Just that.
One word.
Not knowing what else to say, I open the door for Sabrina.
“Can we have a horse,Don?” she asks as soon as she’s standing beside him.
“No,” he says gently. “We don’t have a place set up for a horse.”
“We could build one,” she says hopefully. “I know how to use a hammer.”
“Let’s start by visiting your friend’s animals tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.”
Her face brightens like he’s just given her the world instead of a polite maybe.
“Say goodbye to your friend,” he tells her softly. “We need to head home to your papa. He’s worried and angry that he couldn’t come to you himself.”
“Well, he would’ve been able to if he wasn’t on guard duty.”
“Indeed.”
“Bye, Livy. I can’t wait to see your farm tomorrow.”
“Me too,” Livy says excitedly. “I can’t wait to show you how to braid the horses’ manes.”
“Be good for your mama, Olivia,” Mr. Moretti tells my daughter. “Thank you again for protecting my family when I couldn’t.”
“You’re welcome,” she says proudly. “I was pretty brave, huh?”
“The bravest,” he says with a soft chuckle. “See you tomorrow, little one.”
“Bye, Livy,” Sabrina says. “Bye, Ms. Livy’s mama.”
I smile despite myself. “Bye, Sabrina.”
“Tomorrow,bella,” Mr. Moretti says with a nod before leading Sabrina away.
I stare after him far longer than a normal person should.
“Why were you so quiet, Mama?” Livy asks. “You’re never that quiet.”
She’s not wrong.
I’ve never been tongue-tied before.
Not once.
I look down at my phone, then back toward the man walking away with Sabrina’s small hand tucked safely in his.
Who are you, Mr. Moretti?
***
By eight-thirty, I’m already ready for a nap.
Even though the morning is already warm enough to make sweat gather at the back of my neck, my fingertips are white where they curl around the clipboard.
Raynaud’s doesn’t care that it’s Palm Springs.
