Page 33 of Peaches & Pistols

“But I have a lot of downtime when the girls are in school. I was wondering…would you consider letting me help at the hardware store?”

His grimace socks me in the gut. I thought he’d be taken aback but not horrified.

“I know I don’t have retail experience, but I just want to stay busy and feel useful,” I say pitifully.

“I don’t have anything for you at the hardware store. Me and a weekend employee have always been enough to keep the place running.” Well, there goes that idea. “What if you linked up with Delilah and work with the therapy horses?”

“The what?”

“Delilah runs an equine-assisted learning program here at the ranch. She’s got a background in psychology and works with the horses to help people work through all sorts of things. She has school kids come out for field trips, veterans with PTSD, a really popular women’s group, and folks with anxiety and depression.”

I’m too quick to protest. “I don’t have anxiety or depression.”

Greyson holds his hands up as a sign of peace. “Not sayin’ you do. I more so meant, she can always use help. Maybe you could spend some time at the stables and see if it’s something you could fill some time with.”

“Try what?” A feminine voice pulls my attention from Greyson.

“Mia might spend some time at the stables with Delilah,” he answers his sister.

Olivia looks like the girls I avoided in school: impossibly beautiful, outgoing, graceful, and beloved. The difference is that the girls I hid from were judgmental and cruel. Olivia on the other hand, might be one of the kindest souls I’ll ever meet.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing! Mia—can I call you Mia? You’re going to love it. Ooo!” Her gleeful clap startles both me and Greyson. “Izzy and I could come and have a girls day!”

“You’re gonna scare her off,” Greyson huffs.

“You hush,” Olivia snips.

I never had many friends, moving around so often, let alone a girl group. All I had was Charlie. Part of me wants to curl in on myself and hide; but a bigger part wants to embrace this new life I’ve found myself in.

“I’d really like that.”

“Eeeee!” Olivia jumps in place, squealing. “Come!” She takes me by the hand and drags me stumbling from the living room.

I chance a look over my shoulder, and the bemused affection on Greyson’s face warms my heart for more reason than one.

“Mama, you’re so pretty!”

“Thank you, baby!” I thought I’d be more self-conscious, but this is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.

After Olivia, who immediately insisted I call her Livy or Liv, gave me a tour of the stables, we linked up with Izzy and Delilah and the kiddos. She declared it was “girl time” and that the rest of the family was on their own, but everyone laughed it off, as if it was quintessential Livy.

I’m not sure what I expected when she pulled me into one of the guest bedrooms in the main house—but it wasn’t getting dressed up like a Barbie for two hours. These incredible women collectively shopped for me from their closets, and I’m speechless.

“I want to look like a princess too!” Everly playfully whines.

“Me too!” Harper piles on.

“Miss Livy is sooooo beautiful. She looks just like Ariel,” Everly declares.

“Ooo! Auntie Izzy and Auntie Delilah look like Cinderella and Rapunzel!” Harper’s observation is spot on. Delilah’s hair flows far down her back, carefree and natural, and Izzy could 100 percent pass for a modern-day Cinderella.

“Mama, you look like Sleeping Beauty!” Everly exclaims.

“Aurora!” Harper adds.

“Who?”

“Aurora is Sleeping Beauty’s real name,” Harper explains.