Bella petted the chick with two small fingers, and it chirped as well as it knew how. After a little while, she put it down. The mama pigeon swooped down and bobbed its neck back and forth around the chick. She led her little one away from us humans. Maybe she was worried her chick would get trampled.
I stroked Moonlight’s nose, and she butted my hand. She knew in my other hand, I had an apple, which was a little trickier to feed her. I wanted to keep all my fingers.
“Bella, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, Daddy. What is it?”
“What do you think about building an arena out here? Maybe we could teach people to ride.”
She sucked in air and spun around, her brown ponytail swinging with her. “That’s a great idea, and I could make new friends!”
“I might need to get a couple more horses later, but we could start small. We have that trail back out here.”
“I want you to do it. That sounds like fun.”
I put my hand out flat and let Moonlight take the apple. She stomped her hoof in her stable, her beautiful mane flicking across the bridge of her nose.
“Moonlight likes the idea, too,” Bella said.
I looked carefully at the horse. “I don’t think Moonlight will be the one to ride. She’s too wild. Only you, Grandma, and I can ride her. She’s very selective about people.”
Bella giggled as she hugged my leg. I ran my fingers over the top of her hair.
“No.” Bella shook her head at me.
“No to what?”
“Grandma can’t ride her. She doesn’t ride anymore, remember?”
I stopped for a moment.
“Yes, I do remember. I’m just so used to her riding. She was pretty good on horseback in her day.”
Moonlight was eyeing me, hoping for more snacks, but I had none to give.
Bella twisted her hair in her hands. “Really? She seems to like baking cookies now. That’s all she does.”
Bella swung in a circle, making herself dizzy. She plummeted to the barnyard floor from the spinning. In examining my daughter, for once, I felt content. Everything was coming together for Bella and me. I touched my pants pocket. My phone was vibrating, and I answered it without looking at the screen.
“Hello, Colt speaking,” I answered.
“So professional.” Instantly, I worked out it was Amber.
“Hi, sweetness. How’s my girl?”
“Colt, why are you keeping things from me?” She wasted no time being angry. I just didn’t know what about.
I glanced over at Bella. She was dancing around the barn, and the horses were watching her. “Tell me why you’re upset, baby. I don’t understand.”
“Why didn’t you tell me that you would get Hector a job with the same club that sent you to prison?”
I sighed with relief. “I can clear that up. I planned to tell you when I saw you. Diego runs the motorcycle repair shop, and your brother loves bikes. It’s the perfect fit for him. He and Diego got on like a house on fire. Diego wants to teach him about bikes. It will keep him out of trouble.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want the cops bringing any more heat to him or you. He’s on parole just like you.”
“You have to trust me more. Diego is not involved with the illegal side of the business. That’s Vlad and his Russians. Diego has nothing to do with that.”
“It doesn’t matter. He is affiliated with the club and its name. I really don’t know how I feel about the situation.”
