Gus had found it difficult over the last couple of days to put what had happened up at the stables far enough to the back of his mind to focus on work, but focus was what he had to do. And not only with his veterinary practice: with Abigail, more importantly. He’d worried about his daughter and what she might take away from the whole confrontation she’d witnessed at Heritage View, something a ten-year-old should never have to see, with language reserved for 9 p.m. watershed television programmes.
Julie had been a surprise in all of this. Not only had she spent almost an hour talking on the phone with Abigail about what happened; she’d also called ahead the next evening and asked whether she could visit for a couple of hours after school on Monday, Abigail’s birthday rather than doing what she might usually do and sending a gift to tell her daughter she was thinking of her and making her feel special. In previous years, she would’ve cited work as an excuse not to come all this way during the week. But not this time. She’d come to the Cove and after a birthday tea all together, cake included, she had taken Abigail to see Denby before she went on her way.
Gus saw his final client of the day, a woman who lived on the outskirts of the Cove and had been in the Twist and Turn Bakery one day when Barney had a pile of flyers in his hand and promptly handed her one before telling her all about the new practice in the village. Bubbles, the patient, was the woman’s chocolate-coloured rabbit, with wide brown eyes, and it had an abscess on its neck that Gus drained before administering antibiotics. Before she left, the woman told him she also had three dogs and a cat as well as two guinea pigs, so she’d probably see him sooner rather than later.
Now, up at the Heritage View Stables with Abigail, the sun was shining and all Gus wanted to do was see Hazel. He hadn’t wanted to crowd her if she needed space, but he was desperate for her to know he was thinking of her and the brief exchange of text messages between them over the last couple of days hadn’t been enough. He wanted to put his arms around her to reassure her everything was going to be okay from now on, he wanted her to look up at him and smile in a way that showed him she believed it too. He might have turned up here to check on her had she not said in her message that her parents had decided to stay a whole week for some family time. He hadn’t wanted to interfere with that because it was important for Hazel to move on from what had happened. There was a history he’d never known about, and he knew what a weight from the past could do to you, it had the power to overwhelm and change things beyond your control. He knew from painful experience that there wasn’t a finite limit on how you coped with these things either. They took as long as they took. And he had a feeling he could wait for Hazel for a long while. She was worth it.
‘Hello, handsome boy,’ said Gus, as Denby sauntered over to them. Riding hat on, Abigail was raring to go. She knew he wouldn’t be able to take much time off over the summer given that his practice was new, but Gus had promised they’d be up here at the stables every day the moment he finished work. And Sandy had agreed to accompany Abigail here a couple of mornings a week, which was a great help.
Gus hadn’t realised Hazel had spotted them until he heard his daughter say her name and run over to greet her. He waited for Hazel to come closer. He loved the way her eyes met his but fell away, coy, unsure what to say.
Franklin came to the fence to see the three of them and Abigail told Denby it was his turn to have a fuss. She stroked the length of Franklin’s nose and let him nuzzle her hand as she apologised for not bringing a treat today.
Hazel plucked a couple of pieces of parsnip from her pocket when Franklin put his nose over the fence, as though he knew someone had something hidden away. It took Gus back to the day outside his practice when Cinnamon had sussed out he had an apple and had claimed it for himself.
Hazel handed one of the treats to Abigail to feed Franklin. ‘Does Denby like parsnips?’ she asked, hanging onto the other piece.
‘I’m not sure.’
‘Shall we see?’
Abigail took the treat and went over to Denby, who seemed to know his owner would be back his way. She held her palm flat and he wasted no time in taking the vegetable from her. ‘He likes it!’ Abigail announced happily.
‘Better add parsnips to my shopping list,’ Gus told Abigail, although his eyes were on Hazel and hers on him by now.
‘The sun is finally out,’ she said.
‘Yeah.’ He didn’t want to talk about the weather.
‘I’ll bet you were beginning to wonder whether this was really the start of the summer holidays with all that rain.’
