Page 48 of Sugar
“I didn’t say it would beeasy, I said it would beeasier.I stand by it. If we weren’t pretending, we’d probably be feeling real shitty about ourselves after that mess of a meeting.”
He gives me a long, curious look before shutting my door.
Kasey drives us back to the ranch so we can regroup. We spend the fifteen-minute ride in a silence that, though not as awkward as they have been, is still not quite comfortable. At least it’s a step in the right direction for the bone-deep flame of hope still flickering that we can find a way to be friends.
His face lights up when we pull up the main drive, and I follow his line of sight through the windshield to see a medley of bikes and balls scattered around the lawn in front of the main house. Layla sits on the front porch with the youngest of Brooks’s sons in her lap, and Mrs. Bennett stands hands-on-hip on the front walkway, watching the two other boys chase each other around on scooters. My heart catapults at the sheer warmth and love in Kasey’s expression as he takes it all in, and then swiftly dive bombs as he slows the truck to a stop and rolls down the window.
“Good to see everyone out playing,” he calls out to his mom.
She looks at him and smiles, shooting a backward thumb toward the house. “Brooks is inside. They came over for dinner if you want to join.”
Kasey hesitates, turning back to me. He must see the panic on my face, because he faces her again, saying, “Ava and I have some stuff to sort out, but can we take a raincheck?”
“Kasey,” I whisper. “Don’tnotgo because of me. I can just . . . wait at the cabin.”
He ignores me.
“Of course,” his mom says. She shifts her focus to me, smile widening. “Can’t wait to catch up with you both!”
I give her a polite wave back before pretending to dig into my purse for Chapstick. I have a great deal of respect for the matriarch of the Bennett brothers; I know how hard it must have been to raise this family while constantly being thrust into the center of so much town lore. Still, I’m not ready to face her yet.
I’m not ready to explain myself—not when there’s still so much Kasey doesn’t know.
“How’s he doing today?” Kasey asks, his voice considerably lower.
“He’s all right,” she answers. “It’s been a good day.”
He nods. “Good. I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay, honey. Love you.”
“Love you too,” he says before rolling up the window. I take a deep breath when we hit the small side road that leads directly to his cabin, and he throws me a smirk. “Scaredy cat.”
“Am not.”
“Not usually,” he agrees. “But I like that it’s mymotherof all people who gets you flustered.”
I roll my eyes. “Just drive, Kasey.”
He laughs as I turn to look out the window, spotting a golden horse alone in a corral. It’s the same one who nuzzled me in the barn when I came to talk to Kasey after he agreed to our plan. “What’s her deal?” I ask, my gaze skimming down her long mane.
Kasey sighs. “She was rescued from a ranch after the owners were reported for animal mistreatment.”
I whip my head to face him. “She was abused?”
“Not physically hurt, not that we can tell. But there wasn’t enough food to go around for all the animals, and she was severely dehydrated when a vet got to her. We’ve had her forabout a month and we’re still working to get her saddled, but we’re hoping she’ll let us ride her soon.”
I’ve always known the Bennetts’ work here isn’t just about training horses and selling them for profit. It’s a long, tiring fight to protect the ones who need help, to rescue and keep the most vulnerable safe. I’ve regretted that I never got to see Kasey in action, knowing how much the work means to him.
I’ve seen him earn belts in rodeos and I’ve seen him train at camp. But I’ve never watched him rehabilitate a horse here on the ranch. Between my father’s strict rules and my fierce independence, I didn’t let myself integrate with Kasey’s family and therefore never visited the ranch during daylight hours. He snuck me in on countless nights, butnotfor anything horse-related.
Deep down, I feel a rippling desire to see it all now, to understand this part of him that I shied away from back then. “I hope she lets you too,” I finally say.
When we make it inside the cabin, I immediately unbuckle the straps of my heels and throw them aside before sinking into the plush couch.
“You really should wear better shoes,” Kasey grumbles on his way to the kitchen, still making his disapproval of my fashion choices as obvious as ever. “Want coffee?”
“Sure,” I say, kicking my feet up. A sigh of relief flows through me knowing our counseling sessions are over, but I can’t help the worry that pinches tight in my brow. “What do you think Pastor Brown is going to do?”
