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“Thank you, Love. That was pretty much where I was leaning, but you just confirmed for me that it’s the right call. Have fun at your function tonight.”
“As. If. I’d much rather be there with you.”
“I know. I love you.”
“I love you, too. Good luck tomorrow. I hope this is the one. If it is, please text me. I’d like to send Pippa and her new pony some gifts.”
“You shouldn’t spoil her,” I admonish.
“A girl only gets her first pony once.”
The next morning,I fetch Pippa from her best friend, Jenny’s house.
“Who lives there?” Pippa asks as I enter our destination into the SatNav.
“It’s a surprise,” I answer.
She opens her mouth, presumably to ask another question, but then just shuts it again and stares out the window.
“Did you and Jenny have fun last night?”
“We did. We played Showjumping Madness after tea, and then we watched International Velvet.
“That does sound like a fun night.”
“What did you do, Daddy?”
“Nothing special. Just went to the pub for a pint, and then home.”
She shrugs and watches the countryside go by until we turn off the road and up a long drive between two fields containing too many horses and ponies for the surprise to last much longer.
“Daddy…?” she asks with a suspicious lilt to her voice.
“Yes, Poppet?”
“Are we here to look at another pony?”
“We are.”
“Okay,” she says with none of her usual excitement.
I have an urge to tell her that it’s okay, that it’s going to be fine because I didn’t pick this one. But in the end, it’s better she goes in expecting the worst than getting her hopes up only to have another disappointment.
Charlotte is waiting for us with Ailsa, her bodyguard, when we pull into the yard. Her expression is unreadable, for which I am grateful.
She holds out her hand to Pippa. “Come meet Storm, see if you like each other.”
I quickly pull Pippa’s boots and helmet from the back of the Land Rover and follow along as Charlotte leads the way to the indoor ring where a stunning grey pony is tacked up and waiting patiently.
“Alfred, Pippa, I’d like you to meet Claire Longton and Storm.”
Pippa is tentative at first, she’s been burned too many time during our quest for her own pony. But it doesn’t take Storm long to convince my baby to take a chance on love.
“Are you ready to try her out?” Charlotte asks.
The grin on Pippa’s face is infectious. I haven’t seen her look this happy in way too long.
Charlotte comes to stand next to me as Claire gives Pippa a leg up. “I’ve got a surprise for you, too, cousin.”
