“Okay, have fun! Snacks will be done by the time Abe gets here and you get some of your chores done.”
“Yay, thanks!” She skipped away.
I walked out of the stable to lean against the wall where the twin drafts’ paddock now extended from where they’d opened the wall of their double-wide stall.
Hope came to me for scratches, but Truce gave me a look that said he wasn’t interested unless I had carrots.
As I petted her giant head, I called my niece.
“Hey, Uncle Jack!”
“Hey, kiddo. Are you at home?”
“Yup, what’s up?”
“Change to video?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Few seconds later, she was beaming at me through the screen and then squealed as she saw the amount of horse face next to mine.
“This is Hope.”
“She’s massive,” Samira breathed with admiration.
“That she is, let me just…” I turned the camera and stepped away from Hope to show her better.
“Oh wow. She’s a giant!”
“Yes, she is, and so is her brother Truce over there.” I made sure to include him in the view, too.
“They’re adorable!”
We chatted about the horses and other random things for a while. Then I asked her about health stuff and her mom, and she asked me what I was going to do with my “forbidden crush.” Yes, I may have talked to her about Rey, because I knew she wouldn’t tell her mother and being younger, she’d be able to see the situation from closer to Rey’s perspective.
“I don’t want to talk with you anymore,” I grumbled.
“Oh well, maybe next time you have a crisis, I won’t answer.”
“Well, it might just be me calling to show you horses,” I pointed out.
She made a face at me and rolled her eyes. “Okay fine. I got to go, though. Talk to you later?”
“Love you, kiddo.”
“Love you too, Uncle Jack.”
* * * *
Then, eventually, Madden got out of the hospital and moved in.
Mona was overjoyed, of course, which I’d expected. I’d seen her sitting on Rey’s lap on the couch a few times, video-calling Madden in the hospital. I’d heard Madden’s indulgent tone as he tried to keep up with her babble about the horses and the doggies and everyone else.
Rey and Madden had chatted some, too, but Mona normally dominated every call, so I was pretty surprised how easily the teens befriended each other as soon as Madden moved in.
“Hey, Jack,” Rey greeted me the morning after Madden joined us, as he rounded the corner from the stairs. He came to me and said in a low voice, “Madden’s tired from the stairs, so pay no attention to him trailing behind.”
I nodded subtly as he went to make himself a drink.
