“But he’ll get scared.”
“It’s not a long ride. He’ll be fine. You have to ride with Claire and me.” They waved to Mr. Hershel and headed back to Austin.
“Do horses cry, Claire?”
“I don’t think so.”
“I bet he’s afraid. I was afraid when I got taken away.”
Finally he’d opened up about the kidnapping. Dr. King said he would when he was ready and she advised Vic to simply listen and support him.
Vic put a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. “I’m sure you were. We were afraid for you.”
“But you found me.”
“We sure did. That was the happiest moment of my life.”
“Mine, too.”
“Don’t worry about Daken. We’ll be home soon and he’ll forget everything when you can spend all day with him. Just think of the things you have to do when we get home.”
“Comet won’t believe it!”
“Nope. You’ll have to introduce them right off. Then you can fix his stall to make him comfortable and do all that stuff.”
&nb
sp; “Do you think he can eat cake?”
“Probably a bite or two, but he’ll prefer grass.”
“Yeah.”
“I heard Mr. Hershel say the horses like human treats,” Claire interjected from the backseat.
“Hey—I could feed him some Lucky Charms!”
“Maybe a few,” Vic cautioned. “You don’t want to make him sick.”
“What were those things Mr. Hershel gave us, Dad?”
“Some salt bricks and minerals to help keep him healthy. Remember Daken will need water, and he would love to be brushed every day.”
“I love to do that! Comet loves it, too!”
Vic kept the reggae music going while Jeremy leafed through the small brochure Mr. Hershel had given him. There were pictures with directions on how to take care of a miniature horse. With his son’s mind occupied, Vic could concentrate on Claire.
Something significant had happened between them at the farm. For the first time he felt he’d had a glimpse into her soul where her deepest feelings were revealed. She couldn’t—wouldn’t—have touched him, or looked at him like that with such longing otherwise. That was what it was. Longing... He’d swear to it.
He was in a completely different frame of mind than before they’d left Austin that morning. He felt excited, now, about the rest of the day. But after Claire had fixed them a birthday lunch and Jeremy had run out to the barn with some Lucky Charms treats, she informed him that her two married sisters were getting together at her parents’ for a party. If Vic didn’t need her, she was hoping to take the rest of the day off to spend with them.
What could he say? No—I want you to stay here? We need to talk about what happened this morning?
“By all means, be with your family.”
“Thank you. I think it’s good that you and Jeremy have the rest of the day by yourselves. I want him to defer to you. I’ll be leaving next week, so the less I’m around, the better.”
Vic couldn’t have dreamed up what had happened earlier. This was a conscious effort on her part to keep them apart. Vic would let her get away with it this time, but at some point in the next few days he planned to force the truth from her.