Page 6 of Time To Learn

I free my arms from around her small waist and lean back, blinking my own tearsaway.

“I’m sorry for making you think that,” I apologise. “I’ll do better, I promise.”

She sighs and nods, keeping quiet. Without another word, I stand, take her hand in mine again, and we start walking. As we draw nearer to the place that always makes me breathe a little easier, I mentally slap my cheek. I need to get a grip and stop wallowing in self-pity. The last thing I want is to have my eight-year-old daughter worry aboutme.

That’s so messedup.

Before we walk inside the bookshop, I tug her hand until she stops next to me. When she looks up at me, eyebrows raised in question, I tilt myhead.

“How about we go for a ride when we get home? I’m pretty sure Lady would likethat.”

When she beams up at me, a piece of my wounded heart mends a little. I take a deep breath, the foreign emotion unusual to me yet strangely familiar at the sametime.

“Yes! And will you ride Thunder thistime?”

My smile falters slightly. “I’m not sure he’s ready forthat.”

The grey gelding—our latest resident—isn’t exactly easy to be around and since he’s so difficult to handle, his anger and distrust in humans makes me particularly careful aroundhim.

Then again…maybe it’s time to start digging around inside me and find my old courage again.

“He’s really not that bad, Mum,” Ailith tells me, no doubt trying to convince me she’s right as I open the door. “He just needs some TLC, that’sall.”

I laugh quietly.

“Like I said, we’ll see. But first, we need to find some great books that’ll keep us warm at night, okay?”

“Mum,” Ailith giggles at me, “books can’t do that. It’s physically impossible.”

She rolls her eyes at me, and I clutch a hand at my chest in mock horror.

“Don’t say that, Ailith. You’ll hurt their hearts!”

When her giggle turns into loud laughter, I can’t hold back my own relieved laugh, and as I watch the spring in her step as I hold the door open for her, a small beam of sunshine lights up in mysoul.

Yes. It’s time to move on forgood.