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‘Do you need to make a hole in the sign?’ Abigail sounded concerned.
Hazel shook her head. ‘I have some super strong adhesive pads in the office that have worked well for other name plaques; we’ll try those, shall we?’
In the office, Hazel began to laugh at herself when she couldn’t find what she was looking for. ‘I like to think I’m organised, but they’re fairly small pads, they could literally be anywhere.’
‘I’ll help.’ Abigail was already opening up the drawer to the left of the desk while Hazel hunted on the shelves in the corner and the tidy boxes kept on there.
‘What do they look like?’ Gus asked. ‘White? Black? How big?’
Hazel explained they weren’t very large at all. ‘They’re white and will be on a backing sheet like a piece of paper.’
Abigail kept hunting. Kneeling on the desk, before Gus could tell her not to do that, she plucked a piece of paper from a colourful notebook on the shelf. ‘Nope, that’s not them,’ she declared, but about to put back the piece of paper, she began to giggle.
‘What are you laughing at?’ Gus wondered, but Hazel had already come forwards and she looked hot and bothered, despite it being reasonably cool in here. And when Abigail, still amused, held out the piece of paper, he realised exactly what it was.
‘I can explain,’ Hazel said awkwardly, unable to meet his gaze.
‘Is this you, Dad?’ Abigail asked her question with her hand across her eyes as she refused to look again.
‘Lucy…’ Hazel stumbled over her words. ‘She drew it… I mean, she’s good at art.’
‘She is,’ Gus agreed, enjoying this moment. ‘She made the signs for Denby.’
‘And she draws.’
Hazel’s embarrassment made him want to pull her against him so they could laugh it off together. ‘I know,’ he batted back, rather enjoying the way her cheeks flushed and she held her breath high in her chest as though she might burst. ‘She showed me drawings at her workshop, she’s talented.’
At last Hazel looked at him. ‘She gave me you… I mean, that… after the class.’
‘And you kept it.’ It wasn’t a question but an observation that pleased him.
‘Got them!’ Abigail announced gleefully, waving a sheet with little white adhesives on it in the air.
‘Then let’s get those signs on,’ declared Hazel, putting the drawing back inside the notebook and leaving it in the office without looking at Gus again.
In the tack room, with the adhesives on the signs, Hazel let Abigail do the honours for the bridle place and then saddle spot. Abigail admired them for all of a few seconds before she gathered Denby’s tack together.
‘She’s excited,’ Gus told Hazel as they left the tack room and went back around to the paddocks.
‘I can see that.’
He really wanted a chance to keep on talking, but with Abigail ready to groom Denby and get him ready, he sensed he wouldn’t get much chance, especially not with Cinnamon this side of the fence too. Sally must be taking him for a ride and now he could hear Abigail guiding the woman in how to pick out the horse’s feet, as though Sally hadn’t done the same a thousand times before. Arnold was standing by, laughing at the exchange too.
Gus supposed he’d talk to Hazel later. And it was strangely nice to know she had that picture of him, albeit a bit uncomfortable. He might have sat there naked that night for the artists to draw, but to see the image floating around weeks after the class and the whole sorry experience was over with was strangely discombobulating.
‘Would you like your present now?’ Hazel asked Abigail. ‘I hope you’re not disappointed.’ She pulled a face.
‘What is it?’ Abigail grew impatient but remembered to give Denby’s rear end a wide berth, so she didn’t risk being kicked when she came around to see Hazel.
‘Your birthday present is me. Well, me and Cinnamon, for a session in the school, and then, if you’re up to it and your dad says yes, we’ll ride down the lane and around to the bridleways.’
Abigail ran to Hazel and almost knocked her flying with a hug she clearly didn’t expect. ‘Thank you! Thank you! A proper ride, Dad!’
‘I know, that’s amazing.’ He smiled at his daughter, but his focus wandered over to Hazel, this confident, beautiful woman who had just made his daughter’s day.
He watched as Abigail finished grooming Denby and Hazel did the same for Cinnamon, and when both horses were tacked up, Hazel reiterated that they’d start in the school. She most likely wanted to gauge Abigail’s behaviour alongside her own confidence before they ventured out. And that was fine by him.
Gus went over to Hazel’s side as she got ready to mount up. Sally was helping Abigail by holding Denby still. ‘Thank you for doing this.’
