That singular thought keeps crossing my mind. What if I didn’t leave?
But she hasn’t asked, and I won’t invite myself to stay. There’s every chance she’ll be completely fine when I’m gone, and I’ll be stressed for nothing.
She sighs and stretches awake, curling deeper into me before she tilts her head and blinks up at me. God, I’ll never get tired ofher sleepy morning smile or the way her dark eyelashes blink up at me.
“Good morning, sunshine. Sleep well?”
“Mhmm. How about you?”
I squeeze her closer. “I slept great. I wish we had the day off so I could spend it with you.”
“Me too, but we’ve got lots of activities planned today, so it’s all hands on deck.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I have two different trail rides today. I hope they’re not all inexperienced.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine. We should get going, though, so we’re not late.” She moves to sit up, but I pin her back down.
“Not before I’ve had my breakfast,” I murmur, kissing her before I wiggle my way under the sheets.
After breakfast, we meet everyone at the mess hall for a real one. Rusty’s gone, setting my nerves on high alert.
“Briggs, where’s Rusty?” I ask the burly man across from me.
“Bunkhouse. He was up all night puking.”
Fuck.I can’t do the trail rides alone with the number of people we have; someone needs to be in the front, leading the group, and someone in the back to make sure everyone’s following. “Are you doing the trails with me, then?”
Briggs shakes his head. “Can’t. Shane needs help.”
Well, double fuck. That means Shane is out, too. Landry can’t help because they need to be here to prep, and Kathy needs to be here to turnover some of the cabins. Sullivan joins our table and immediately sees Rusty’s empty chair.
“Rusty’s out,” Juniper explains when her dad raises an eyebrow at her. “He’s been throwing up all night.”
“Ah. I hope he feels better soon. I hope it wasn’t food poisoning. I’ll send Kathy over with some electrolytes and crackers. Who’s helping Addison with trails today?”
“Shane needs my help, so we’re out,” Briggs says.
Sullivan pins Juniper with a look, and they have a silent conversation I wish I were part of. Especially when Juniper tenses next to me and immediately starts shaking her head.
“No,no.Daddy, you know why I can’t,” she whisper-shouts. She’s talking about her anxiety, and I’m sure she doesn’t want the guests to overhear.
“Addison, Juniper, meet me in the kitchen, please,” Sullivan says, standing from the table. He takes his plate with him, and Juniper and I follow suit.
When we’re in the privacy of the kitchen, Juniper sets her plate down and crosses her arms. “I can’t go with them. There are too many things that could go wrong on a trail ride, and I don’t have ample time to prepare for it.”
“June-bug, I’m sorry, but we don’t have another option. These people are expecting a trail ride, and we can’t let them down.”
“Why can’t you go?”
“I’ve got a meeting with a horse rescue about a few new horses. I don’t have time today.”
Her eyes pinch shut, and her fingers tap a rhythm on her thighs like they do when she’s anxious. I hate this. I hate that I can’t do anything about the situation; it’s not my place. If it were up to me, we’d cancel the whole excursion so she wouldn’t feel this way.
I don’t give a damn if the guests paid for a trail ride. I only care about Juniper.
“Fine.” She turns to me and gives me a tense smile. “Let me go change, then I’ll help you tack up. Do you want me to lead or bring up the rear?”
“Whatever you feel most comfortable with. I don’t have apreference.”Lies.I hate being at the back, but I don’t matter as much as she does.
