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Whoa.” Tess slowly approached Legacy, holding out a few carrots on the palm of her hand.
“I need to check on your wound,” she murmured. When she’d come out to the corral earlier this morning, the horse had refused to let her get too close, so she’d come back with bribes. “You like carrots. Remember?” At least the horse seemed to like them when Silas was the one offering them.
Tess had actually hoped she might run into Silas out here. He’d been checking on Legacy a couple of times a day—talking to the horse like he would a friend, from what she could tell. She wondered if he’d talked to the horse about whatever it was that had Aiden so upset. Had Silas confided in Legacy about his plans?
“He’s not moving, right?” She might as well talk to the horse too. “He’s been part of my support system since Jace died.” And sure, nowadays she needed less support, but he was still a part of their family. It startled her to realize how much she’d miss him if he was gone.
“I’m not supposed to have feelings for him.” At least not these kinds of feelings—the ones that made her heart throb with pain and anticipation and desire and fear and hope all at once. Maybe there’d been inklings before That Night in the banter between them, the friendly flirting. But ever since they’d kissed, those emotions had gained strength and momentum, threatening to carry her places she couldn’t go.
Legacy shuffled closer, stretching her neck to sniff toward the carrots.
“That’s it.” Focus. She had tofocus. Tess leaned in to get a better look at the horse’s nose. “I’d say you’re healing very well.” No redness or drainage coming from the gunshot wound was a good sign. “Go ahead,” she coaxed. “Eat the carrots.”
The horse finally gave in to temptation and scarfed them both out of her hand at the same time.
“Hey, Mom.” Morgan wandered to the fence and climbed up onto the first rail. “Whatcha doin’?”
“I was checking on Legacy before Callie and her dad come over.” That’s all she was doing. She hadn’t been out here hoping to run into a certain cowboy so she could figure out what secret future plans he’d made. What would she do if he told her he was leaving anyway? Beg him to stay? She couldn’t. Tess let out a controlled sigh. “Hey, hon, can you please refill Legacy’s water trough for me?”
Morgan hopped off the fence and dragged over the hose that was attached to a nearby water spigot. “Someone shot her. Didn’t they?” She slung the hose over the side of the watering tank and then went back to turn on the water.
“What makes you think someone shot her?” Tess let herself out of the gate and joined her daughter by the fence. She’d never lied to Morgan. She simply hadn’t given her all of the information regarding the horse’s injury. As a mom, she wanted to protect her daughters from the ugliness in the world as long as possible. But she knew she couldn’t protect them forever. Her daughter was observant and smart.
“You said someone hurt her.” A look of grave concern fell over her daughter’s features. “And she’s got that hole on her nose.”
“Yes, honey.” She put her arm around Morgan’s shoulders. “Silas and I found her with a gunshot wound.” She decided not to tell her daughter that she had been close enough to hear the gunshots. “But please don’t tell Willow, okay? I don’t want her to be scared.”
Thankfully, Aiden and Kyra had volunteered to take Willow out to lunch and over to their house for the afternoon so Morgan and Callie would have some space to make amends without the little sister interfering.
“I won’t tell Willow,” she promised. “Why would someone do that, Mom? Why would someone hurt Legacy so bad?”
There were so many moments as a parent that she didn’t have an explanation to offer. And in this case, she couldn’t even make one up. “I don’t know. It’s nothing I can understand.”
“They’re bullies, aren’t they?” Morgan frowned up at her. “Anyone who picks on someone else who’s not as strong as them is a bully.”
“That’s true.” Tess prodded her daughter to move toward the house since Brad and Callie would arrive any moment. “And it’s important to stand up to bullies. But standing up to them is not about getting revenge.” If nothing else, she could at least turn this into a teachable moment.
“You mean like when I spit on Callie’s shoes.” Her daughter didn’t phrase the words as a question. She’d gotten old enough to recognize a parallel when she saw one.
“Right.” She paused and faced her daughter. “Can you think of something else you could’ve done instead?”
Morgan seemed to give the question some thought. “I guess I could’ve started a new game,” she finally said. “With some of the other kids she’s mean to. She’s mean to a lot of people.”
“That’s too bad.” Tess hoped she didn’t regret inviting Callie over for the afternoon. But it was too late now. Brad’s truck turned onto their driveway. “Maybe you’ll have the chance to see a different side of her today.” Unless she missed her guess, the girl was hurting. She was probably feeling insecure. Her mother hadchosento leave. While Morgan and Willow both understood that the choice hadn’t belonged to Jace. He would still be here with them if he could’ve been.
“I’ll be nice to her today.” Morgan started to trudge toward the house. “But if she’s mean to me, we don’t have to invite her over again, right?”
“No. We don’t have to invite her over again if she’s not kind to you today.” As much as she wanted Morgan to learn to do the right thing, she also wanted to teach her daughter healthy boundaries. “If someone treats you poorly even when you’re kind to them, then it’s time to walk away.” Being kind and letting someone walk all over you were two very different things.
“Okay, Mom.” Her daughter gave her a smile as they waited for Brad and Callie to meet them in front of the porch.
“We’re so glad you could come.” Tess shook Brad’s hand again.
“Hi, Callie. I’m really sorry I spit on your shoes,” Morgan added with her eyes downcast.
“That’s okay.” The girl tossed her long red hair over her shoulder. “I guess I was being kind of a jerk. At least that’s what my dad said.”
Brad held up his hands in protest. “I didnotcall you a jerk.”
