27. Callan

27

Callan

A fter teaching Sage some of the basics of riding, we rode through the empty pasture. The cows were in a different field this time of year, and in a few months, we’d move them over here.

Avery was on one of the ponies I used in lessons, and though it was her first time on a horse other than Red, her confidence was still glowing. She wasn’t nervous like some people were when they got on a new horse. She just got on and did the damn thing.

Avery pulled Butterscotch to a stop and twisted to look at me and Sage behind her. “Can I pick flowers?”

I lifted a finger to my chest. “For me?”

Avery scrunched her nose. “Boys don’t like flowers.”

“I do,” I said. “A certain flower in particular. ”

Out of the corner of my eye, Sage looked down at her leg with a slight pink tinge on her cheeks.

“I’ll find some pretty ones!” Avery said, hopping off the horse.

Sage was riding beside me, her legs and arms stiff with Red’s every step. Despite the tightness of her body, she seemed to be enjoying herself. With time, she’d feel more natural in the saddle. I’d take her out as often as she wanted.

I reached over to set a reassuring hand on her thigh, then pulled it away so I didn’t piss Ace off with being too close to Red. He liked his space.

She looked over to me. “You can relax,” I said.

“What if I fall?”

A small chuckle escaped me. “I won’t let you fall, baby.”

Her eyes clung to my mouth like the endearment was unexpected. “I don’t think you’d have time to catch me.”

“Oh, really? Are you doubting my speed to get off this horse?”

A smile teased at the corners of her mouth. “Maybe.”

“I can prove it to you. I’ll even show you just how fast I can get you off your horse.”

She adjusted her hands on the reins, glancing at the horn of the saddle. “I’d really like to stay—” But before she could finish her sentence, I had pulled my reins, stopping Ace in his tracks, jumped to the ground, and was reaching for her.

“ On ,” she said through a laugh as I grabbed her by the waist and lifted her off. “Callan! ”

I hoisted her up and over, slinging her over my shoulder as she laughed. “What’s up?”

“Tickle her!” Avery shouted from up ahead.

I shot her a wink and moved my hands to Sage’s sides. In an attempt to get down, she moved her hands to my shoulders to push away. As soon as I felt the pressure against me, she hissed in a breath as she winced, like she was in pain. Immediately setting her feet to the ground, I looked over her body.

“What happened? Did I hurt you?” I asked hurriedly, worried I’d injured her.

She held her wrist in her opposite hand, her brows pulled together. “No. No, you didn’t hurt me.” Her voice was slightly strained with each word.

I grabbed her hand from her, flipping it over. My eyes landed on a long, thin scar that stretched a few inches in diameter. She pulled her hand back, dropping her arm to her side.

I couldn’t take my eyes away from her dainty wrist. The only sound I could hear was the blood rushing through my veins. “What happened?”

“I broke it a long time ago,” she said, her voice small.

“You did, or someone else?”

Her eyes bored up at me, but all I saw was that scar. How had I missed it before now?

“Don’t try to tell me someone didn’t do that to you,” I warned.

“I slipped— ”

“You don’t slip and get a scar like that, Sage.” She very well could have slipped and broken her wrist, but I got the feeling that was far from the truth. She’d begun to recite her response on impulse, like she’d trained herself to answer with that when people asked. I knew when people were being genuine, and right now, Sage was covering something up.

I slowly raised my gaze to hers, and the fear I saw in her eyes was a sight I never wanted to see again. I could have gone my entire life without seeing that look.

I gently grabbed her hand again, but instead of examining the scar, I cradled it in both of mine, like it could break any moment. “Who did this to you?”

“My ex.”

My jaw locked, my teeth threatening to break with the pressure.

“How?”

“He grabbed it,” she whispered, a strain in her voice. The term was putting what he did to her lightly.

I pulled one of my hands back, clenching it into a fist. The muscles were pulled taut with how hard my grip was. We had to talk about these things, and while it wasn’t the most ideal time, we couldn’t avoid hard topics. I wanted to know everything about her, the good and the bad.

“I got flowers!” Avery announced.

Sage’s head whipped in her direction and she inhaled deeply, pasting a smile on her face. “What kind?”

“Purple and yellow,” she replied .

“Good job, honey. Why don’t you make me a bouquet?”

“Do you want more purple or yellow?”

“Purple, please,” Sage said.

“Okay!” Avery turned back around, the pony’s reins in her hand as she walked over to a patch of purple wildflowers.

“Sage,” I murmured, shifting her attention back to me now that Avery was occupied.

Her eyes shot up to me. “Yes?”

“Do you want to talk about it back at the barn?” I didn’t want to put her on the spot, but something as extreme as her ex breaking her wrist was not going to be brushed under the rug.

Her eyes shone up at me, unshed tears brimming in them. “Please.”

“Okay.” I leaned forward and brushed a kiss to her forehead, running my thumb across the back of her hand. “Later.”

Standing in the middle of the field with our horses waiting quietly and Avery a dozen feet away probably wasn’t the best time to discuss it. I wasn’t sure how much Avery knew, but if I knew anything about Sage, she’d want to protect her at all costs. Mentally and physically.

