Page 34 of If I Didn’t Have You

Sighing, I took her hand and led her over to the stables. “Alright, let’s look at the horses.”

“Hosey! Hosey!” she screamed, taking off once again, ripping her hand from mine.

Those damn little legs ate up the ground as she rushed toward the barn, and as I ran behind her, I heaved just a little too much for a grown man.

“Willa!” I shouted, but she just squealed and kept running, finding the whole thing hilarious. “I said stop!”

She glanced over her shoulder, nearly crashing to the ground since her little body hadn’t learned to slow her momentum while she twisted. But she just kept going despite it all.

“If you don’t stop right now, I’m gonna take my belt to your ass!”

That would have worked on my kids, but Willa? She found it fucking hilarious.

“I’m telling you one last time to stop, and then I’m getting my belt out!”

She slowed, looking back at me with a twinkle in her eye, and I knew I was fucked. A grin spread across her lips right before she took off again. My fingers grazed her shirt as she darted away from me, right toward the horses.

Well, fuck.

I was already exhausted, and she was this little ball of energy I had no hopes to contain.

“Hosey! Hosey!” she called out, luckily, outside Susie’s stall.

Panting hard, I held the pinch in my side, taking a minute to regain my energy. Fuck, I was not okay with running after little kids.

Scooping her up in my arms, I vowed to never let her go again, if only she would stop torturing me. “Alright, you want to go on Susie?”

“Hosey! Hosey!”

Sighing, I set the little girl down and gave her my stern face. “If I let you ride Susie, you have to sit here like a good girl while I get her out of the stall. She’s a big girl, and she could hurt you.”

She stared back at me with wide eyes, nodding in understanding.

“Okay. You hold this post right here,” I pointed. “And you don’t move.”

Again, she nodded.

It took more time than usual to get her out and tacked, but that was mostly because I kept looking over my shoulder to make sure Willa was listening. The girl liked to press my buttons, and no matter how hard I tried to be the good grandpa, I had a feeling I was failing at this somehow.

“Alright,” I sighed, looking down at my little granddaughter. “Are you ready?”

A bright smile spread across her lips as she held up her hands, wiggling out of control.

Chuckling, I picked her up and put her in the saddle, telling her to hold the horn as I guided her out of the stall.

“Now, hold on tight. Understand?”

I was a nervous wreck as I guided them out of the stalls. We’d just go for a short walk and then come back. Susie was a good horse, but she spooked easily. We walked around in big circles for the longest time, to the point that I wasn’t paying enough attention.

And that was my big mistake. It was only when I glanced back that I saw Willa slipping off the saddle, and I rushed forward, but not in time to catch her. She hit the ground hard, a little whimper leaving her lips.

“Willa!” My heart slammed in my chest as I picked her up and held her in my arms.

But I shouldn’t have been worried. Despite the smudge of dirt on her face, she grinned up at me, clapping her hands. “Moe! Moe!”

The worry rushed out of me in a flurry as I tugged my granddaughter against my chest. Fuck, I was really bad at this. Who decided I should be trusted with kids?

“‘Gain! ‘Gain!”