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“Evie Bean, just remember it isn’t Claude, so be more careful than usual with this pony.”
“I know,” she says. “It’s going to be great. Promise.”
Ashton reassures Sam, “I’ll keep an eye on the situation.”
As if I need his help. I don’t. But when my eyes trace him from head to toe, I know I don’tneedhis help but I sure as hell want it.
I tell Eve about her horse—all are tacked up and tied on along the wall. “Eve, yours is the painted one on the end. Her name is Grace.”
“I’m so excited to try a new horse.” She claps her hands together quickly, the way she always does when she’s jumping out of her skin. She beams.
I bask in her sunlight. She has a way of making everyone smile.
“I’m stoked for you. I hope you’re going to invite me when you go to the Special Olympics. We’ll get you prepared in no time.”
“Of course you’re invited!”
“Me, too?” Ashton butts in.
Eve cocks her head. “Do you like barrel racing?”
“Who doesn’t?” He wobbles his head like it’s a silly question.
“Then come!”
Ashton glances at me. “We should get some of those foam fingers and we can write ‘Eve’ on them.”
Eve giggles. “Those are for baseball games.”
He points at her. “Not anymore.”
She laughs again. “I’m going to say hi to Grace.” She walks over to her pony, slips a tail comb out of her pocket, and has a go even though Grace is already groomed. Eve has always loved grooming.
I walk toward the door to the arena, and Ashton follows me.
“You’re just butting into anything and everything now. Taking over my class. Wiggling your way into family trips…” I peek through the doorframe to see if anyone else is arriving and tease. “You’re getting roped left and right these days. Yesterday, Gareth. Today, your mom.”
A father and son arrive at the far end of the corridor.
Ashton leans into me, and I don’t turn to face him but taste a tall drink of Cool Water cologne.
“I would have come even if she didn’t make me”
I don’t want him to see the satisfaction bursting my heart right now.
He adds, “I had fun yesterday.”
I greet a student and his father. “Come on in, Brant. Sir, you can just come back in an hour.”
The father tips his hat and doesn’t waste a second to leave, sliding his cell out of his pocket.
I lean down. “Brant, at the end is Eve. You have the dark bay next to her, and his name is Slim.”
Brant walks off, kicking through the sand as he goes.
I still stare into the corridor, gaze averted from Ashton. I can’t face him or my body would burst into a sunbeam at the thought of him wanting to be here, at him having fun. I did, too, and I should admit it, but it’s nice for the tables to be turned. “You had fun last night and so you came back willingly to annoy me again?”
He pokes his tongue in his cheek. “You didn’t seem annoyed last night.”
