Page 50 of Petals & Promises

“It was a Watson family rule that no horse who’s worked the land will ever be sold when they can’t work anymore. They’ve earned the right to retire here for their years of service. So the seniors have their own pasture and small barn to themselves where they don’t need to compete with the youngsters,” I shared, handing her the bucket. “Care to do the honors?”

She nodded eagerly and followed me to the main gate. “Waffles, Nugget, stay,” she instructed, ensuring they were out of the way.

I watched the woman, who was teaching me to enjoy life again despite the dangers that lurked around every corner, shake the bucket. She shook that thing like it was her purpose in life and some of the grain even spilled out. That was one thing I loved most about Bailey-Rose—she did nothing half-assed. If she was going to do it, then dammit, she was going to give it her all.

A whinny rang out, and I knew it was Bandit—he had always been a vocal guy about pretty much everything. However, when it came to food of any kind, that boy wouldn’t miss an opportunity. Titon was leading the way with Bandit right behind him. The other two, picking up the rear, took their time, knowing dinner wasn’t going anywhere. Bailey-Rose laughed as the two geldings shoved each other, trying to be the first one in the barn.

Titon was what you thought of as the perfect specimen of a working horse—even in his old age, he held his form well. His bay coloring also made him quite eye-catching. Bandit was an ornery yet mischievous, flaxen-colored Haflinger that had been Callie’s best friend. While the ATV had been a special gift for Callie, the thing she loved most was this naughty horse that wasn’t really a pony but not quite a horse. Those two got into all kinds of trouble as they roamed the lower pastures. I know one thing—if Callie had been with Bandit instead of on that ATV, she would be alive today because there was no way that horse would have let anything happen to her.

With everyone in their stall, Bailey-Rose and I slid the stall doors closed, ensuring they’d stay there. “Come here, baby girl… let me show you what each of these old fogies are gonna be eating tonight.”

Drawing her back into the feed room, I showed her the chart Tripp created and hung above the feed bins. “Can you read this section off for me while I pull it all together? These guys are special and get a fair amount of supplements. It’s one of the reasons none of the stable hands like feeding out here. It takes just as long to feed these four horses as it does half the other barn,” I joked.

“Yeah, well, it will be the same for them when they get old,” she pointed out. “Wonder if they realize the nurses will be grumbling just as much about handing out their medication.”

Laughing, I shook my head as I pulled together four buckets of feed. With Bailey-Rose’s help, I managed to settle all four servings in no time. The final step was to add a bit of oil for Candy to mix it all up, and then we were good to go.

“Hey, there’s a note on Bandit’s column that if he’s limping or looking sore, to give him something for pain management,” Bailey-Rose pointed out. “He seemed fine when he ran in.”

“Let’s feed the other three real quick then I can look in on him. Once that feed is clipped into place, no one is able to get close to him until he’s finished,” I explained, handing her a bucket. “That’s for Candy, the white one.”

Candy was a sweet girl, always had been, probably why my mother picked her. She’d be perfectly safe for Bailey-Rose to interact with first. Titon, like his owner, was a bit of a prick, and Diego, the other gelding, was hit or miss on how he interacted with strangers. I doubt he had gotten better in his old age.

Done with the other three, Bailey-Rose pulled back the stall door enough for us to look in on Bandit. Looking at the fella, I couldn’t see anything wrong, but I decided not to take a risk and ran a hand down his legs.

“What are you looking for?” she asked as Bandit snuffled her pockets in the hope there could be food hidden there.

“Heat. When horses get sore or something is inflamed, it gets hot,” I answered. “Although it looks like he’s totally fine. I didn’t find a hot spot, so he’s probably good to go.”

Before I could stop her, Bailey-Rose grabbed the bucket and walked in to clip it to the hook. Other than Callie, Bandit always charged at the person, so we installed a second hook close to the door so no one had to get body checked into a stall door. However, to my amazement, Bandit waited for my girl to clip the bucket, pet him sweetly on the neck, and step back before he dove into his meal.

I moved to grab her, and instantly, Bandit lifted his head and pinned his ears, warning me not to get any closer to his food. “Take a step back for me, okay, baby girl,” I whispered. “Bandit isn’t all that friendly when it comes to anything getting close to his grain.”

“Oh, really? He doesn’t seem to mind me,” she commented but did as I asked.

“Either way, we still need to grab hay for these guys, and then they’ll be settled for the night,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist to keep her close.

The guys might make fun of me for being overprotective, but I’ll be damned if I ever let anything happen to Bailey-Rose, especially here at the ranch. Hay was the easy part, and we got the horses settled in no time. Bailey-Rose lingered watching Bandit as the hellion tossed around his hay, searching for the bits he liked best before eating the rest.

Turning to look at me, she searched my face as if looking for something. “Can I ask you something?”

“Baby girl, you can ask me anything. I have no secrets from you,” I told her.

“Was Bandit Callie’s horse? I only ask because when you look at him, I feel this sadness from you, and it’s the only reason I could think of,” she explained.

Stepping up behind her, I rested my hands on her hips as I peered over her head at the horse. “Yeah, Bandit was Callie’s partner in crime. He’s a pain in the ass to everyone else, but he loved my sister.”

“You know, if you ever want to talk about her, I’d love to listen. She sounds like someone who would have great stories,” Bailey-Rose commented. “When Papa Addy died, it helped to share how amazing he was, to keep his memory alive. People always tell you to move on or get over it, and things will pass. How can you simply move on from the pain of losing someone you loved? It doesn’t make any sense.”

A bitter laugh escaped me as I rested my head on hers. “My fathers are those people. After Callie’s funeral, they demanded the housekeeper pack up all her things and remove any pictures that would have my little sister in them. I know people grieve differently, but they had no right to dictate that when they didn’t even live here five days out of the week. No one asked my mom what she wanted, or hell, even me, since I still lived in the house full time. My relationship with my fathers hadn’t ever been great, but that was the moment I knew we’d never be able to see eye to eye.”

Bailey-Rose turned to face me, resting her head on my chest as she wrapped her arms around me. “Grief makes you selfish and lash out at those around you. It’s no excuse for what they did, but sometimes it helps to understand their actions. When things don’t make sense, we stew on them, trying to unravel the reasoning behind it all.”

When she started to purr, offering me all the comfort she could, I closed my eyes and held onto this amazing woman who loved me for some reason. There were no words, just feelings drifting between us as we let our bond do the communicating. How could my fathers not have known how much pain my mother was in when they had a direct connection to her soul? Or could it be they didn’t care?

“Will you tell me about Callie?” Bailey-Rose asked in such a soft voice I almost missed it.

“You two would have been best friends, I know it. She was wild, but only because she loved to live life to the max. I don’t think there was a single thing she was afraid of… well, except for shots,” I remembered, grinning. “There was one time Mom forgot to tell Callie she had a doctor’s appointment, and the three of us had been running errands. So there we are, Callie lost in her own world playing on her tablet when she looks up and finds out we’re in a clinic waiting room. To make matters worse, it was the appointment to get her school shots. I swear if I hadn’t been there to calm her down, she would have decked the nurse for coming near her with a needle.”