That she’d believed I’d betrayed her.
I’d always had her back, and she’d always had mine.
twelve
. . .
Wren
Twelve yearsago
“Go home and get some rest, Wren. Training when you’re sick is not a good plan,” Coach Saylor said. He’d been with me since I was young, and he was like a second father to me.
“I know, but we’ve got a big competition coming up in two weeks,” I argued.
“And you’ll be useless if you’re sick.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Go home and get some sleep. I’ll call and check on you later.”
“Fine,” I grumped, and Wrax and I took the back path home.
I felt horrible, and I’d tried to will away my cold, but my throat was killing me, and I definitely had a fever.
When I got to the barn, I unsaddled and groomed Wrax before putting him in his stall. I grabbed my phone from my pocket to see a text from Axel.
Cowboy
Just got out of class for the day. How was practice?
I hated that Axel didn’t live in Rosewood River right now, as he’d started college this year. Thankfully, he was attending school in the city, so he was only thirty minutes away. I visited him often, and he’d come home a lot as well.
I’m sick. I had to leave early. I’m so mad.
Cowboy
Don’t be a stubborn ass. Even the unstoppable Horse Girl gets sick sometimes. Get in bed.
I am. I’ll call you later.
I walked toward the side door, surprised to see my father’s driver, Douglas, sitting in the car in the driveway.
I waved at him. “Hey, I didn’t think Dad would be home this early from work.”
“Yeah, he said he was going to work from home this afternoon,” Douglas said, but he seemed a little off.
“Oh, I hope you both aren’t sick. Coach made me come home early because I think I have a fever.”
“You want me to take you to the store for some medication?” he asked. “Your dad sent Caroline home early today.”
That surprised me because my parents barely functioned without Caroline. She oversaw everything at the house. But my mom was out of town visiting my aunt Becky, and Collin was away at school. So I supposed with it just being me and Dad this week, there wasn’t much for her to do.
Hopefully my father wasn’t sick, too.
The man hated to miss work.
“I’m all right. We’ve got plenty of cold medicine here at the house.” I waved at him before making my way to the side door. I stepped inside, and of course the house smelled like gardenias, and it was pristine and spotless.
I poured myself a glass of orange juice and grabbed an apple before making my way down the long hallway to my father’s study.
He wasn’t in there, which surprised me. The man was always working.
