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“Okay.” I pause, bracing. “That’s it? You aren’t going to tell me what a terrible person I am for taking a job under false pretenses, lying to everyone, and poaching their client?”
“All I’m going to say is I’m going to miss you.”
“I miss you too.”
“No.” She sounds genuinely sad. “I’m going to miss you because you’re never coming back.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Big city girl goes to small town where she shares a house with her best male friend she’s secretly had a crush on for years and gets a job with quirky locals. Read a few romances, Daisy. You’ll get it.”
“None of that makes any sense. Where’s the lecture about me not going through with my evil plot?” I’m not sure why I’m pushing this, but Sadie’s always been one of the kindest people I know. There’s no way she condones this plan.
“I know you, Daisy Weston. You’re not an evil genius. You’re better than Fernwood or Brantley. Better than this evil plot. I have to trust you’ll figure that out.”
Somehow, this is worse than her getting angry or hanging up on me. “And what if I don’t?”
“Then I’ll be here for you when it all hits home and you hate yourself.”
I swallow hard against rising bile. “You’re the evil genius.”
She cackles dramatically. She’s got a fantastic evil cackle. “I love you, babe. Take care of yourself and find a damn hobby.”
Like I have time for that. “Got any ideas for a hobby I can learn in ten minutes?”
“Get a pet. I’ve gotta go. There’s a meeting in five minutes.”
I hang up and stare at my phone. How did my path become so unclear? I’ve known exactly what I want out of life for as long as I can remember. I hate the doubt and uncertainty that swamps me now.
I shove my phone in my back pocket. It doesn’t matter what Sadie thinks, I’ll do anything to get my job back, even if I have to spend the rest of my life donating to charity to make up for it.
A whinny sounds outside and I’m on my feet and headed out the front door before I’ve made the decision to visit my new friend.Get a pet, Sadie said. Does a malnourished horse count?
I find the horse, standing in the full sunlight of midday, her hipbones and ribs jutting out under her mangy coat. She comes right over to me when I walk up to the fence and I pet her velvety soft muzzle. “You like people, don’t you? Even after humans have been so horrible to you. You’re a better woman than me.”
She neighs softly and lowers her head for me to scratch between her ears.
“She’s doing really well.” Dani steps up next to me, a smile warming her pretty face. “She’s strong, so Jared said she can hang out in the pasture for a bit each day as long as we keep her away from the other animals.”
“She’s a beauty.” I scratch around her ears and she leans into my hand. “It’s criminal what was done to her.”
“She likes you. Just make sure you wash your hands after touching her. Jared doesn’t see any signs of disease, but sometimes it doesn’t show up right away. She’ll be quarantined from the others for a bit even after she puts on some weight.”
“You aren’t sick, are you, girl?” Her eyes are too bright and aware for her to be sick. She swats her tail at flies and stamps her hooves like she’s impatient to be set free from her weakened state.
“How many years did you ride?” Dani asks.
“Nine. Dad rented a horse at the stables and called her mine, but she was never mine. I figured that out after he left and we had to move to Roanoke.” I’d cried in my room for weeks, but no one in my family understood how upset I was. They didn’t see how deep the bond between me and that horse went.
“Didn’t you win a bunch of competitions? I remember your bedroom wall covered in blue ribbons.”
“I won a few,” I say. “Does this mare have a name?”
“Zephyr.” She scrunches her nose. “Kind of an ugly name.”
“An ugly word with a pretty definition. It means a gentle breeze.”
She laughs. “From what I understand, nothing about this lady is gentle.”
