Page 27 of Something Stronger
“Yay.” Hallie bounced in her seat. “My daddy makes the best burgers ever and he puts cheese in the middle of them instead of on top. It’s so good.” She closed her eyes and sighed. “After lunch, we can go down to the barn and I’ll show you the horses. We have a horse that’s going to have a baby next spring. It’s going to be a race horse and win big, then we win lots of money.”
“Hallie!” I gave her a look to warn her to stop boasting. We’d had this discussion before.
“Sorry, Daddy.” She bit her lip and then looked over at Amy. “I’m not supposed to talk about money. It’s rude,” she lamented.
“It’s ok. I don’t mind.” Amy shrugged. “My daddy used to talk about money all the time.” Her voice trailed off and a sadness washed over her face. I made a mental note to try and find out the story behind Amy’s father and where he was in the picture.
Chapter 16
Issac
When we arrived at Sunlit Acres, I brought the girls into the main house. “Hallie, why don’t you take Amy up to your room? You guys can put your stuff away, and then I’ll meet you on the deck.” Hallie smiled and began to lead Amy upstairs.
“You can borrow some shorts from me so we can play and not worry about messing up your tights,” I heard her call as they disappeared.
I went into the kitchen and began rummaging through the fridge, grabbing the items I’d need to grill burgers. I had just started making the patties when I heard them rushing down the stairs. “Daddy, can we have some lemonade?” Hallie smiled as she opened the fridge, not really waiting for an answer. She poured two glasses, and then handed one to Amy. “Come on.” She motioned as she rushed over to the slider, opened it, and went outside. I watched the two girls sit down on one of the loungers outside and begin chatting away. It made me happy to see this. I was worried when we moved here that Hallie would have a hard time finding friends with it being summer and school not being in session. We were kind of isolated where we were and I was constantly traveling for work. If this sale went through today, it should provide me with time at home for a while. I was hoping that the rest of the summer would be filled with training days and vet visits for Lucky Star.
“You girls hungry?” I called as I came out with a plate full of burgers. I set them down while I lit the grill.
“Starving.” Amy rubbed her stomach.
“So, what’s your mom painting today?” I placed the burgers on the grill. “She said she had an afternoon of painting planned.”
“A wall in town.” Amy rolled her eyes. “She’s been working on it for two weeks and it’s just a big white square.”
“A wall?” I was confused. I thought she worked at the flower shop.
“Yeah, my Aunt Carrie bought this wall to put a billboard on and she wants Mom to paint it and design it.”
“Oh, like an advertisement?” I flipped the burgers over as they sizzled.
“Kinda. My mom does PR work for local businesses, or at least she used to. She does all kinds of stuff now. She says she’ll do whatever she needs to do to pay the bills.” She pulled her legs up in front of her and wrapped her arms around them. “My mom works hard.” She placed her chin on her knees.
I didn’t want to pry, but I couldn’t help myself. Kids were usually very honest, and most of them were quite in tune with what was going on around them despite the adults in their lives trying to hide it. “Doesn’t your dad help?”
“My dad likes his whiskey more than me.” She looked off into the distance as the words fell from her lips. She started to get quiet, but then continued, “We left him. He used to yell at Mom a lot.”
My heart squeezed as anger boiled in my gut. “I’m sorry. Sometimes adults don’t think about how their words hurt kids.”
“Maybe.” Amy shrugged. “My mom says she can love me enough for both of them. I just feel bad because sometimes I think she needs someone to love her back. I mean, I love it here, but it’s not the same, ya know?” She looked up at me and then shook her head as if she were pushing the thoughts away.
“You girls ready to eat?” I scooped the burgers up and placed them on plates.
“We’re starving, Daddy.” Hallie jumped up and took a seat at the table.
“I’m going to run inside and get the fruit we cut up yesterday. You girls go ahead and start.” I set the plates on the table, turned off the grill, and went inside to grab the fruit bowl. I needed to take a minute to digest what Amy divulged. I was angry, but I had no right to put myself in the middle of their lives. Lou hadn’t shared any of this, and I needed to remember that. I couldn’t act on my feelings until she shared her story with me.
I grabbed the fruit bowl and headed back outside. When I reached the table, the girls were chattering away and laughing. They had both almost finished their burgers, and Hallie was excitedly telling Amy about Lucky Star. “Daddy, can we go down to the barn after and see the horses?”
“Daddy has a meeting to talk about buying another Thoroughbred, but after I’m finished we can.” I scooped some fruit onto my plate and then passed the bowl to the girls.
“Can Craig show us then, please Daddy? I want to show Amy all the horses. She’s never ridden before. Do you think we could teach her?” Hallie was already up and cleaning her spot at the table.
“We need to talk to her mom about the riding first, and Craig might be busy.”
“I texted him. He’s not.” She grinned. My daughter was definitely persistent. She got that trait from her mother. Every day I watched Hallie, I could see bits and pieces of my late wife, June, in her.
“If Craig said he could, then you can go to the barn, but no riding today.” I wagged my finger at her and gave her a stern look. “I mean it, Hallie. No riding. For someone who doesn’t have any experience, that’s a way that they could really get hurt.”
