Page 6 of Coming Up Roses

He trips over what to call me and I realise it’s one part of this we haven’t discussed. WhatisSadie going to call me?

“Oh,” Sadie says. “Scout’s my horse.”

“Yourhorse?” Dallas questions.

Sadie pouts. “Okay she’s Olivia’s horse. But Katie rides her and she’s teaching me to ride on her.”

“I’d love to meet her,” I say.

“I’ll get a carrot for her,” Sadie says, then races past us into the house, pausing just long enough to kick off her muddy boots at the back door.

“I guess we’re meeting her right now?” I ask, turning to Dallas who’s shaking his head with a fond smile on his lips.

“Looks that way.” His gaze lands on my shoes. “Come on, I’m sure Katie left some shoes here you can wear. They’ll be a little more suitable than those.”

“Are you judging my shoes?”

“You know I’d never. If you want to walk down to the barn and meet a horse in them, be my guest.”

“Katie’s shoes would be great, thanks … if she won’t mind.”

“She won’t mind, Abi. She’s really happy you’re here.”

“She is?” I can’t hide how unlikely I find this.

“Yeah. She wants what’s best for Sadie.”

“She knows what happened? What I did?”

“She knows,” Dallas says. “Admittedly I didn’t actually mean to tell her, but I was bleeding quite a lot, and in a fair amount of pain and then she made me get on the damn horse.” He runs a finger down his forearm, where I’ve noticed a fresh scar runs up the inside. “She understands, Abi. Trust me.”

We reach the house and he locates a pair of sneakers and socks. By the time I’ve pulled them on, Sadie is bouncing next to me, a carrot in her hand.

“Can we go now?” she asks the moment I stand upright again.

I glance down at my dress and sneakers combo. I look ridiculous. But I’m sure the horse won’t care. “Yeah, sure.”

Sadie skips along the driveway, leaving Dallas and I to walk side by side. By the time we pass by the main farmhouse, Sadie has settled into walking between us. She spends the time chattering about her riding lessons, Scout and another horse called Aurora.

We head down the hill to the barn, where two horses are grazing in the paddock off to the side.

“Oh, there’s Flynn,” Sadie says, waving enthusiastically even though he’s not looking in our direction. He’s doing something with a tractor. He might be … washing it? I’ve never considered washing tractors a thing, but I guess they need cleaning occasionally.

Sadie stops walking and I pause when I notice her presence missing beside me. I turn to find her staring up at me, confusion written in her expression.

“What’s up, Sadie?” I ask, squatting down so I’m at her height.

“I don’t know what to call you,” she whispers, her eyes going a little glassy.

“Well, my name is Abigail, or Abi, and I am your mum. So you can call me any of those. Whichever one you prefer.”

She mouths my name, then smiles and nods. “Okay.” She grabs my hand and tugs me forward. “Flynn!”

He looks up from the tractor. “Sadie!” he calls back.

She releases my hand and races down the hill, straight into his arms. He scoops her up and spins her around, their laughter echoing.

By the time we approach, Flynn is listening raptly as Sadie tells him about her day at school. When she catches sight of us, she wriggles and Flynn sets her feet back on the ground. She takes his hand and drags him toward us.

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