Page 28 of Poppy Kisses
I tipped my head. I could probably guess which words. Any sight word, for one. Sometimes, the words that could be easily sounded out weren’t so easy for kids like Auggie. “That sucks.”
“Now I tell them, shut up. I’m dysplex-dysl...” He worked his jaw like he was straightening out his tongue. “Dyslexic. Teacher’s helper told me to quit saying shut up.”
I bit back a smile. Shut up was easier to say than dyslexic. “Did she also tell the other kids to quit asking you why you can’t spell?”
He shook his head.
“You should tell your dad so he can talk to your teacher. You shouldn’t tell others to shut up, and they shouldn’t make you feel bad.” Some was natural curiosity, but without education, the cycle would continue.
“Hey,” Jensen said from the doorway. His gaze fell on his son and concern grew in his eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Talking about spelling,” I said.
“Do you have trouble with right and left?” Auggie asked his dad.
“Sometimes,” he answered. “Not as much as when I was your age.”
Auggie nodded like he’d conducted an experiment and the results were as expected.
“Getting our girl settled in?” Jensen asked.
My insides went dangerously liquid at the casualour girlcomment. “This is a nice room.”
“Wanna see mine?” Auggie asked. “I have a tool set like Dad’s.”
“His is plastic,” Jensen clarified.
“Absolutely, I want to see.” I followed them to tour the second level. I’d follow Jensen up twenty flights of stairs if I could have that butt flexing in front of me.
I stopped in the doorway. “Whoa.”
“Yeah,” Jensen said almost apologetically.
The floor of Auggie’s room wasn’t completely covered with toys and school papers but close. Pictures of horses and cowboys filled his walls. Cartoon cowboys covered the far wall. In a line across from his twin bed with the comforter full of horses and horseshoes were four pictures of horses.
Auggie pointed to the one on the farthest right. “That’s Midnight Reins, Mom’s favorite horse.”
“Favorite from when?” I had to moderate my tone. It had seemed like Hassie had had a new favorite horse for each season. Her parents bought and sold horses faster than I could learn their names. She’d bragged about each new purchase and then had boasted about how much her parents had sold them for. I’d heard her mom tell mine that her new car hadn’t cost as much as one of her barrel-racing geldings.
“Last year,” Auggie answered. “He won her eighty grand in one month.”
I gaped at Jensen and mouthedeighty grand?
His lips thinned, and he nodded. “She had a good year last year.”
Auggie dug in his dresser and withdrew a magazine. “She sent me this.” He opened it to a full-page spread of a gorgeous, blue-eyed Hassie smiling at the camera with her pearl-white teeth. A beige cowboy hat was on her head, with her long blonde hair streaming out behind her. The headline read “Barrel Sensation.”
“Wow. Okay.” I took the magazine, wishing I could close it and toss it in the trash. Even on paper, she was captivating. “I used to be friends with your mom.”
Auggie’s face lit up, and he adopted a toothy grin. “Were you best friends?”
I had to answer carefully. Jensen’s gaze weighed heavily on me, but he didn’t speak for me.
“Early on,” I said, finally. “We met in kindergarten and were inseparable.” Until she’d left me behind. It wasn’t until fifth grade that I had noticed a change. Our friendship wasn’t equal. It was her telling me how great she was. “Then she got into horse shows and competing, and I moved to Billings.” I handed him the magazine. I didn’t need to read about her accomplishments, not when I was marrying her ex-husband in order to open my business. “You must be proud of her.”
Auggie nodded. “She’s going to call soon.”
Jensen’s expression was stony. He swallowed and looked away.
