Page 65 of Rough Ride with the Grumpy Cowboy
She smiles, a dazed, happy look in her eyes. “I love you more. Thank you for the best birthday ever.”
“You’re welcome. You deserve that and so much more. So, same time next year?” I tease.
She giggles and nods, softly kissing my lips before burying her face in my neck.
25
AVA
Working with Daisy and her classmates, teaching them music while having fun at the same time, has proven to be so therapeutic for me. Besides the scare with my family that was sorted weeks ago by Zane agreeing to watch over me, the rest of it has been amazing. I love interacting with them, coaching different vocal ranges, and getting taken back to where I started.
I didn’t realize it at first, but I was slowly losing my passion for the arts. However, these fifteen kids have brought back my love of music. They have reminded me just how fun it can be when you do what you love without the constraints that come with working for a label that controls all the music you put out there.
Currently, we’re working on a specific piece because the kids have a recital coming up in three weeks, and we’ve been workinghard toward it. It coincides perfectly with my last weekend here, so I’m doing my best to conclude my time with them in a splendid way.
“Okay, guys, a fifteen-minute break, then we get back to the second half,” I announce when we hit the one-and-a-half-hour mark.
They’re amazing kids, but asking them to sit still for three hours doing the same thing is pushing them too hard, so I learned early on to give them constant breaks. That way, I ensure that they stay engaged when it’s time to get down to business.
My eyes wander to Zane, who is watching us from the corner he has been perching himself on every Saturday he has been accompanying us here. I hold up my empty water bottle and he gives me a thumbs up, getting up and walking out of the class.
Daisy chooses to sit with me during the break instead of interacting with her classmates.
“Ava, can I ask you something?”
“Of course, sweetheart, anything.”
“Are you Uncle Zane’s girlfriend?” she inquires, catching me off-guard.
I thought she was going to ask me something related to the class or the upcoming recital. Isn’t that too mature of a question for a six-year-old? Nonetheless, I’ve told her that she can ask me anything, so I have no choice but to try.
I’m about to answer when I realize that I don’t have a yes or no answer to that question. Am I Zane’s girlfriend? I can’t say yes, but I can’t say no either since we haven’t defined our relationship. We confessed our feelings, but I’m not exactly sure what we are.
I end up taking too long to answer because Daisy keeps on talking.
“Daddy says that you are. Does that mean you’ll marry Uncle Zane and become my auntie?” she prods further.
Slow down, girl. I don’t even know what we are, and now you’re talking about marriage.
But she looks so expectant, and to be honest, it is a future I have let myself consider when it comes to Zane and me, so I indulge her.
“I hope so. Would you like that?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Yes, then you can teach me how to sing forever. I want to be a big star like you.”
Aww.
“Then you’re on the right track—I started exactly where you are,” I inspire her.
Daisy is lucky to have a dad like Jace who encourages her gently instead of shoving his own dreams down her throat like my mother did with me. I know all the Morgans are really intorodeo, so Daisy might go down that path, but she’s also being allowed to explore other options like her love for music. For my mother, it was her way or her way—no in-between.
Just thinking about her makes me shiver as a chill runs through my body. I really did suffer at the hands of that woman, but I’m so glad that I no longer have to deal with her thanks to the Morgans. Maybe if my father was still alive, my life would have taken a different direction, but that’s just wishful thinking.
Daisy requests to be excused so she can go to the bathroom, and when I spot Ella going in the same direction, I wave at her to wait for her niece. Left alone, I walk around the room, chatting up a few students as I wait for the break to be over so class can resume.
A commotion at the door draws my attention away from a little girl who is telling me all about her dreams to become an opera singer.
Blood drains from my face when I look up to find my mother headed my way, like a predator toward unsuspecting prey. My stepfather and stepbrother are by the door, no doubt keeping an eye out for Zane and Ella.
