Page 35 of The Last Dance You Saved
“Have you ever gotten hurt?” Sadie asked.
“I broke my arm once, and I’ve had lots of cuts and bruises and strains, but you know what they say, ‘No pain, no gain,’” Fallon said with a smile.
“Your mom said you want to put on shows for your guests,” Sadie said. It wasn’t really a question, but it encouraged Fallon to talk in a way I wasn’t good at doing these days.
“My friend, Maisey, and I have a whole act worked out. And some of the other students at the Western riding school would be happy to perform. We can easily put on a show a couple of nights a week. I figured we could set up bleachers on the south side of the corral and maybe even sell popcorn and soda, that kind of thing. Maybe donate the profits to an equine rescue.”
The hope on my daughter’s face and the pride I felt at her thinking of a charity rather than lining her pocketbook was enough to almost split me in two. That had always been the Harrington way—you helped out your community. For Fallon, that meant the horses she loved as well as the people.
“We just have to convince old stingy here that we can actually make a go of it,” Fallon said, elbowing my arm so it slid off the rail. What would it mean to the community if the ranch was running at full capacity again? If it drew people to the area? I bit my cheek, uncomfortable with the idea of the ranch digging itself into me again.
Sadie turned to me. “Did you ever perform like that?”
I raised a single, sarcastic brow.
When I didn’t answer, Fallon did for me. “He did. You should see this picture of him that I have. He’s wearing a white outfit withsparkles!”
Sadie’s mouth fell open, and her eyes glistened with humor. It had me fighting back my own smile.
“I lost a bet with Spence,” I explained. “Ended up in aSaturday Night Feveroutfit—to which he added glitter, I might add—and then had to ride to the lake and back.”
“Did hemakeyou do the one-handed handstand on the horse’s back also?” Fallon smirked. I reached out and tweaked a braid.
“That was so Suzanne Perk didn’t get the idea I was more interested in her brother than her. I’d say she understood the message I sent.”
“Dad!” she laughed, and for the first time since leaving the ranch fourteen years ago, I was glad I was there. Seeing her happy like this, enjoying herself…it was a gift. One I didn’t want to lose.
But the reality was, even I might not be able to sustain the ranch for long at the rate it was losing money. Not without making Marquess Enterprises bleed too.
As if she’d read my mind, Fallon’s smile faded.
“I gotta go rub Daisy down, make sure she gets a treat.” She grabbed the horse’s reins and took off toward the exit of the corral.
I watched her, and all the while, Sadie stared at me. When I finally turned my head to glance up at her, there was a look of something like awe on her face before she tucked it away.
I wanted it back. I wanted her to be in awe for more reasons than I could count and more than were healthy for either of us.
“You’re good with her.” The amazement in her voice bit at me.
“It’s easy to be good with Fallon. She’s always been an even-tempered and agreeable kid.” Even with her gloomy, teen years torturing us right now, she’d never been rebellious, never argued for the sake of arguing—at least not until Spence had been ripped away from her.
“But she lived here, and you didn’t?” Sadie said.
Curiosity rippled off her, as if she had a thousand questions to ask, and I realized that was the way she’d been since I’d first met her. Insatiable. I wondered if she was that way in every aspect of her life, and what it would take to try to quench her ravenous nature. A hint of panic spun through my chest because giving Sadie pieces of me, telling her my history, might not allow me to walk away without leaving a mark, and I hadn’t let anyone brand me in years. But I also knew I’d have to give her something if I expected her to trust me with those secrets she was still hiding.
“You want answers, and so do I,” I told her. “You come to my place tonight, and I might give you a few, but I’ll expect some in return.”
She caught her bottom lip in her teeth and glanced away. “With what you offered last night, I didn’t think we’d be doing much talking.”
“We’ll get to that too.”
Her skin flushed, turning a delightful pink I wanted to lay my hands on. Those bright bluebell eyes turned dark like the deepest parts of the lake in the sunshine.
I backed up enough to hold my hand out to her. “You have breakfast yet?”
She slipped one leg over the rail and then the other before taking my hand and jumping down. She pulled away as soon as both feet were on the ground, but her touch lingered on my skin.
“I tried to help, but Lauren shooed me out to watch Fallon.” We headed toward the house, and she added on, “I think Lauren might work harder than anyone I’ve ever met. Harder than even my brother, and I didn’t think I’d ever meet someone who worked harder than Ryder.”