The tip of my nose brushed hers. “Why don’t we head back?”

Sage nodded right as a rain drop fell on her forehead. “Yeah.”

Reaching up, my thumb wiped the drop away.

“Rain!” Avery yelled out along with a high pitched giggle.

Taking my hat off, I leaned forward, lightly pressing my forehead to hers. “You’re okay,” I murmured .

She closed her eyes, giving a small nod. The rain started coming down faster, droplets sticking to her hair.

After a moment, I straightened, setting my hat on her head. “Come on, Aves,” I called out.

“Coming!” Avery replied. She hurried back over to us, the bundle of flowers gripped tight in her tiny hand.

“Need some help?” I asked, turning to Avery as she came around the side of her pony.

“No, thank you.” She hiked her foot up and tried a few times, but eventually got the momentum she needed to hoist herself up.

Once we were all back on our horses, we headed for the barn. We hadn’t made it too far out in the field, but we still got drenched in the sudden downpour.

Instead of dismounting outside the barn, we stayed on until we were in the aisle and out of the rain, then got off. I grabbed Butterscotch’s reins from Avery and nodded toward my parents’ house.

“Why don’t you go see Charlotte and give her your flowers?” I asked her.

“Do you think she’ll like them?” Avery questioned.

I nodded. “She loves flowers. Especially purple and yellow.”

Avery grinned. “She’s gonna love mine, then.”

She skipped off through the rain and I watched her until she made it to the house and slipped inside the front door. Turning, I found Sage staring at the reins in her hand where she was picking at the leather .

“Here, let me take care of Red for you.” I gently took the reins from her, leading all three horses over to the cross ties. One by one, I hooked them in, then turned to Sage again. She was still standing in the aisle, staring down at her hands.

“Sage.”

She slowly brought her gaze to mine, my hat shifting on her head, its size too big.

Instead of asking her to come to me, I crossed the distance to her and pulled her into my arms. She leaned against me, my hat teetering on the edge of sliding off her head.

“You can talk to me,” I reminded her. I thought back to the bar when she’d had a panic attack over that guy. He couldn’t have been her ex, but for her to react like that meant the asshole did some lasting damage on her, and that fucking wrecked me. In an instant, I wanted to find him and kill him. Murder had never been as appealing as it seemed right now.

She sniffled, shifting in my arms, then looked up at me. “I had surgery to put pins in my wrist because the bones were so badly broken,” she said quietly.

I could feel my heart threatening to beat out of my chest.

“That’s where the scar is from?”

She nodded. “He mutilated it. It still hurts if I use it wrong, but I try to ignore it. I was already barely eating at the time because I was so depressed, so I was weak. I was so weak .” Her voice broke slightly on that last word, and my hands instantly moved to cup her cheeks.

“Hey, look at me. You are not weak. ”

She sniffled again, and I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. “But I was.”

I shook my head. “But you’re not anymore. You’re strong, Sage. Raising Avery on your own, working at the cafe, balancing all of that on top of everything life has thrown at you. Not many people can do that, and look at you. I bet even fucking angels are jealous of you.”

She let out a sad laugh, and while her laugh was one of my new favorite sounds, hearing it like this destroyed me.

I wiped an escaped tear off her cheek, moving my hands to her neck. “You can cry, baby, but cry because you’re free. Never because of him.”

She pressed her lips together and nodded.

“Is there a possibility he may come around?”

One of her hands came up to play with her necklace. “He was in prison.”

“ Was ?”

“He was sentenced for four years, but I think he got out early.”

Everything in me froze. “Why do you think he got out early?”

She inhaled a shaky breath, her hand tightening into a fist on my shirt. “I’ve been getting these texts and some phone calls, but I block the numbers. He just keeps getting new ones.”

“Why was he in prison, Sage?” I asked, enunciating each word carefully.

“Domestic abuse,” she stated, her voice barely audible .

A muscle in my jaw pulsed. “Were the charges from you or another woman?”

“Me,” she admitted quietly.

Fuck.

“Does he know where you are?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t think he could have figured it out, but there’s a chance.”

“What do you mean?”

She let go of her necklace to run a finger under her eye. “The guy from the bar. He was in the cafe before and wanted to know my last name.”

I nodded, remembering her telling me that. “You think your ex had something to do with that?”

“It’s possible. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but he could be Jason’s friend or someone he hired to find me.”

One of the horses whinied behind us, but I barely heard it over the blood rushing through my ears. I was tempted to tell her I’d be glued to her side for the foreseeable future until we knew for sure what was going on with her ex, but I didn’t want to suffocate her, and I definitely didn’t want Avery to wonder what was going on.

“Does Avery know?”

She shook her head. “No. And please don’t tell her. She doesn’t really know anything other than he’s not nice. She’s just… She’s too young, Cal.” Her voice broke again .

I pulled her against my chest, letting my hat slip off her head and fall to the ground. My fingers stroked through her hair, the pieces frizzy from the rain. “I know, baby. We’ll keep her safe.”

I fucking meant it. These two girls were quickly becoming everything to me, and I wouldn’t let anything happen to them, regardless of what it took.