AllFreeNovel
Share Us
18
Gus had found it difficult over the last couple of days to put what had happened up at the stables far enough to the back of his mind to focus on work, but focus was what he had to do. And not only with his veterinary practice: with Abigail, more importantly. He’d worried about his daughter and what she might take away from the whole confrontation she’d witnessed at Heritage View, something a ten-year-old should never have to see, with language reserved for 9 p.m. watershed television programmes.
Julie had been a surprise in all of this. Not only had she spent almost an hour talking on the phone with Abigail about what happened; she’d also called ahead the next evening and asked whether she could visit for a couple of hours after school on Monday, Abigail’s birthday rather than doing what she might usually do and sending a gift to tell her daughter she was thinking of her and making her feel special. In previous years, she would’ve cited work as an excuse not to come all this way during the week. But not this time. She’d come to the Cove and after a birthday tea all together, cake included, she had taken Abigail to see Denby before she went on her way.
Gus saw his final client of the day, a woman who lived on the outskirts of the Cove and had been in the Twist and Turn Bakery one day when Barney had a pile of flyers in his hand and promptly handed her one before telling her all about the new practice in the village. Bubbles, the patient, was the woman’s chocolate-coloured rabbit, with wide brown eyes, and it had an abscess on its neck that Gus drained before administering antibiotics. Before she left, the woman told him she also had three dogs and a cat as well as two guinea pigs, so she’d probably see him sooner rather than later.
Now, up at the Heritage View Stables with Abigail, the sun was shining and all Gus wanted to do was see Hazel. He hadn’t wanted to crowd her if she needed space, but he was desperate for her to know he was thinking of her and the brief exchange of text messages between them over the last couple of days hadn’t been enough. He wanted to put his arms around her to reassure her everything was going to be okay from now on, he wanted her to look up at him and smile in a way that showed him she believed it too. He might have turned up here to check on her had she not said in her message that her parents had decided to stay a whole week for some family time. He hadn’t wanted to interfere with that because it was important for Hazel to move on from what had happened. There was a history he’d never known about, and he knew what a weight from the past could do to you, it had the power to overwhelm and change things beyond your control. He knew from painful experience that there wasn’t a finite limit on how you coped with these things either. They took as long as they took. And he had a feeling he could wait for Hazel for a long while. She was worth it.
‘Hello, handsome boy,’ said Gus, as Denby sauntered over to them. Riding hat on, Abigail was raring to go. She knew he wouldn’t be able to take much time off over the summer given that his practice was new, but Gus had promised they’d be up here at the stables every day the moment he finished work. And Sandy had agreed to accompany Abigail here a couple of mornings a week, which was a great help.
Gus hadn’t realised Hazel had spotted them until he heard his daughter say her name and run over to greet her. He waited for Hazel to come closer. He loved the way her eyes met his but fell away, coy, unsure what to say.
Franklin came to the fence to see the three of them and Abigail told Denby it was his turn to have a fuss. She stroked the length of Franklin’s nose and let him nuzzle her hand as she apologised for not bringing a treat today.
Hazel plucked a couple of pieces of parsnip from her pocket when Franklin put his nose over the fence, as though he knew someone had something hidden away. It took Gus back to the day outside his practice when Cinnamon had sussed out he had an apple and had claimed it for himself.
Hazel handed one of the treats to Abigail to feed Franklin. ‘Does Denby like parsnips?’ she asked, hanging onto the other piece.
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Shall we see?’
Abigail took the treat and went over to Denby, who seemed to know his owner would be back his way. She held her palm flat and he wasted no time in taking the vegetable from her. ‘He likes it!’ Abigail announced happily.
‘Better add parsnips to my shopping list,’ Gus told Abigail, although his eyes were on Hazel and hers on him by now.
‘The sun is finally out,’ she said.
‘Yeah.’ He didn’t want to talk about the weather.
‘I’ll bet you were beginning to wonder whether this was really the start of the summer holidays with all that rain.’
‘Didn’t stop us coming up here,’ he said. He meant he had come for her, and he knew she understood, although Abigail had no intention of being excluded from this conversation. He longed to get Hazel alone.
‘Denby doesn’t mind rain,’ Abigail informed them, as if neither of them knew.
‘Franklin here gets really funny about walking through puddles if he has a rider on his back.’ Hazel’s confidence came back, talking about her horses. And when Abigail giggled, she added, ‘I’m serious. We’ve been out on hacks and reached a puddle and it’s taken forever to get through. I’ve had to dismount and lead him through it before I get back on.’
They were all laughing when Hazel’s parents Thomas and Sally came over to join them. Sally had the same smile and laugh as her daughter as she told an amusing anecdote to Abigail next, something about one of her horses – Gus didn’t catch the name – having a habit of nipping her on the bottom every time she tried to clean out his hooves. Abigail liked that story the best.
Gus was pleased to be so close to Hazel after a long couple of days waiting to see her properly. ‘How are you?’ He kept his voice low, not wanting everyone to hear him quizzing her as they shared more horse stories.
‘I’m good.’ And then, more convincingly, ‘Very good. I’m not magically mended, but for the first time, I can see more clearly.’
‘I’m glad. You look well, happy.’
‘Having the family around helps.’ She said, a little quieter, ‘So do you.’
His breath caught, not at the shock of what she was thinking, but that she’d been so honest about it. And her smile told him all he needed to know. She was moving forwards.
Abigail interrupted them again. Gus loved his daughter to pieces, but her timing left a lot to be desired, and when Hazel grinned at him, he knew she was thinking the same.
‘Can I put up Denby’s signs?’ From her backpack, Abigail took out the signs Lucy had made for Denby’s saddle place and bridle hook in the tack room.
‘That sounds like a great idea.’ Hazel admired the glossy, gold name plaques, both with Denby’s name alongside the silhouette of a horse. ‘These are beautiful. And happy birthday, Abigail. I have a little something for you as well, I’ll give it to you after.’
Gus didn’t know what to say but he knew this was what he’d wanted: to feel a part of something, the way he did already in this new village they called home.
