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“I didn’t expect that. Her social media is… wild.”

I followed her now. I could no longer deny it. I tried not to, but couldn’t look away.

“She’s not like that in real life. She’s vivacious and funny, but she’s not some sort of model who lounges around all day.”

“No? Damn, would you mind?”

I shrugged. Of course I didn’t mind the rare time I got to see her naked or watched her bent over in a barn aisle with her perfectly round little ass in the air. Chloe was hot. Any man would agree if he still had breath in his lungs.

“Well, color me surprised.”

“She’s tired of me,” Brynn groaned, handing her fancy camera to Felix. “I think we’re headed home. Are you ready to meet her when the bus drops her off tonight?”

It was rich that she checked in on my ability to care for the child I’d served as primary caregiver of for years, but I let it roll off my back.

“Yeah. Actually, can I talk to you about something on the way out?”

“Sure,” Brynn said.

We waited for the kids to board the bus, thanked the hosting parents, and stood in the drive for a minute.

“It’s nothing major,” I said. “But Piper took a placement test to get into this honors program through Northwestern. It looks like she has a good shot at it. She’d spend from Thanksgiving to the end of February studying in Germany. I told her I’d talk to you because… with everything happening, I cannot pay for it. The trip is like seven grand with airfare and⁠—”

“She can do that?” Brynn asked.

“I think so, yeah. She’s smart as a whip, Brynn. She’s really good at it.”

Brynn beamed. “Well, of course, we’d want to send her. I can pay. It’s not on you. If you can cover the airfare, I can get the rest. And maybe we can take turns visiting her. Wouldn’t that be a lot of fun, Felix?”

“I’m down. That’s great for Piper,” Felix agreed.

“But you were hoping I’d say no?” Brynn crossed her arms.

“No, no. I… I will miss her and worry endlessly,” I conceded, “but I also love that she’s found something to do. It takes guts to move across the world at sixteen without your parents. We have a brave kid. I’d like to affirm that and let her be open to new things.”

“She’s going to do great,” Brynn said. “She’s my child. She knows how to live independently.”

I hated when she did that. It was so predictable! Her good qualities were all Brynn. The minute that Piper spoke out of turn or did something impulsive like any teen girl, she was my child. Brynn acted like she was the reason Piper was an academic superstar. She may have been, but she couldn’t take credit for Piper’s independence alone. We were both that way—perhaps to a fault.

“Well, then, I will hope she gets in,” I said. “It would mean the world to her.”

22. BEDAZZLED

CHLOE

“I think this will work,” I said. “Are you sure you’re cool with pinning the pants?”

“Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Piper said. “I figured they would be long on you.”

Piper stepped back, appraising me in her western outfit. I felt slightly ridiculous in a cowboy hat, chaps, and bedazzled horsemanship blouse. However, I could appreciate the campiness.

“Okay, you gotta pose with the hat!” Piper said.

Since I released my first video in my series on “going western”, I reached an even broader horse girl audience. People lapped it up. While Horse Girl’s Guide made me a bestselling author, the push to publish its follow-up was high on my list of worries. With the “going western” videos, everyone was now sure book 2 would be my English-meets-western book, but that wasn’t the draft I’d sent to my publisher.

I posed for the camera and Piper giggled. “That is amazing. You look really good.”

Piper’s clothes fit—just barely. Thankfully, everything had give. Even the chaps had hidden stretchy panels. Unfortunately, Piper had about five inches on me and the pants needed hemming. I’d taken this experiment as an excuse to treat myself to a beautiful pair of black and pink cowgirl boots now hidden by show pants and chaps.