‘Didn’t stop us coming up here,’ he said. He meant he had come for her, and he knew she understood, although Abigail had no intention of being excluded from this conversation. He longed to get Hazel alone.
‘Denby doesn’t mind rain,’ Abigail informed them, as if neither of them knew.
‘Franklin here gets really funny about walking through puddles if he has a rider on his back.’ Hazel’s confidence came back, talking about her horses. And when Abigail giggled, she added, ‘I’m serious. We’ve been out on hacks and reached a puddle and it’s taken forever to get through. I’ve had to dismount and lead him through it before I get back on.’
They were all laughing when Hazel’s parents Thomas and Sally came over to join them. Sally had the same smile and laugh as her daughter as she told an amusing anecdote to Abigail next, something about one of her horses – Gus didn’t catch the name – having a habit of nipping her on the bottom every time she tried to clean out his hooves. Abigail liked that story the best.
Gus was pleased to be so close to Hazel after a long couple of days waiting to see her properly. ‘How are you?’ He kept his voice low, not wanting everyone to hear him quizzing her as they shared more horse stories.
‘I’m good.’ And then, more convincingly, ‘Very good. I’m not magically mended, but for the first time, I can see more clearly.’
‘I’m glad. You look well, happy.’
‘Having the family around helps.’ She said, a little quieter, ‘So do you.’
His breath caught, not at the shock of what she was thinking, but that she’d been so honest about it. And her smile told him all he needed to know. She was moving forwards.
Abigail interrupted them again. Gus loved his daughter to pieces, but her timing left a lot to be desired, and when Hazel grinned at him, he knew she was thinking the same.
‘Can I put up Denby’s signs?’ From her backpack, Abigail took out the signs Lucy had made for Denby’s saddle place and bridle hook in the tack room.
‘That sounds like a great idea.’ Hazel admired the glossy, gold name plaques, both with Denby’s name alongside the silhouette of a horse. ‘These are beautiful. And happy birthday, Abigail. I have a little something for you as well, I’ll give it to you after.’
Gus didn’t know what to say but he knew this was what he’d wanted: to feel a part of something, the way he did already in this new village they called home.
‘Do you need to make a hole in the sign?’ Abigail sounded concerned.
Hazel shook her head. ‘I have some super strong adhesive pads in the office that have worked well for other name plaques; we’ll try those, shall we?’
In the office, Hazel began to laugh at herself when she couldn’t find what she was looking for. ‘I like to think I’m organised, but they’re fairly small pads, they could literally be anywhere.’
‘I’ll help.’ Abigail was already opening up the drawer to the left of the desk while Hazel hunted on the shelves in the corner and the tidy boxes kept on there.
‘What do they look like?’ Gus asked. ‘White? Black? How big?’
Hazel explained they weren’t very large at all. ‘They’re white and will be on a backing sheet like a piece of paper.’
Abigail kept hunting. Kneeling on the desk, before Gus could tell her not to do that, she plucked a piece of paper from a colourful notebook on the shelf. ‘Nope, that’s not them,’ she declared, but about to put back the piece of paper, she began to giggle.
‘What are you laughing at?’ Gus wondered, but Hazel had already come forwards and she looked hot and bothered, despite it being reasonably cool in here. And when Abigail, still amused, held out the piece of paper, he realised exactly what it was.
‘I can explain,’ Hazel said awkwardly, unable to meet his gaze.
‘Is this you, Dad?’ Abigail asked her question with her hand across her eyes as she refused to look again.
‘Lucy…’ Hazel stumbled over her words. ‘She drew it… I mean, she’s good at art.’
‘She is,’ Gus agreed, enjoying this moment. ‘She made the signs for Denby.’
‘And she draws.’
Hazel’s embarrassment made him want to pull her against him so they could laugh it off together. ‘I know,’ he batted back, rather enjoying the way her cheeks flushed and she held her breath high in her chest as though she might burst. ‘She showed me drawings at her workshop, she’s talented.’
