he noticed how clean the barn was. A few stalls had horses in them but most were empty. “Where are your horses?”
“In the pastures.”
“How many do you have?”
“Fifteen and one pony, Mirabelle, or, as Mindy loves to call her, Belle.”
“Th-ere,” Mindy said, gesturing toward the last stall. She hurried her pace, her left foot dragging in the dirt.
Mindy stumbled. Slade lurched forward to catch her, but Tory had already steadied her. Mindy continued her fast pace toward Mirabelle, towing Tory behind her.
Tory quickened her step to keep up. “Whoa. Mirabelle isn’t going anywhere.”
“Haven’t seen—her in—lo-ong time.”
Slade scooped Mindy up in his arms and continued toward the stall at the very end of the barn. “It’s only been five days, sweetie.”
“Too lo-ong.”
While Tory swung the stall door open, he went inside with Mindy. She squirmed.
“Dad-dy, put me down.”
He settled his daughter in front of Mirabelle and kept his hands on her shoulders so she wouldn’t fall as she found her balance. Even though her surgery had been eight months before, it was still hard for her to keep her equilibrium at times.
She bent forward and threw her arms around the pony’s neck. Nuzzling the animal, Mindy giggled. “Isn’t she ugly? No—” she shook her head “—pret-ty?”
Slade inspected the pony’s golden brown coat and big brown eyes that suddenly reminded him of Mirabelle’s owner. “Very pretty.”
“You know Mirabelle has been waiting just for you so you could give her a good brushing. No one does it better.” Tory produced a curry comb and passed it to Mindy.
Tory helped Mindy position herself so she could start on the pony’s left side. With one hand clutching the mane, Mindy began her task. Tory stepped back toward the entrance, motioning for Slade to follow. Outside the stall she paused. Reluctantly Mindy’s dad joined her.
“Do you think we should leave her alone like that?” he asked, a frown creasing his brow.
“She’ll be fine. She’s done that half a dozen times now and loves to. It’s her private time with Mirabelle.” A giggle drifted to her, and Tory smiled. “See. I think she tells Belle her secrets.”
“What secrets?” Panic laced his question.
“All little girls have them. Who’s her favorite movie star? What songs does she like? Who’s her best friend at school?”
“She didn’t go to school this year. She’s being tutored at home.”
“Is she going to attend in the fall?”
Slade opened his mouth to answer, then clamped it shut. He glanced away. “I don’t know. It depends on her therapy and how fast she recovers.”
“Mindy’s so good with the other children who come for riding lessons. She misses her friends.”
Slade straightened, his jaw clenched. “I won’t have her go to school and be teased because she talks too slow and walks funny.”
“Kids can be very accepting.”
“And kids can be very cruel. Mindy’s gone through so much this past year because of the car accident that took her mother and caused her epilepsy.”
“But didn’t the surgery make the epilepsy better?”
“She hasn’t had a seizure, but at what cost?” Slade waved his hand toward the stall where his daughter was talking to the pony, frustration in every taut line of his body.
“Do you regret agreeing to the surgery?”
Slade plowed his fingers through his hair. “Yes—no. The doctors told me this was best for Mindy, that given time she would recover most of her speech and physical abilities. A few years from now we’ll hardly know she had part of her brain removed.”
“But it doesn’t make it any easier right now?”
“No,” he clipped out.
“I didn’t mean to intrude, but Mindy has become very important to me. I was hoping she could come more often to the stables to help out. She asked me to talk to you about it.”
“She did? When?”
“She called me this morning and asked.”
“So that’s who she was talking to on the phone. I thought it was one of her girlfriends. When I made that assumption, she didn’t correct me.”
“She wants to be my assistant and go with me to the hospital when I take Mirabelle next time.”
Slade relaxed the tensed set to his shoulders. “It’s hard for me to say no when Mirabelle is the reason my daughter would cheerfully go to the hospital for her physical therapy. Before Mirabelle, Mrs. Watson and I had a horrible time getting Mindy to go. Now with the promise of seeing the pony, she’ll do just about anything.”
“Animals can be great therapy for people. That’s why I started my riding stable for people in need, especially children. So what do you say about Mindy helping me out?”
“Let me think about it. That’s asking you to do a lot for Mindy.”
“I don’t mind. If I didn’t want her to be my helper, I wouldn’t have asked.”
“Still…” Slade checked his watch. “I’d better get going. I’m already late as it is. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“We’ll be in the riding ring.”
Slade strode toward his car, feeling the touch of Tory’s gaze on his back. It took a supreme effort not to turn around and look at her. She was an attractive lady who obviously loved animals and children. Very appealing qualities in a woman, he thought, then shook his head. What in the world was he thinking? After this past twenty-two months piecing his life back together, he didn’t think he could deal with anything that required his emotions be involved. He had all he could handle with Mindy and her recovery. But first, he had to secure the loan for the second phase of the expansion of his company.
“You’re doing great, Mindy. Sit up straight. Take command.” Tory watched the young girl walk her horse around the riding ring. The child’s face glowed, her proud expression attesting to one of the reasons Tory spent so much time and money on her Bright Star Stables—the looks on her riders’ faces when they were successful. “Okay, Mindy, that’s it for today. You need to cool Paint down now.”
“Dad-dy say yes?”
Tory assisted Mindy in dismounting, then handed the child the reins. “He’s going to think about you helping me at the hospital with Mirabelle.”
The girl’s lower lip stuck out in a pout. “Why?”
“Because your day is full as it is. With your schooling and therapies, Mindy, you don’t have a lot of extra time.”
The sudden sound of Slade’s voice made Tory stiffen. The erratic beat of her heart crashed against her chest. With her attention totally focused on Mindy, Tory hadn’t heard him approaching. She didn’t like being caught unaware. It emphasized her vulnerability. Swinging around toward him, she took in his tall height, over six feet, and muscular frame that even his suit couldn’t conceal. She stamped down her alarm. This was Mindy’s father.
The little girl gripped Tory’s arm and twisted about to face her father who stopped a few feet from her. “Summer—is al-most—here. No sch-ool then.”
One of Slade’s dark brows arched. “Who said that?”
“No va-va-ca-tion?”
“You’ll