Page 95 of Gideon's Gratitude

“Kennedy runs her own schedule, and I don’t tell her what to do. Even if she does work too much.” She pointed to herself. “And I’m exactly the same. I don’t turn off a switch after the last patient goes home. We decided, when we opened Healing Horses, that we’d try to create some personal space. Living here, though, makes that tough. Still, Sunday is always blocked off, and we take limited appointments on Mondays.”

“That’s still a lot.”

“Getting Kennedy to actually leave the property’s a challenge. My sisters and I buy her a spa certificate every year, and she takes our youngest sister, Autumn, with her. Well, Autumn’s a twin, but Summer’s not really interested in hanging with Kennedy.”

“Is that the sister you were mad at?”

She laughed. “No, that’s Spring. Talk about a spitfire.She’s hell on wheels.”

I blinked. “Five of you?”

She shook her head. “Nope. Eight. All girls.”

I blinked again.

Chapter Seventeen

Gideon

“Kennedy is the eldest of eight sisters?” I tried to envision that in my mind.

“Right? Mind blown.” Archer chuckled as he turned the SUV right from the driveway and pointed us home.

“Okay, but you’re the eldest of eight kids…”

“True. But not all boys. I mean, as precocious as my brothers are, my sisters had at least a mild moderating effect.” He paused. “Except Chelsea—she brings chaos upon everything and everyone.”

“I was an only child. Leo was an only child. We wanted our children to have siblings. Not because being an only child was horrible—it wasn’t. We both had decent parents. His were nicer, but…” I sighed. “The whole gay thing upended all of that.”

He pressed a hand to my thigh before returning it to the steering wheel. “It’s great that Melodie and Trevor have each other.”

I fought the ache in my chest. “Yeah, it really is. Melodie never tires of him. Or at least she didn’t when I…” I swallowed. “Leo would tell me if there were problems, right?”

“I’ll say that I hope so. Parental alienation is a hardnofor me. I make it clear to my clients that’s not right. Now, as I always say, abuse and neglect negate that warning. But bad-mouthing the other parent just because one can doesn’t work for me. And kids remember that shit. I’ve seen more than one adolescent turn on the parent doing the alienation.”

“They’re so young, though, Archer. If he makes little comments about me, they don’t have the ability to call bullshit.”

He sighed. “I know.” He turned us onto the main road. “Do you want to go out for dinner?”

“I have a rotisserie chicken in the fridge.”

“Then we’ll go home.”

“It can keep until tomorrow.” He wouldn’t have suggested if he hadn’t wanted to. Right? And aside from shopping, I hadn’t left the house this week. Well, that and Lucky walks. “Oh shit. We’ll have to run Lucky home. He’s probably be okay in the car, but it’s a little—”

“I’d never leave him in the car. We can go home. I just thought you might want to go out.”

“Maybe…” I squinted as a set of headlights filled the windshield.

“Close your eyes. Shit, he’s got his brights on.” Archer flicked his lights.

The oncoming beam dimmed.

“Damnit.”

“It’s okay.” I rubbed my forehead as the pickup truck passed. “Nothing to be done about it.”

“People are so rude.”

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