Page 95 of Stables

What I don’t know is what the hell to do.

Stay here? I’m upside down on the farm, and—

Fuck. Crippling pain seizes my chest when I remember my horses.

I hate Matt so much.

But I thought I loved him once.

Am I going down that same path again? Why can’t I just be sure?

I try to shake the questions out of my head and get dressed.

One day at a time.

Where’s my phone? Oh yea, still in my purse from after dinner.

Libby: How’d it go meeting the family?

Libby: Did you make it home?

Libby: You better be getting lucky…

Libby: OMG CALL ME I NEED DETAILS

Her texts are an hour apart.

My face burns as I get further into them.

Me: Long story, will fill you in later. XO

The little three dots appear almost immediately.

Libby: You can NOT leave me hanging like that! Is he still there, or do I need to come kick daddy ass?

Me: He’s still here, that part’s a-okay.

Libby: Is that code? What are the kids calling it nowadays?

That makes me snort. She’s younger than I am. Heck, she just turned twenty-one last fall.

“Mommy! I have shrimp.” Paisley proudly holds up her chunky fist as her little legs kick happily in her high chair.

I still can’t believe Dixon bought a whole bag of it for her to keep in the freezer. But he wouldn’t let me argue with him at the grocery store, just dropped it in the cart and kept pushing.

Seeing the wide toothy grin makes me lose any will to fight him on it.

“Is it yummy?” I fill the teapot with water and slide next to Dixon at the oven to set it on the burner.

The eggs and sausage he’s cooking smells amazing.

“Mmm,” she hums and takes another bite.

Pausing, I’m not really confident in us crossing the physical boundary, but I give in and let my arm circle his waist.

He doesn’t wait, but wraps me close to kiss the top of my head before stirring the food.

“I’m afraid you’re setting very high standards for Paisley.” I glance over to catch her picking up another pink shrimp.

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