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With only a couple of hours before school pick-up, Gus made a sandwich before he tackled more of the boxes in the kitchen, putting away pots and pans, more plates, glasses, cups and all the small things that together mounted up. It was beginning to feel more like home.
By the time Gus was due to collect Abigail, he’d mastered the art of distraction and hadn’t worried too much about his daughter. But now his heart pounded harder as he passed the school gate and found a place to pull up. They’d agreed this was where he would wait, and he was a good fifteen minutes before the bell, so there was no danger of her missing him. She’d been going to school for years and pick-up had never felt so tense as it did today. Even after the accident and her return to school, this was different. Back then, she had a small group of friends who knew what happened, who carried on with her as normal. But here, it felt like he’d thrown her into a lion’s den.
When he finally saw Abigail approaching in his wing mirror, she didn’t look distraught, although she didn’t look happy either.
She flung open the car door. ‘When’s Denby coming?’ Ah, of course. Denby was on her mind.
‘Hi, Dad, I had a lovely day, thank you,’ he joked, relieved that at least there were no tears.
She didn’t respond to his sarcasm. And when he asked about her day, she shrugged, ‘It was good.’ And she smiled at him as though it were no big deal. Gus noticed she’d taken her hair out of its bobble. He hoped it wasn’t because she wanted to hide behind the curtain of light brown locks the way she’d sometimes done in the past to stop people seeing so much of the scarring. But he wasn’t going to comment.
‘When’s Denby coming?’ she persisted.
‘One thing at a time. Now open the glove compartment, there’s a little gift in there for you.’
She pulled it open and took out the water bottle and broke into a smile before she leaned over for a cuddle that lasted long enough for Gus to realise she’d missed him today. He kissed her on the cheek and she pulled away like most girls of her age would, the way she had done in the early days with her injuries as she remembered the scars were there, the scars Gus had got used to and were now a part of her. If it was just the two of them, or they were with Joan and Denby, then he was a lot calmer and less overprotective, but as soon as other people came into the mix, Gus panicked, and he hated the way some strangers reacted to his daughter. It was as though they’d never seen a person who was slightly different, as though they couldn’t see past the marks on her face and their curiosity, their impulsiveness to ask her what happened led to questions that they didn’t stop to think she might not appreciate.
Gus gave Abigail another hug and kiss and told her they were from Joan. He checked his mirrors, glanced over his shoulder, and pulled away from the kerb. ‘I called her to tell her that Denby has a home at Heritage View Stables as of this weekend.’
Now his daughter looked happy. ‘He’s coming at the weekend?’ When he nodded, still admiring her bottle, she went on, ‘Do you think they’ll let me put up his plaque?’
‘I don’t see why not.’
‘Can we go there now?’ She sipped from the icy cold water he’d already put in the bottle for her. ‘To the stables.’
He turned into another street. ‘They’re busy up there, but we could pay a quick visit.’ Hazel had implied that owners could pop in whenever they liked.
‘I can’t wait to see where Denby is going to live.’
Gus turned onto the main street and drove through the village, turning off before the bend near a beautiful-looking inn. They followed the lane all the way down to another one that led up to the entrance of Heritage View House and Stables.
Abigail was aghast. ‘Someone lives here?’ She took in the big residence, all the green space around, the horses in the paddocks.
‘The owners live here. And Denby will be one of ten horses, so he’ll have company.’
‘He’ll have friends,’ she smiled. ‘I like that.’
He parked up in the car parking area and they walked in through the gates. Gus spotted Hazel before she saw him. She was in the outdoor school taking a lesson, instructing a woman on horseback as she turned the horse and again had it trot over poles lined up on the floor and then went over a jump made by poles crossed in the middle. Hazel and the woman were engrossed in what they were doing, and Hazel didn’t notice him and Abigail until after she’d tugged her blonde hair from its ponytail and run both hands through it. She opened up the gate to the school for the woman to ride out on her horse, onto the concrete area, which seemed to be where the tacking up and dismounting happened, as was the case this morning.
Hazel came over to them as she put her hair neatly back into its band. ‘Hello again.’ Her eyes immediately wandered to Abigail. ‘You must be Denby’s other owner.’
‘This is Abigail,’ said Gus, one arm around his daughter’s shoulders.
‘It’s good to meet you, Abigail.’ Hazel waved a hand in front of her face. ‘Excuse me, I’m really hot, would you mind if I went and got a drink and sorted Lorna out?’
She must mean the woman who’d already dismounted and secured the horse outside. ‘Of course, we won’t take up too much of your time, Abigail was just curious and wanted to have a look at the place.’
‘As every good horse owner should be.’ She smiled at his daughter, her expression not giving away whether she’d registered the scars that made one side of Abigail’s face so different from the other.
This woman was beautiful, no doubt about it, and he watched her head over to the rider to say a few words and then go in another direction, presumably to get that drink.
‘Dad,’ came Abigail’s voice with a sense of urgency, and when he turned, she was looking up at him. ‘You’re staring at that lady.’
‘I’m not,’ he denied. Although it was true.
‘You were, and you know I hate it when people stare.’
‘You’re quite right, Abigail.’ He pulled her closer in a playful headlock, ruffling her hair. ‘I’m very rude.’
