Page 16 of Saddle Storm

I perk my brows, since those two rarely leave their stations. “That’s quite the party.” I clock out and set my timecard back. “I’ve got to go pick up Max. The school aftercare closes in thirty minutes.”

She shoos me away. “Go, go. Oh.” She pulls on a clipboard. “The Danbury family stopped by to pay for their lesson. Mr. D said something about you gipping his son twelve minutes and the sister twenty.”

I sigh. “She’s seven and shouldn’t be riding more than thirty minutes anyway. An hour is too much.”

She looks up at me from behind her glasses. “I’m just the messenger. These are paid lessons though.”

I groan. “I know, Ginger. I was a little . . . off today.”

She watches me with an incomparable patience.

“I found Silas in the stables this morning.” I release a breath.

She takes off her glasses giving me a smirk. “How’d that go?”

Ginger was around all those years ago, the woman was as intuitive back then as she is now. She probably knew about my crush. And she’s the only one who knows who Max’s father is. Someone Silas hasn’t spoken to in years—or so she tells me.

I shake my head like it’s nothing. “It was just . . . unexpected. Startling, actually.”

Her brows furrow.

“I should elaborate. He was standing in front of Tucker’s stall and he must have troubled him somehow.”

Her face falls. “Oh, the poor thing. That’s his horse, you know?”

I wince. “I know.”

Her face falls in what appears to be a painful memory. “Hasn’t ridden him in ages.” Her eyes lift to mine with a pointed look. “If only we had someone on staff he trusts to help him get back on.”

I plaster a grin. “Unfortunately, I’m booked up for the rest of the season.”

Ginger turns and I bite my bottom lip as I imagine how he felt when his own horse rejected him. That’s the kind of thing that breaks my heart no matter who you are.

The drive home always takes longer than it should, mostly because the road wound through the older part of town where the county never bothered fixing potholes or adding streetlights. The headlights of my truck wash over the building’s worn brick exterior and rusty stairwell. It’s a little run down. But it’s cheap. Dad and I sold the house to help pay for his care facility. Not that the house was in much better shape, but we got enough for it to get him settled.

The one bedroom I got Max and me a year ago isn’t awful. It isn’t great either. But we don’t need anything glamorous right now.

It’s quiet. Safe. A little bit of a trek to the ranch and the elementary school, but we plan ahead in the mornings.

Spend more than I’d like on gas, but I didn’t have many other options. Closer places were newer, fixed up, or flat-out out of my price range.

“How was your day?” I ask Max as he takes his shoes off and sets his backpack on the kitchen table to start homework. I turn on the oven knowing it’s going to be a while before it gets hot.

“Everyone at school is talking about Silas Thorne being back in town. Did you know he’s injured?”

“I heard.”

“Danny snuck his phone to school and showed us the video. It looked painful. You wanna see it? I know how to find it.” He points to my phone.

I push it aside and return to the faucet to wash produce. “No phones. I use it for work, not to let dumb videos fry my brain.”

“Mom, it’s one video. It’s not going to make me stupid.”

Christ. The kid’s already talking to me like a teenager.

“And why does Danny already have a phone?” I ask, knowing the answer is going to annoy me.

“Because his parents are cool.”