Page 30 of Scrape the Barrel
About fifteen minutes later, Red was untacked, brushed, and back in his stall. Avery ran out of the barn to her mom as I trailed behind her. Sage was still sitting on the bench, her fingers picking at the edge of the ice pack, but as Avery approached, she looked up.
“Did you see me, Mama?” Avery asked, though it was clear Sage had. I hadn’t missed Avery’s glances at her mother to make sure she was watching all the little milestones.
“I did, Aves. You looked so good.”
“Am I getting better?”
Sage looked up to me where I stood at the end of the bench with my arms crossed. “I think you should ask your instructor that. I don’t know a thing about horses,” Sage admitted.
“Maybe you can learn, too,” Avery said to her.
Sage’s eyes widened slightly. “I think all the learning should be for you right now. Maybe one day I will.” But she didn’t seem very convincing.
My attention caught on my mom striding over to us from the house. Sage followed my line of sight and stood, grabbing the ice pack off the bench.
“How’s the knee feeling?” my mom asked her.
“A lot better, thank you.” Sage held the now-melted ice pack out to my mom and she took it.
“Alternate between heat and ice and it should heal just fine. But to make today easier on you, I’m going to insist you stay for dinner.”
Sage’s brows pulled together. “Dinner? I can’t do that, I don’t want to impose—”
My mom waved her off. “Nonsense. It takes the stress of feeding this growing girl off your hands for the night. Please.”
Sage glanced over her shoulder at me, then back at my mom. “Okay. Thank you.”
My mom put a hand on Avery’s shoulder. “Why don’t you come get cleaned up in the house?”
Avery angled her head back to look at her. “Can I have a snack?”
“Of course. I have something I think you’ll love.” My mom bent down, whispering something in Avery’s ear that made a smile light up her face.
They headed in the direction of the house and Sage turned to me, apology written all over her face. “Are you okay with us staying?”
I dropped my arms to my sides. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I don’t know. It’s your family and we’rejust clients…”
I shook my head, not really sure what to say. I’d never had a student and their mother stay for dinner at my parents’ house, but Sage didn’t feel like all my other clients.
“You’ll just have to excuse my siblings. They’re a bit…unhinged, sometimes.” Of all the nights for my mother to invite Sage and Avery to stay for dinner, it had to be the night that all my siblings would be here. Well, minus my younger brother, Beckham. He was competing in the circuit for bronc riding and didn’t make it home very often in the summer, opting to stay with friends or at hotels for most of the season.
“I’ve handled your siblings just fine at the cafe,” she pointed out.
“Not slightly buzzed and around family. Some of their comments—”
“Callan, it’ll be okay.”
She was reassuringmeabout dinner withmyfamily.
I almost had to take a step back from the awe that slammed into me. The tightening of my chest had to be my imagination. For the first time, though, the tightness wasn’t a bad thing.
Sage was making my heart swell.
My siblings weren’t really people to apologize about, but a bit of a forewarning about them was helpful sometimes.Especiallywhen it came to a few of them in particular.
I just had to hope that everyone was on their best behavior tonight.