At last Hazel looked at him. ‘She gave me you… I mean, that… after the class.’
‘And you kept it.’ It wasn’t a question but an observation that pleased him.
‘Got them!’ Abigail announced gleefully, waving a sheet with little white adhesives on it in the air.
‘Then let’s get those signs on,’ declared Hazel, putting the drawing back inside the notebook and leaving it in the office without looking at Gus again.
In the tack room, with the adhesives on the signs, Hazel let Abigail do the honours for the bridle place and then saddle spot. Abigail admired them for all of a few seconds before she gathered Denby’s tack together.
‘She’s excited,’ Gus told Hazel as they left the tack room and went back around to the paddocks.
‘I can see that.’
He really wanted a chance to keep on talking, but with Abigail ready to groom Denby and get him ready, he sensed he wouldn’t get much chance, especially not with Cinnamon this side of the fence too. Sally must be taking him for a ride and now he could hear Abigail guiding the woman in how to pick out the horse’s feet, as though Sally hadn’t done the same a thousand times before. Arnold was standing by, laughing at the exchange too.
Gus supposed he’d talk to Hazel later. And it was strangely nice to know she had that picture of him, albeit a bit uncomfortable. He might have sat there naked that night for the artists to draw, but to see the image floating around weeks after the class and the whole sorry experience was over with was strangely discombobulating.
‘Would you like your present now?’ Hazel asked Abigail. ‘I hope you’re not disappointed.’ She pulled a face.
‘What is it?’ Abigail grew impatient but remembered to give Denby’s rear end a wide berth, so she didn’t risk being kicked when she came around to see Hazel.
‘Your birthday present is me. Well, me and Cinnamon, for a session in the school, and then, if you’re up to it and your dad says yes, we’ll ride down the lane and around to the bridleways.’
Abigail ran to Hazel and almost knocked her flying with a hug she clearly didn’t expect. ‘Thank you! Thank you! A proper ride, Dad!’
‘I know, that’s amazing.’ He smiled at his daughter, but his focus wandered over to Hazel, this confident, beautiful woman who had just made his daughter’s day.
He watched as Abigail finished grooming Denby and Hazel did the same for Cinnamon, and when both horses were tacked up, Hazel reiterated that they’d start in the school. She most likely wanted to gauge Abigail’s behaviour alongside her own confidence before they ventured out. And that was fine by him.
Gus went over to Hazel’s side as she got ready to mount up. Sally was helping Abigail by holding Denby still. ‘Thank you for doing this.’
‘It’s my pleasure.’
He put a hand on her arm. ‘I hope it is. I hope you enjoy this as much as I know Abigail will.’
Hazel mounted her horse and, taking the reins, she looked down at him. ‘Thank you for trusting me.’
But he waved away the gratitude that wasn’t necessary. ‘I was wondering… I know we went to the ice-creamery, but what do you say to meeting up again, just the two of us?’
Cinnamon tossed his head as though he thought it might be a good idea. ‘You mean like a date?’ she asked, seemingly happy at his suggestion.
‘Yeah, like a date.’ Just the word made him happy, especially when she smiled back at him.
‘What do you have in mind?’
‘Something simple, how about a picnic?’
‘Ready!’ came Abigail’s voice.
‘I would love a picnic,’ she said so only Gus could hear, and as he watched them ride over to the school, he tried to come back down to earth.
Arnold came over to stand with him. ‘You two coming here has been the answer to my prayers,’ he confided. ‘This moment has been a long time coming.’
‘I can well believe that.’ He could now that he knew everything that had happened to Hazel.
And as Gus stood back, watching the scene play out in front of him, he thought about what Arnold had said. He might appreciate their appearance in the Cove and what it had done for Hazel, but in the same way, Gus knew that Heritage Cove had brought him and his daughter something very special too. And he hoped this was only the beginning.