“I don’t…” He trailed off before grabbing his head and vomiting more.
I frantically fumbled with my phone, calling for an ambulance.
I don’t…The last words my beloved husband ever said to me. Those gurgled sounds assaulted me as I stood frozen in the mirror. There was nothing I could have done, nothing he could have done. Freddy was the picture of health and then one day dropped dead from a brain aneurysm.
I didn’t know if it was better that it happened without warning or not, but I felt cheated—cheated out of the life we had, cheated out of our future, cheated out of so many years we should have spent together.
Curling up with my Kindle, I flipped through the pages of Jo Meadows’ journey of following in her father’s footsteps as a firefighter. It was my first read by author Amy Briggs and I was instantly captivated. Reading had become my only source of solace. Forcing myself to turn my brain off and get wrapped up in the characters’ lives was a perfect escape from my wallowing.
As my eyes started to get heavy, I set my device on the nightstand.
“Good night, Freddy. I still love you.” The words came out like they did every night. It was silly, but my nightly ritual helped me feel closer to him.
Chapter 5
Good Shoes Take You Good Places
“Good morning students,” I called through the barn. As they huddled around, I smiled at them. “I wanted to take a minute to check in with you. How is everyone doing? How’re we feeling about the work and horses?”
They all muttered things along the lines of “Good.”
“I have noticed no one has asked to ride yet. What’s going on there?” I put my hands on my hips, making sure to force eye contact with each of them.
Miss Nelson cleared her throat. “We were hoping our first ride could be all together.”
“Why didn’t y’all say something? And why the heck didn’t we think of that?” I shot a questioning glance over at Jessup.
He shrugged. “Don’t look at me like that. I’ve been busy making sure this lot is doing their chores.”
“Well, everyone, get those saddles on and bits in. Cara and Jessup will come around and make sure y’all have done it right.”
As the class excitedly scurried off to get to work, Cara took me to the side.
“Do you mind if I sit this one out?” she asked with the smallest hint of a smile hiding behind concerned eyes.
“Is everything all right?”
Putting her hand on her stomach, she nodded. “Jessup doesn’t know yet—I just found out this morning. I’m pregnant and I just don’t know if a group ride with a bunch of amateurs is a good idea.”
Wrapping her in a hug, I fought back the tears of joy welling up in my eyes. “Congratulations, sweetheart. Mr. Handover is going to be here soon. It’s probably better if you’re here to help him set up anyway.”
“Perfect excuse. I want to tell Jessup over dinner tonight.”
“Love that plan.” I hugged her once more, wiped my eyes, and then made my way over to Hunter to get him ready for our ride.
Still in the stall, I hopped onto his back without a saddle or reins on him.
“Come on, boy.” I put a little bit of pressure on his sides and wrapped my fingers in his long, dark mane.
I walked him out into the middle of the barn and just told him to stop. It was my favorite little trick to show the new students when the opportunity presented itself.
“Does anyone need help getting onto their horse?” I asked loudly.
A few of them raised their hands.
“Walk your horses out of the barn and line them up for Cara and Jessup.”
Jessup walked Wilson over, handing me his reins so I could lead the horse over to where we needed the students to go. When I tapped Hunter’s sides with my heels, he started forward with a quick walk to get away from Jessup.