Epilogue #3
“We wanted to,” Chord cuts in, and I return his nod with one of my own.
“What’s his name?” Izzy asks.
“I’m not sure.” I turn to Daisy with a wry smile. “But I can’t wait to find out.”
She feigns innocence. “Why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t name him anything. I thought you should have the honor.”
“Hmm.” I move around the horse, running my hand over his coat and my eyes over his muscled frame, admiring his strength and shape. The inky cast to his buckskin color and the subtle silvery dapple over his chest and shoulders. Like the stars in the night sky over Banff.
“I think I’ll call him Polaris.”
“Polaris?” Ollie echoes. “What does that mean?”
“It means north star,” Daisy answers, but she’s looking at me. “It’s how you know you’re in the right place. Moving in the right direction.”
“It’s how I know I’m home,” I say before I kiss her.
The kiss lingers for as long as I can make it last with her family as our audience, and when I draw back, there’s a liquid warmth in Daisy’s hazel eyes.
“Thank you,” I whisper again, heart racing and chest swelling with all the things I get to call mine. This woman. A sweet little boy. A horse I never knew I needed. A home I never dreamed possible. A family I never dared to hope for.
“You’re welcome,” Daisy whispers back.
“Hey!” Ollie says. “Can we take Pony Noir and Polaris for a ride?”
I tuck Daisy close against my side and look around the yard, sparing a regretful glance at the magnificent animal beside me and wishing I didn’t have to put responsibility first.
“Tomorrow,” I tell him. “After we’ve cleaned up this place and you’ve had something other than sugar for dinner.”
“Actually, we’re going to take care of that,” says Poppy.
“What do you mean?” I ask.
Daisy lifts up onto her toes and bites her bottom lip with repressed glee. “Chardonneigh’s tacked up. The three of us are going on a sunset ride around Silver Leaf.”
“We’ll put the house in order while you’re gone,” Violet adds.
“And I’ll send up dinner from the restaurant, so you don’t need to worry about that,” Dylan says.
“Just forget about all this and enjoy yourselves,” Charlie says.
Ollie’s in the saddle before I can argue, and like he can sense my impatience to feel his broad back beneath me, Polaris nudges me with an insistent nose. Daisy grins harder.
“You don’t have to ask me twice,” I agree. “Let’s do it.”
The party breaks up for the second time today, this time the Davenports drifting away and leaving me alone with Daisy and Ollie in the yard. Daisy leads Pony Noir while I guide Polaris back to the stable to collect Chardonneigh, and she watches me as I mount my new horse for the first time.
I’ve grown to feel at home at Silver Leaf.
Six months with a family around me is a long time when I’ve never had it before.
The barn house feels like mine. I feel less like a visitor at the main house.
I’ve taken over most of the stable operations and feel a sense of pride and ownership I’ve never felt working at other ranches. I’m in a good place. I’m happy.
But the first time I pull myself into the saddle of a horse that belongs to me is a moment I’ll never forget.
Polaris feels right from the start, and I’ve got no doubt Daisy took great care finding the perfect horse for me.
The gelding is athletic and responsive, with a light mouth and strong forward motion.
He’s balanced but spirited with a sensible head, and he feels like a partner, an equal, from the first step.
I’m so taken with him that I have to force myself to stay aware of Ollie as we set off in the direction of his favorite trail.
Polaris accepts the pace, but I can sense his preference for a little more speed.
First chance I get, I’m taking him out, just the two of us. See what he can do.
“Do you like him?” Daisy asks, moving Chardonneigh a little closer.
“I do,” I tell her. “I like him a lot. Thank you, Darlin’. I’d say you don’t know what this means to me, but I think you do.”
“I do, and you’re very welcome.”
We ride as the sun edges toward the horizon, making the low clouds glow in breathtaking shades of orange and purple and pink. Pony Noir picks his way forward, with Polaris and Chardonneigh never more than a nose behind.
“I can’t think of a better way to finish my birthday,” Ollie says as we approach a curve in the trail, and beyond it, a slight rise. And beyond that, a world of possibility that can’t compare to all the possibilities waiting for us here at home.
“Neither can I,” Daisy agrees.
I breathe in the sweet Sonoma air and let it out again, the space it leaves behind filling with the swell of love and gratitude in my heart. “And neither can I.”
Thank you for reading Darlin’!