“Well, you did.” Violet leaned against Hawken’s door. Her horse’s breath came hot against her back but she stayed there. “So now you need to make that better.”
Boone lifted his eyes to meet hers. “Wow. You don’t hold back at all, do you?”
“Not when a little girl’s heart is on the line.” Violet hugged her stomach, but refused to look away.
She would make no apology for how she was speaking to Boone. The ugly scar of abandonment was too much a piece of her life story for her to overlook what he had done.
When her parents had died, she wished someone would have been brave enough to speak to her aunt and uncle this way instead of letting them shirk their duty. Allowing them to turn a blind eye to the fact that their refusal to take her meant she would spend the remainder of her childhood as a ward of the state.
No adult had fought for her.
At Hailey’s age, Violet had been forced to grieve and come to terms with the loss of both her parents on her own. She wasn’t okay with that happening to Hailey when she had a father who was fully capable of being there for her.
“I appreciate that.” Boone’s blue-green gaze met hers and his eye contact was so open and sincere, Violet couldn’t help but thaw toward him a little. The man had just lost his wife. She couldn’t imagine everything he was dealing with.
Boone continued talking. “It probably doesn’t feel like it, but I really appreciate that you care so much about Hailey that you’re willing to have a hard conversation like this for her benefit. That says a lot about you.”
Violet let her shoulders relax. She rolled her eyes for effect—glad the tough part of the conversation was momentarily behind them. “It says I’m a big pain.”
Boone was still shaky when he pressed away from the stall. “Actually, it says you have a big heart, which is entirely admirable.”
Violet wasn’t sure how to respond to such praise so she turned to face Hawken. She reached into his stall and he instantly placed his muzzle against her palm, snuffling for treats. His warm puffs of air rushed over her arm.
Boone surprised Violet by coming up beside her at the stall. He leaned his forearms on the edge of the door so he was inches from her. “I want to apologize for how I came off in the arena. Honestly? I don’t want Hailey riding—I do believe it’s too big a risk for her to take right now—but I could have handled that exchange better.”
Violet had recently had the pleasure of getting to know Rhett, Wade and Shannon Jarrett as well as all their spouses, and they made up some of the best and kindest people Violet had ever met. But Boone Jarrett had remained a mystery. While Hailey had mourned, it had comforted Violet to paint the girl’s father as the worst of men. Who else would abandon a six-year-old?
Even at the time she had known how ridiculous she was being. Hadn’t the man been training to be a minster? Now she saw how wrong and terrible it had been to entertain her wild imaginings. Boone was kind like the rest of the Jarretts and had made mistakes like every other human on the planet.
Like she had.
Violet kept her attention on Hawken. “If we’re coming clean, I could have handled the situation better, too.” She scratched her horse’s forehead. “You know, I understand your hesitancy when it comes to Hailey and horses, I promise I do. They’re powerful animals. But for what it’s worth, horses are safer than most of the people I know.”
Boone straightened to his full height and took a step back, giving her room. “You like them that much, huh?”
“What’s not to like?” She angled her body a little so she could still give Hawken attention but could also meet Boone’s gaze as well. “You can trust them with your secrets, they’re excited to spend time with you no matter what you look like on any given day and they’ll never break your heart.”
“No, just your bones.”
She batted her hand. “Good thing God gave us plenty of those.”
Boone bowed his head slightly. Then he shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked forward. “Wade told me that Silas has to have a heart transplant.”
A chill whooshed through Violet. She had known whatever Silas was facing had been a big deal—they only transported people by helicopters for very serious issues—but she never would have guessed something like a heart transplant. “I’m so sorry to hear that. Rhett and Macy have both been so wonderful to me. If there’s anything I can do, please let me know.”
Boone nodded. “Actually, there is something you can do.” He held up a hand. “I’m going to warn you in advance, it’s a big ask. Rhett and Macy will be living in Houston for the foreseeable future, which leaves jobs at the ranch that need to be done.”
“So what’s this big ask?” She had already been doing much of Macy’s work since the baby had been born and she had been pitching in helping Rhett at the summer camp, too.
“Help me run Red Dog Ranch and Camp Firefly.” He took a step toward her. “We got off on the wrong foot but I promise I’m not a total bear to work with and if I’m being honest, I need your help. We have campers arriving tomorrow and I want Rhett and Macy to be able to focus all of their attention on Silas instead of worrying about what’s happening here.” He tipped his head to the side. “So what do you say? We’ll probably have disagreements like we had earlier, but I’m committed
