“And there’s the class trip to Six Flags, too. You’re going, aren’t you?”
Paige suppressed a sigh. She’d forgotten about the kindergarten field trip to the famed amusement park, scheduled for the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Hadn’t even discussed it with Julie yet, and of course that had to happen before she could make any promises.
“Your mom and I will talk about it,” she said.
“When?” Calvin asked, sounding a little plaintive. The poor kid was tired, she reasoned, and with Julie so busy helping the drama club rehearse their play, he missed his mother.
“Tomorrow,” Paige answered, pulling carefully out onto the main road, pointing the car in the direction of the Silver Spur.
“Promise?” Calvin persisted.
“Promise,” Paige said with a little smile.
After that, Calvin lightened up, having conveyed his dissatisfaction with the long hours Julie had been putting in lately, and told her all about his day. One of the other kids in his class had eaten a bug and thrown up, and his teacher had a headache after that and had to rest in the teacher’s lounge while the librarian’s assistant took over the art program. He asked, as he often did, how long it would be, in “actual days,” until he could start first grade and “learn stuff.”
“You are learning things, Calvin,” Paige pointed out, keeping her eyes on the road.
“How to weave pot holders with those stupid little loops,” Calvin said.
Paige laughed. “I think those pot holders are lovely,” she told him. “I use mine all the time. Your mom and your Aunt Libby love them, too.”
Calvin would not be mollified. “We make hand-prints with finger paints,” he went on scornfully. “I don’t see how any of this stuff is going to prepare me for life.”
“Calvin,” Paige reminded her nephew, “you’re only five. Believe me, you have plenty of time to ‘prepare for life.’” She paused. “What exactly is it that you want to learn right now, immediately, anyhow?”
“How to ride a horse,” Calvin said.
Paige smiled again. “You ride with Garrett all the time,” she said. “What else?”
“Higher mathematics,” Calvin replied. “World history.”
“I think it’s mostly simple arithmetic and the alphabet in first grade,” she ventured, flipping the signal lever and starting the turn onto the Silver Spur Ranch.
“Well, that’s just ridiculous,” he said. “I can already read and write and everything.”
“Maybe you should just go straight from kindergarten to college, then,” Paige teased, noticing that the lights were on in the barn and wondering how Molly was doing.
“I could skip a couple of grades,” Calvin replied seriously, “but Mom and Garrett and my dad all said no. They say I have to put in my time as a kid, like everybody else.”
“There you have it,” Paige said. Calvin’s birth father, Gordon Pruett, had contacted Julie a couple of months before and informed her that he wanted to get to know his son. Things were moving slowly on that front. “So many people can’t be wrong.”
She felt the change in Calvin before he spoke. “What’s going on in the barn?” he asked. “All the chores should be finished by now.”
“Let’s find out,” Paige said, stopping the car in the square spill of light at the entrance to the long, rambling structure housing the McKettrick horses, including the golden ponies Austin had given Audrey and Ava for their sixth birthday, back in June.
Calvin had unbuckled himself and pushed open the door before Paige could pull her keys from the ignition and reach for her purse.
She had planned to give him a modified rundown on Molly’s situation, but she didn’t get the chance. Calvin sprinted into the barn.
Paige sighed and followed.
Austin was standing in front of Molly’s stall door, looking deliciously rumpled. A cot stood in the center of the breezeway, with a sleeping bag spread over it and Shep curled up underneath.
“You’re going to sleep out here?” Calvin demanded of Austin, sounding delighted. “You’re going to camp out in the barn?”
Austin slanted a glance at Paige, greeted her with a nod so slight it might not have happened at all.
“That’s the plan,” he told the boy, reaching out to ruffle his hair.
Still impressed, Calvin climbed up the rails in the stall door to peer over the top. Austin looked ready to grab him if he slipped.
“This is Molly,” he explained. “Molly, this is my good friend, Calvin.”
Paige wondered why his voice made her heart flutter, weak as the first motion of a hatchling’s wing.
“Hey, Molly,” Calvin cried exuberantly.
By that time, Paige was standing close enough to hook an arm around Calvin’s middle and hold him up so he could see the black-and-white mare without clinging precariously to the stall door.
Her arm touched Austin’s, and she took a half step to the side.
Molly had been groomed since Paige had seen her last, and she was on her feet, too. There were raw strips on the animal’s head, where the nylon halter straps had been, glistening with ointment.
“Can Molly be my horse?” Calvin asked, squirming so that Paige had to set him down. “I could feed her and ride her and put medicine on her cuts—”
“Calvin,” Paige interceded softly, laying a hand on the boy’s shoulder.
He was so excited, he was practically vibrating.
“Could I pet her?” he implored, tilting his head back to gaze up at Paige’s face, then Austin’s. “Please?”
Paige felt a jolt worthy of a stun gun when her gaze connected with Austin’s. Again she had that odd sense that he was a stranger, that he’d never been the Austin she’d loved so much when they were both teenagers.
“If it’s okay with your aunt,” Austin drawled, looking at her instead of Calvin, “then sure.”
Paige hesitated, then nodded her permission.
Austin unlatched the stall door and stepped slowly inside, holding Calvin by the hand.
“I can’t reach,” Calvin said.
Paige took a step toward the boy, intending to lift him up again, but Austin beat her to it. He paled slightly, beneath the bristle of his beard, holding Calvin in the curve of one arm.
“Austin,” Paige said, reaching out to take the child from him.
He hesitated before he let Calvin go.
Calvin, for his part, was too busy petting Molly’s nose to care who was holding him. He hooked an arm around Paige’s neck, though, and she felt a rush of such love for her sister’s child that it made her light-headed.
After a few more moments, she carried Calvin out of Molly’s stall and set him back on his feet. She was aware of Austin moving behind her, shutting and latching the door.
“Can I sleep out here in the barn, with Austin and Shep?” Calvin asked, his upturned face earnest with hope.
“Not tonight,” Paige told him gently.
Conveniently, Shep wriggled out from under the cot, wagging his tail, and Calvin, distracted from the camping prospect, squatted to ruffle the dog’s ears.
Looking up at Austin through her eyelashes, Paige was both gratified and shaken to find him watching her.
His color was coming back,