Chapter 42
Dasher
“Hold on to the saddle horn,” I tell Sasha as I guide her around the indoor arena we have. She laughs and giggles, petting the horse as Tyler watches. I’m in my element. I’m giving the kids lessons before we move on to a short trail ride in a couple of days.
“Thank you, Dasher,” she says as I lift her off the horse. I ruffle her hair, “you’re welcome. Run on up to the house and see if my mom made biscuits.” She takes off like a bolt of lightning. Mom makes biscuits and then lets the kids have one with honey and sugar. They love it.
Tyler walks with me as I put Buster up, “thank you for all of this.”
I put down some hay for Buster and fill his trough with clean water before closing his stall door, “I love bringing people here. This is my happy place.”
He blinks, “not the field.”
Snorting, “I like it on the field as well. But if I had to leave the sport tomorrow, I know I have another calling.”
He nods, “you’re really good. Have you looked into property outside of Vegas, one where you could have horses? You could give lessons in the off season.”
I hadn’t looked or thought of that, but it would keep me busy until football starts again. And I could hire people to run it when the season starts.
“I’ll look into that,” I tell him as we exit the barn and stop in our tracks. Poppy is standing by the front door, looking small and unsure.
Tyler snarls, “what is she doing here?”
I nudge him, “I don’t know. But play nice. Let me talk to her and I’ll be in for dinner.”
He just shakes his head and then glares at Poppy before heading inside. I stop at the steps of the porch, hands in my pockets, “Poppy, what are you doing here?”
She gives me a sad smile, “I’m only here to apologize. I was horrible to you. You were right. I let fame and fortune go to my head. I made a choice of going out with that douchebag when you were gone. I’m not here for you to take me back, I just want you to know I’m sorry.”
My eyes narrow, “anything else?”
A tear slips from her eye, “I am deeply sorry for leaking that story to the media. You didn’t deserve any of that. I ruined years of friendship and love. I’m a horrible person and was horrible to you.”
With a sigh, “Pop, you’re not a horrible person, you just made a few bad choices. We won’t ever get back together, but we can build a friendship. It won’t be easy; my trust has been broken.”
She smiles, a small one, “you are a good person, Dash. You deserve all the happiness in the world, including Raine.” I wince when she says his name, but don’t say anything.
“Anything else?” I ask, not wanting to talk about Raine.
“I’m just here to work off a debt.”
My eyes widen, “debt?”
She nods, “I told your mom I would help out around the ranch, doing everything you used to do. If you don’t want me here, I can go.”
My response is to walk past her, “come on. Lunch is almost ready.” She gives me a grateful smile and then adds, “will Tyler be nice to me?”
I laugh, “probably not, but he’s harmless.” She snickers as we walk to the kitchen, finally past everything. Have I totally forgiven her? No, but at least we’re going to rebuild our friendship.