“Congrats,” I said quietly. “How long is that?”
“Three months.”
“That’s excellent, Andy.” Sierra put the phone into the pocket of her plaid dress.
“I told myself I’d come to apologize if I made it to two months, and maybe you’d let me see Sally-Mae, if I was…” He gestured at himself. He inhaled sharply, and I could see tears brimming in his eyes. “But I couldn’t come last month. I couldn’t make myself just then.”
“That’s okay. You’re here now,” Theo said and smiled. “I need to grab the horse from the pen, but I’ll take you to her if you want.”
Andy glanced up toward the pen. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt—”
“You didn’t.” Theo gestured behind himself. “Catch up with me when I head to the stable.”
“Okay.”
Sierra glanced at the dogs. “Girls, stand down.”
It had never occurred to me that she was someone who could order the dogs around like Theo, Cook, and even Hudson would.
They wandered away from Andy, Sophia glancing at him a couple of times before relaxing under the bushes nearby.
I vaguely remembered that Sally-Mae was a goat Andy had given up after having her on his balcony for a while. Then he’d shown up with a gun right after Lake and the others arrived at the rescue in May.
“I’m sorry,” Andy told Sierra. “I was out of line and—”
“Yes. But we knew you had issues, which is why we refused to press charges. But if I ever see you with a gun again, Andy…”
“We have kids here now,” I blurted out. I felt as if my back straightened and I grew an inch in height. “They’ve been through some rough stuff and don’t need to be afraid of anyone.”
Andy dropped his gaze and nodded quickly. “I would never—I mean, I will only come here sober and I don’t even have that gun anymore. Or any gun. And I’d never hurt a kid.”
After an almost painful silence, Sierra sighed. “I believe you. Go catch up with Theo and Pumpkin.”
Andy all but darted away from us to do just that.
“The horse is called Pumpkin?”
Sierra laughed. “Yup. Mona said it reminded her of one.”
I couldn’t see it, but what did I know how kids’ minds worked anyway?
Chapter 19
River
The kids were awesome. Mona was flourishing, and Lake had even asked her if she wanted to do some “school stuff” which she’d readily accepted. He was now giving her math lessons while Ben taught her reading and writing.
We’d been pleasantly surprised when it had become obvious that she knew the basics, at least, because Madden had taught her as much as he could.
Madden, on the other hand, was struggling. He’d lost part of his liver and his spleen, and there had been complications that left him weak as a kitten for the time being. He hated that someone—Toby—was paying for his medical bills and medications, and that he couldn’t be independent.
He did, however, understand the full scope of the situation and tried his best not to show Mona how upset he really was. On the positive side, Rey had a friend his own age now, and the boys had bonded pretty quickly.
Madden didn’t have any high school education, but he’d told Toby he wanted to eventually. He just needed to get his shit together first. Neither Toby nor anyone else seemed to know what Madden meant with that exactly, but while he was still healing, we let it go.
Toby came by the rescue most days, and then spent the odd weekend at Theo’s cabin so he could be closer to the kids. It was heartbreaking to see how much he enjoyed being their pseudo-dad, even though none of them were saying it out loud.
Mona had bonded with Toby’s nephew, Abe, and the kids had fun running around the rescue and taking riding lessons from Theo and occasionally from Lake, too.
