“Well, she’s got a lot of her daddy in her, too.” I held out my arms as our little angel made her way the few steps from where her father sat to where I was. “You did it, baby girl!”
I wrapped her in a hug.
“Kind of ironic that she took her first steps right here under this tree.” He kicked the toe of his boot against mine. “The first time I kissed you was right here.”
“I remember it clearly. I tried to pretend I knew what I was doing, when I didn’t have a clue.”
“That’s because those lips were meant for mine.” He winked as he scooped up his little angel and tickled her as her head fell back in a fit of giggles. Her little light brown ringlets bobbed just above her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
We both stood and made our way to Honey and Wrax. I climbed on and then held out my hands as he settled our little girl in front of me on my horse. Her pink cowboy boots were secured to her feet.
Axel climbed on Honey and looked over his shoulder. “Are my Horse Girls ready?”
“Always. See you in a heartbeat, Cowboy.”
A loud buzzing noise ruined whatever dream state I was in, and I sprang up, a little disoriented at first, before I realized where I was.
I turned off my alarm and glanced around the room.
I’d slept the best I had in several weeks. Axel had gotten a room at the hotel for us, and we’d left dinner early because I needed sleep. And for whatever reason, just having him here had relaxed me.
We’d barely gotten to talk before I’d fallen asleep wrapped up in his arms.
“Hey,” he said after I’d turned off the alarm. “How are you feeling?”
“I feel rested.”
“Good, baby, that’s what I wanted.” He stroked the hair away from my face. “One more day today.”
“Yes. And the best part is, you’re here for it.” I smiled up at him. “I can’t believe you came. I know your whole family was there, and I didn’t want you to miss out on anything.”
“I’m exactly where I want to be, Wren.”
A loud boom of thunder outside had us both startling. Axel moved to his feet and opened the curtains as we both took in the gray dreary day. It was storming this morning, which was never good for the show jumping phase of a competition.
I glanced down at my phone and groaned.
“What is it?” he asked.
“I missed about fifteen calls from Coach last night,” I said as I dialed his number.
“Wren. Jesus. Are you all right?” Coach Sharky asked over speakerphone.
“Yes. I went to bed early. I was pretty exhausted. Why were you trying to reach me?”
“I just wanted to make sure you were resting. I figured with Axel in town, you probably wanted to stay up and visit, and I was calling to remind you how important today is, especially with you sitting right on Jacques’s heels. I almost wish he’d waited to come visit you.”
I glanced at Axel, who smirked and winked at me, as if Coach Sharky being an asshole didn’t faze him.
“Well, seeing as I’m an adult, you need not worry. Axel is also very aware of how tough this competition is, which is why he’s here. And I couldn’t be happier that he surprised me.”
“Of course. Yes. But not everyone understands this world, Wren. Not the way that you and I do,” he said. “And now it’s storming out, which was not anything we’d planned for.”
“First off, Axel has been with me since my very first competition. I assure you, he knows the sport as well as we do. And different weather comes with the sport. Everyone will have to deal with it. Wrax and I have jumped in rain plenty of times. We’re prepared for whatever comes our way.”
“Yes. Of course you are. But Jacques has many years of experience on his side, and I’m guessing this won’t rattle him the way it will the others.”
Was this call supposed to be helpful?
