West of Forever (Heartstone Ranch #1)(9)

Ahh, to be twelve, back when your greatest worry was not liking the kids and school or failing a test. I’d happily go back to those days.

“You’ll survive.”

“Seriously, can’t you homeschool me?”

I laugh louder than I planned. “Not a chance in hell.”

Harper enters the kitchen, shoving me as she passes. Like the annoying little sister she is. “You don’t want your dad to teach you anything—he’s kind of stupid.”

“I should’ve sold you in sixth grade. Jason Billings wanted to pay me ten dollars to swap siblings.”

At least that would be one less Stone in the house. All the Stone siblings live on the property. In the main house are Pop, Sadie and me, Veronica, and Harper. Fallon and my nephew, Knox, live in the converted loft in the barn. However, they’re always in the main house because there is no kitchen in the loft. It’s a close-knit family in more ways than one.

Harper sticks her tongue out at me. “Daddy would’ve beat your ass.”

She’s not wrong about that. “It would’ve been worth it if it meant I had Nick as a brother.”

Harper lifts one shoulder and drops it. She twists the cap off her Diet Coke, chugs it, and then says to her niece, “Why do you hate school?”

“The boys are dumb, and they smell really bad too. Not like horse bad—I don’t mind that—it’s…other. Then the girls are really rude. Before school ended, Kristie told me if I could learn to walk better, maybe then the boys would like me. Then the other girls that were standing there started to laugh.”

I’d like to rip this girl’s head off, but she’s a twelve-year-old kid, and that wouldn’t be very adult of me. Even so, the father in me is raging. Sadie has done everything she could to overcome the injury to her leg. She broke it in two places after her fall, and the recovery was tough. We go to physical therapy every week, and she’s made huge improvements, but still, people have to say something.

Harper goes to her and kisses the top of her head. “Auntie will kill Kristie’s mommy, okay?”

“Now I’m sort of glad I kept you around,” I say to my sister.

She grins and turns back to Sadie. “Listen, Kristie is clearly insecure about something and is taking it out on you. Trust me, the girls that are like that get their day of reckoning in the end.”

“Was someone mean to you, Aunt Harper?”

“Yes.”

“Did she get her day?”

This is a bad path we’re going down, because the girl who made Harper’s life an absolute horror show is married to her ex-fiancé. From all appearances, they’re happy and living a good life one town over.

“She will,” Harper answers.

My sister and I share a look, and I step in. “All of this sucks, Cupcake, but it does get better. Look at how far you’ve come with your leg.”

“I want to go farther,” Sadie says, and I know the argument that this is about to become.

“Sadie…” I warn, trying to use my best fatherly voice.

She crosses her arms over her chest. “No, Dad, you can’t keep doing this. I’m not a little girl anymore.”

That’s exactly what she is. She’s just refusing to accept that.

Three years ago, I almost lost her.

I will never forget that feeling. The fear, the praying, the unending bartering that I did with God just to let me keep Sadie.

Her surgery went great, but she didn’t come out of anesthesia well. She had complications and an infection. It was really touch and go at one point.

I knew if she died, I would die with her. I couldn’t handle losing Emmy Jo and Sadie in one lifetime.

Thankfully, I didn’t have to endure that. We had a lot of tears, pain, and struggles, but with the help of my dad and sisters, we got through it.

There is just no way that I am ready for her to…risk it all again. I can’t go through it. I know I can’t put her in a bubble, but I sure as hell can insulate her a little.

“You’re not ready to get back on that horse,” I say, leaving no room for discussion.

“Everyone in this town rides, Dad. Everyone has a horse.” She throws her arms out toward the corral. “We have hundreds, and I can’t ride any of them!”

Harper clears her throat. “And that’s my cue.” She pats my chest as she goes.

“You have a horse,” I remind her. “Cloud is in that barn. He’s alive, regardless of the fact that he tried to kill you.”

By sheer will, I keep myself grounded. I don’t want to fight with Sadie. Every day, I wake up, telling myself today will be the day I relent and finally give my daughter the chance to heal, but fuck, I can’t.

I see her lying in that field. I see the entire thing play out over and over. My daughter, just nine years old, screaming, her leg mangled, tears running down her face as I held her in my arms and tried to get home without causing her more harm.

Rationally, I know what happened. I just can’t make myself stop replaying that horrific day.

“You know he didn’t.”

I do know. He got spooked, then took off, stopped suddenly, and Sadie flew off the front, slamming her head on the ground and shattering her leg.

He didn’t do it. No one did. It was an accident. I heard it over and over again as my sisters stood next to me in the hospital, as we waited for Sadie to come out of surgery.