"Pinkie promise?"
"I have a feeling that we're going to have a whole bunch of these promises. How do you keep them all straight?"
She shrugged. "I guess because I'm a girl. It must come naturally."
He laughed out loud at that answer. "Come on, squirt. You can help me feed the rest of the horses."
One by one they poured grain in the buckets as Tyson introduced her to each horse. Londyn took her time with each horse, asking questions and petting each one. "You have a lot of horses."
"My brother, Colton, is in charge of keeping fresh horses for the trail rides for our guests."
"And where do the not fresh horses go?"
Tyson pointed. "We have a special pasture out there for all of our retired horses. They have a special barn, too. Maybe one day you can help me feed all of them."
As they were almost back to Legacy's stall, the door opened at the far end, and Valerie walked in. She waved at her daughter, who grabbed Tyson by the sleeve.
"Remember you promised not to tell," she hissed at him.
"I remember. I got you. I won't throw you under the bus."
He watched the relief fill her eyes. He was amazed at how protective she was of her mother. It always impressed him how children understood abuse and reacted accordingly with their behaviors and personalities. Even under the circumstances, many that he had yet to discover, he could see that Valerie had done an amazing job raising her under difficult circumstances.
"What are you two up to?"
Valerie stopped at several of the stalls before she caught up to them. "You still have Legacy."
He stared at her. "I told you. Not much has changed around here." He really wanted to add that it was about to, though.
Chapter Eleven: Chapter 11 Title
Valerie Blanchette Kenway
Valerie was relieved to see Ty with Londyn when she entered the barn, but they seemed pretty deep in discussion as she neared them. She was even more surprised to see Legacy, a horse she had ridden many times.
"You still have him! That's amazing." She reached up and rubbed the horse's neck. "Do you think he remembers me?"
Tyson nodded. "Of course he does. He loved you."
She ignored the past tense, unsure if he said it that way deliberately or if she was taking it too personally. She raised her brow at Londyn. "Ms. Vinia said you were bored waiting for the cookies to bake."
"I was. I like mixing, but waiting is boring so I came out here to talk to the horses."
Tyson laughed. "I found her right here snuggled up with Legacy. I've never seen him take to a little kid before."
"Are the cookies done now?" Londyn's face lit up as she asked. Suddenly the horses seemed to take a back burner.
"I believe so," Valerie nodded. "They were on the counter when I walked through."
She watched in amusement as Londyn gave Ty one last long look before she ran down the barn to head back to the kitchen. "What was that all about?"
"Secret conversation. Well one that I eavesdropped on because she was unloading on Legacy here."
"Anything I need to know about?"
His expression darkened and made her heart sink. She suddenly wished she hadn't asked, but Londyn had obviously blabbed.
"I pinkie promised not to tell you what I heard, but I think under the circumstances, I'm going to have to take my chances on the penalties for breaking that promise." Tyson levelled his gaze on her. "You have some explaining to do."
