“Morning. Again,” I told her, smiling.
She smiled back a little. Then she noticed the phone in my hand. “Any news from the hospital?” she asked quietly, the smile vanishing under worry.
“No, nothing yet. I think Dr. Cobb will only contact us once he knows something. He doesn’t like to say things that aren’t true.”
Mona nodded slowly, then looked at the light pouring in through the window. “What time is it?”
“Past nine.”
“Do you think I can see the horses now?”
“Absolutely. Do you need the bathroom first?”
“Yeah.”
I showed her the downstairs bathroom and went to the utility room to put her clothes in the dryer. Instead, I found them dry and neatly folded on top of the dryer. I smiled.
Hearing the toilet flush and tap run, I waited for a moment to hear the door open.
I called out, “Mona? Do you want to wear any of this?”
She ran in like a kid, and I realized I’d never seen her move that way.
“My hoodie?”
“Sure, here you go.” I took it from the pile and handed it over.
She pulled it on, and we went to put on our shoes.
“Where’s Bucky?” Mona asked, realizing the dog was gone.
“He must be guarding the yard with the other dogs.”
Her eyes widened. “How many do you have?”
“There are four more.”
She bounced out the door, and I laughed. Madden would love seeing her like this, I was sure. I hoped he would heal quickly, and we could somehow get them off the streets.
We spotted Lake and Theo in the outdoor arena with the dogs in their usual spots around the yard.
“What are they doing?” she asked, looking at the arena.
“I don’t know; let’s go ask?”
“Okay!” She grabbed my hand, and I felt my heart lurch a little. The trust she was showing was everything to me in that moment. It wasn’t that long ago when a stranger had tried to abduct her, yet here she was without her brother, her security net, and trusted us to keep her safe. I’d do anything to make sure that happened.
I introduced her to the dogs, and she quickly understood that while the dogs were friendly, the females were content to guard the yard. Bucky, however, wanted to hang out with Mona, which made her very happy.
“Hey, guys,” I called out to Lake and Theo.
Theo was riding his horse, Reina, and Lake was moving the jump poles for him every now and then.
“Hi!” Lake kicked one of the poles a bit to move it just so, then looked at Theo who nodded. Lake jogged to us at the fence. “You must be Mona; welcome to the Twin Star Rescue,” he said brightly, then leaned on the fence and watched Theo and Reina.
“That’s Theo’s horse,” I told her. “She’s young; her name is Reina.”
Mona nodded seriously, watching what the horse and rider were doing.
