Page 79 of Growing Into Love

“Good to see you, mate,” Declan says, throwing an arm around my shoulders.

“Hey,” I say, my head spinning. “What a terrific surprise.”

“You know Autumn, she loves surprises.” Declan is grinning from ear to ear. “And Cass should have her family here to support her.”

I feel a bit odd standing next to Dec after everything that’s happened with Cass. I try and come up with some casual line of conversation, but all words have abandoned me. I’ve never had Conversation Cat around Dec before.

“We’re staying the night and flying back tomorrow so it will be jet lag central at Oak Hill,” Autumn jokes. “But Winter and Virgil arrived two days ago, so—”

“There will be a Wright looking after the farm,” Cass says, smiling through her tears. May hands her a tissue and she blows her nose. “Thank you, guys,” she says sincerely. “This really means the world.”

“Cass, I wanted to say something,” Declan says.

“What,” Cass says warily. Autumn looks cautiously optimistic.

“I’ve been doing some hard thinking,” Dec says. “And Nate’s calmed down quite a bit since he made friends with Mr. Pickles. I—”

“Hang on, who the hell is Nate?” Cass demands.

Declan flushes. “Oh, er, well Naturally Sweet was a mouthful so…”

“So you named him Nate?”

“It just came out one day,” Dec insists. “He likes it.”

Cass’s lips twitch. “I like it too.”

Declan looks surprised for a moment then plows ahead. “He can stay on at Oak Hill. At your sanctuary, I mean. You were right, Cass. The farm is as much yours as it is mine. I was wrong not to see how capable you are. You’re not a kid anymore. Sorry it took me so long to realize.”

“Oh, you pigheaded old mule,” Cass cries, bursting into tears again and throwing her arms around her brother.

Declan hugs her warmly. “I believe in you,” he murmurs.

I check the time.

“Cass,” I say. “We’ve got a course to walk.”

“Right, shit,” Cass says, wiping her eyes. She beams around at her family. “I love you all so much.”

“We love you too,” May says.

“Now go beat the pants off Nigella and win this thing,” Charles declares, and everyone laughs.

Cass and I walk into the ring and there’s a bounce in her step, a confidence that not even Nigella can shatter. We walk the course twice, paying special attention to the outside lines and the flowers at jump seven. When we’ve finished, we head to the tent where the competitors wait. Lisa is there with Gal, all ready to go. Cass checks the martingale and gives Lisa a hug.

“Thanks for taking such good care of her,” she says.

“It was my pleasure,” Lisa replies, grinning. Then she leans in and whispers, “I hope you win!”

It feels like a million spiders are wriggling in my chest as the riders start to jump, one by one. Cass is third to last and absolutely nails it—she’s only off Nigella’s time by two seconds. Three riders are eliminated for faults and then the second round begins.

“You’ve got this,” I say to her. “I think if you get into the triple faster, you can beat Nigella’s time.”

Cass nods and adjusts her helmet. Her jaw is set, her eyes glinting with determination. My heart swells in my chest. I’m so damn proud of her.

She swings herself up into the saddle as the announcer calls her name. Then she holds her head high and trots into the ring.

TWENTY-THREE

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