Page 6 of The Interview
“As long as it keeps away the tears and stops Dad swinging for someone, you can do whatever works,” Lu tells me.
Chastity steps away, and my daughter comes back into view. She stares down at me with eyes so much like my own, they make my stomach and heart do backflips as they fill with tears.
“You’ve got this. I love you. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever known, and I’m so fucking proud of you, what you’ve overcome, what you’ve achieved. Now, deep breath, then slay, Queen!”
An hour later, we’re ending the tour I’ve given Daniel of the parts of the house that’ll be accessible to him and his crew while we film over the next few weeks, out in the stables.
I introduce him to Nelly and Bean, the girls’ ponies they’ve had since they were kids, and Iris—named after one of my favourite songs—my old girl, who’s right now throwing her head about and neighing in anticipation of the treat she knows I’ll likely have for her.
“Do you ride?” I ask Daniel as I feed Iris a banana, her absolute favourite.
“Horses? No,” he says, and I catch his wink when I glance over my shoulder at him standing about three feet away from me, looking terrified, his arms folded across his chest as he attempts not to brush against anything. “Although, back in the day, I was partial to the occasional stallion,” he says with an eye roll at his own joke.
I return the eye roll.
“How old is she?” he asks.
“Twenty-six. She was a wedding present from Sean. I’ve had her since she was four months old.”
Iris nudges at my head when I turn my back on her to talk to Daniel, before resting her chin on my shoulder and giving a loud snort while I rub at her forehead.
“Cam doesn’t mind that you kept her?”
I pause at his question, and Iris pushes her muzzle into my hand and sniffs, distracting me as a stark realisation slithers uninvited over me. When I look from my horse back to Daniel, his head is tilted to the side while he waits for my answer.
“Can I tell you something honestly?” I ask.
“Of course.”
“It was never discussed. We’ve never…” I trail off as I process, for the very first time, how keeping Iris might have made Cam feel.
“Does he know? Cam, does he…?”
“Of course. The first time I introduced them, I told him. He’s always known, and when we bought this place, he specifically looked for somewhere with stables. She’d been at my parents’ place for a few years, but we moved her here with us eventually, and I started riding again. I hadn’t—not for a while. I’d been pregnant and then, after everything.” I shrug, unsure of how much to share. “You want to hear it all now or during the interview?”
“Save it for the interview,” he says quietly. “I want your answers to my questions and my reactions to be organic, not rehearsed.”
I nod. Iris does the same—a trick the kids taught her—and Daniel finally looks a little less scared and gives a moderately less nervous smile.
“You said on the phone you were happy to talk about Sean’s death and the loss of your child?—”
“Children,” I interject. “Children. We lost two babies.’
“My apologies. The loss of your two babies. You’re still happy for us to cover that?”
“If it comes up, then yeah. I won’t discuss his final moments or his funeral. They’re private, and I don’t want you coming at me with a question just for shock value.”
“I would never; that’s not my style.” He pauses and looks towards the open stable doors as the crunch of gravel on the drive travels through them towards us. “That’ll be Kenzie.”
“Great,” I say quietly, hoping to hide the sarcasm in my tone.
“Sheisgreat. She’ll be joining you for a Prosecco and have you chilled and laughing within the hour.”
“Sounds like my kinda girl,” I state, feeling mildly better.
“She absolutely is.”
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