Chapter 51 Gigi
A creamy Norwegian Fjord was grazing in the front yard of Thistle Dew. Majestic and tall, she stood like a queen. Her tail
swooshed playfully, swatting gnats and flies, or maybe just dancing along to a self-made melody.
“Who’s this?” Gigi asked when she got home.
“It’s your present from Dad,” Eloise said. “He said a mayor needs a horse, that a bicycle won’t do.”
Gigi stared, trying to take it all in. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch,” Eloise said. “I think it’s his way of trying to say sorry.”
“Sorry for walking out on us in the first place or for leaving this summer without telling me goodbye?” Gigi asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
Gigi let the resentment pass, or at least budge.
Her dad might find a way to use it against her if she kept the horse. Tell her that she owed him, maybe even ask for money
down the line to square up. But he also might hold it against her if she didn’t keep the horse. He could say she was trying
to be difficult and couldn’t accept a simple apology. Either way, this horse was going to come with strings attached. She
might as well keep the horse along with the strings.
“I’ll call you Noelle,” she said to the horse, stroking her mane, dropping kisses like confetti. “Because it feels like Santa
came in summer.”
“You should give your dad a call,” Eloise said. “Thank him.”
“I will later. I want to take Noelle for a ride first.”
Gigi hopped on the saddle and went to fetch James and Willow.
***
They trotted side by side through secluded stretches of the lakeshore trail. Though the track was circular, it felt open-ended
to Gigi, the way nothing had in a long, long time.
“Now you can give me riding lessons,” James said. “I need them.”
“Just in time for you to leave.” Gigi was trying not to sound sad.
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” James said. “But I didn’t want to distract from your campaigning.”
“Distract me all you want.” She found she was having a hard time trying not to flirt.
“Dr. Moore and I agreed to do a trial run this fall,” James said. “He’ll scale back and I’ll stay on. We’ll see how it goes
and I’ll decide if I want to formally take over the clinic after that.”
Today felt eerily good, what with how her campaign speech had gone and then the horse from her dad and now this. She wanted
to trust the happiness but found she could only test it. Like having a tiny nibble of pie to see if it had pistachio before
taking a real bite.
“You’re serious?” Gigi said.
“I know you said you didn’t want to make any decisions until November,” James said. “But I would like to propose we move up
the date in light of this new information.”
Gigi wanted to agree with him straightaway. But there was a reason she had decided to wait, and she was going to stick to
it. It would take more than a handsome doctor on horseback for her to slide back into past patterns. Though she was awfully
tempted.
“I’ll consider your request,” she said, grinning over at him. “And get back to you soon.”
***
Gigi left a voicemail for her dad later that day.
He texted back while Gigi was brushing Noelle, ensuring her coat was free of fleas.
Might not have gotten you that pony for your 10th b-day but hope this makes up for it... and for everything.
It wasn’t an apology, but it was as close as he was going to come. Gigi was inclined to accept it. Keeping score of rights
and wrongs felt too rigid these days.
“Thanks, Mom,” she said to Eloise when she finally came inside, reeking of horse.
“There’s nothing to thank me for,” Eloise said, taking out a fresh tray of peanut brittle.
“Except the free rent, food, and laundry all summer. And for setting me up with a guy who turned out to be pretty great after
all.”
Eloise’s face folded like origami. “Well, yes, I suppose there’s that.”
She didn’t even scold Gigi for diving into the peanut brittle before it had cooled. She just broke off a piece herself.
When Gigi pattered up the stairs to the loft that night, her twin bed felt much bigger than it had when she’d first arrived
for summer. Like she could straighten her legs and kick and not even touch the edge.