Violet peeked outside to monitor how Hailey and Piper were doing on the chore she had assigned them. Armed with scrub brushes and a hose, the little girls were tackling a pile of dirty feed buckets. When she spotted them, Violet stifled a laugh. They seemed to be successfully getting more water on each other than the actual buckets, but it was such a hot day and they were young. She could hardly blame them. Kids that age should be allowed to enjoy innocent, carefree fun.
How many times had Violet wished her childhood had been just like that?
She headed back inside the barn and ended up in front of Hawken’s stall. Her palomino horse nickered as she approached and stretched so he could rest his head on her back as she trailed her fingers over his neck.
Her horse was injured badly enough to ruin him.
Ruin him.
She had tried to block out Boone’s hurtful words, but they had rammed back into her mind again and again over the last thirty minutes. Had she ruined Hawken? Only time would tell. So far, he seemed to be doing well, but Shannon’s veterinarian husband, Carter, had told Violet it would be at least a year before Hawken could race again—if he was ever strong enough to race again.
Guilt burned a hole through her stomach.
Violet’s fingers shook as she continued to pet the gelding. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered against Hawken’s soft yellow hair. “He was right. You got hurt because I was distracted. It was my fault. You’re the best thing—the only good thing—that ever happened to me and I hurt you. I’ll never forgive myself for this.”
Someone cleared their throat behind Violet and it definitely wasn’t one of the girls. Her back went rigid and her hand froze on Hawken. How much had Boone overheard?
“I should have never said those things to you.” Boone’s shoes crunched on the floor, signaling he had taken a step closer. When she didn’t turn to face him, he let out a loud sigh. “I have a lot on my mind right now and Hailey is really important to me and I—”
Violet whirled to face him. “If Hailey is so important to you, why did it take you so long to make your way back to Red Dog Ranch?” Her chest heaved a little. “She should have been your first priority.” She probably shouldn’t keep challenging Boone. He was one of the Jarretts, after all, and if she upset him, he could ask Rhett to toss her off their property and then where would she go?
Violet had spent most of her adult life living out of hotel rooms as she traveled from one rodeo to the next. She had a PO box for legal reasons, but no real home base. She usually found a bedroom to rent near the stables she kept Hawken at in the off season. To her name she had a nice truck and a horse trailer, and the only family she had was Hawken. He was happy to travel anywhere with her. As long as they were together, they were fine. Always had been, always would be. But after his fall, Hawken wouldn’t be fit to run the barrels until next summer, and that was only if his leg healed fully.
Violet had just gotten her cast off. Seven weeks in a cast meant muscle loss so she was out of practice, too. Since aging out of the foster system, the rodeo had been her only way of making money. With Hawken hurt, she was stripped of that unless she bought another horse. Beyond that, transporting Hawken would endanger him. She couldn’t do that any more than she could bring herself to replace him with a new horse.
But she also couldn’t completely hold her tongue, either.
Boone Jarrett was in the wrong. He had abandoned his daughter mere weeks after her mother had died, which was when Hailey had needed him the most. She knew he had video-chatted with her during his absence, but that wasn’t the same as being around and being there for his daughter in the midst of the biggest loss of her life.
A muscle in Boone’s jaw ticked. “I don’t see why that’s any of your business.”
Violet spread her fingers over her collarbone. “It’s my business when I’ve held a sobbing six-year-old every day for the past two months because her daddy wasn’t there to hug her. It becomes my business when I’ve had to explain again and again to her that I’m sure her daddy loves her and wants to be here but he can’t be.”
Boone’s whole face fell. There was no other way to describe his expression. “No one told me she’s been crying because I wasn’t here. I didn’t know. She didn’t cry during our calls.”
Knowing Boone was grieving as well, the rest of the Jarretts had more than likely been trying to protect him. But they should have said something. Hailey had deserved for her father to know she was struggling, and Boone had deserved the chance to make things right.
“Your siblings didn’t want to upset you.” A twinge of pity caused Violet to soften her tone, but not her message. “You should have known, Boone. A child needs their dad when they’re hurting. Of course she was all smiles when you guys talked—she was happy to see you and didn’t want to make you sad. But she’s been hurting so much and you were the person she needed most of all.”
Boone stumbled a little as he reached for the edge of the row of stalls. He braced his hand against it. His head drooped and he closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “I had to finish the semester and close down our life in Maine.” A breath rattled out of him. “There were things I needed to take care of but I never meant to hurt her.”
Boone was a big guy—wide shoulders and biceps that looked as if he
