her. Be the one thing she can always count on. That’s what matters, and if you ask me, you’re doing a damn good job.”

She stays silent, and I can’t help adding, “I would know.”

When she speaks again, her throat sounds raw.

“Thank you. That…that means a lot.”

She clears her throat, and we focus on our work for the next few minutes. We take turns lugging saddles into the tack room before we begin leading the horses to their stalls.