“I don’t think so. I’m looking to sell them, and I think I have at least three of them sold. So, no to that.”
“Which three?” Lucas asked, his brows furrowing, as though the idea bothered him. Gilbert had closed his door and stood a little bit away, allowing the children to interact freely without him interfering. He had meant to come, stand back and watch, not get involved. He was curious to see exactly what all Summer did when she worked with the kids, since everyone talked about her and praised her so highly.
“Thatcher is one,” she said gently, and Gilbert remembered Lucas saying that Thatcher was the horse he often road.
His face fell.
“He’s going to a really good home. It’s not another therapy stable, but it’s a riding stable, where he’ll get to go on trail rideswith other kids and their families. I’m sure he’s going to love it there.”
“But I’m gonna miss him,” Lucas said, and he sounded a little bit belligerent. Like he was trying to be tough and hide the fact that the news had shocked and saddened him. Maybe he was even thinking about crying.
Gilbert hadn’t considered making an offer on the horses while he had been there looking at the farm. He should have considered it, and he wished he would have known she was going to sell them.
“What about Cricket? Are you selling her?”
“Yes, Cricket is an awesome horse, and it was easy for me to find a buyer for her. She’s going to the farm of a friend of mine. We’ve been good friends for a long time, and she also has a stable full of horses, and she gives riding lessons. So Cricket and Bunny are both going there. Their students are going to love getting to take lessons on such beautiful horses.”
“That stinks,” Larissa said. “How far away is it?”
“It’s about three hours from here.”
“Three hours? We’ll never see them again.” Then she turned to Gilbert. “Daddy? Can we go visit Cricket and Bunny?”
“And Thatcher,” Lucas said.
“I don’t see why not. Maybe next summer when we have plenty of time where we can take a day to drive.”
The kids talked a bit more, and then Summer sent them in to start brushing their mounts.
“Thanks for bringing them,” she said, looking up, her body partially turning like she was getting ready to walk away.
“I was going to stay and watch if that’s okay.”
“Sure. That’s fine. You can walk through the stable, or you can just hang out there on the railing. You’ll be able to see everything from there once we get the horses out and start riding.”
“All right. I wish I would have known or thought to ask what you are going to do with the horses. I probably couldn’t afford to buy all of them, but the kids seem pretty attached to them.”
“They do. And I actually sold them for much less than what they’re worth in order for them to be able to go to good homes. I… I appreciate your offer being more than the asking price, and it enabled me to be a little bit more choosy about the home for my horses.” She paused. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure. I understand that you’ve been giving my children counseling sessions without charging for them. I felt like it was the least I could do.”
“Your children are special. I felt especially bad for them because they had the double whammy of losing their mom and having you go and spend time with the business to keep it from going under.” She paused and then added softly, “I hope that doesn’t sound like I was prying. It’s just comments that your sisters and mother have made while they’ve been here.”
“No problem. That’s common knowledge, and I wouldn’t have thought that you were prying. I understand from them that you care a lot about the children, and I see a big difference in them. My family credits a lot of that to you.”
She gave a small smile, and nodded her head, but didn’t agree or disagree. “They’ve done excellent. I’ve been very pleased with their progress. They all had great attitudes, although the first few months this year, January and February, were a little bit tough. Not only because we couldn’t always get out in the ring and ride, but because I know they were dealing with a lot, losing their mom and making all those adjustments.”
“Yeah. It was a tough year for all of us, but the future looks bright, and I definitely fell in love with your property. It’s beautiful.”
“Yeah. I’ve been blessed, and I’m grateful that it’ll have children on it again. And children I love. I don’t say this very often, but of all of my clients, they’re my favorites.”
Maybe that explained why she had given them therapy for free. Or maybe she was just generous with all of her clients that way. If so, it was no wonder that she lost her farm. He hated to think like that, since generosity shouldn’t be punished by the loss of one’slivelihood, but on the other hand, a person couldn’t have a business and not charge, or they would go out of business rather quickly, as he was pretty sure Summer could testify to.
“Do you have a place to stay?” he asked, and he wasn’t sure why the question came out of his mouth.
“Yeah. I got a room with a friend in Mistletoe Meadows. So I won’t be far away.”
“But if you’re getting rid of all of your horses, you won’t be giving therapy lessons anymore.” He knew that. After all, they’d made a big deal about this being the last day for his kids for therapy. So, most likely everyone she had been giving lessons to were having their last days for the last two weeks or so.
