For The Love of Easton (For the Love Of #2) - A.M. Hargrove Page 0,81
Easton’s bubbly personality usually pulled me out of my glum moods, but not this time. All I thought of was the number of days he’d be gone and it was a lot.
The next day I texted Landry to make sure he was still up for the riding lesson with Easton. My phone rang immediately.
“You didn’t think I’d bail, did you?” Landry asked.
“Not bail, just change your mind.” His pleasant tone was a pick-me-up.
“Not at all. Come on out. When can you be here?”
“How’s an hour?”
“Works great for me. I’ll be out front when you arrive.”
Easton was watching one of her favorite TV shows, so I went and told her of our planned excursion. “Guess what? I have a surprise.”
“What?”
“I’m not going to tell you, but we have to get dressed and go.”
“Okay.” She hopped off the couch and asked, “Where are we going? To get pizza?”
“No, someplace better, but if I tell you, then it won’t be a surprise. Let’s go and change our clothes.”
We went upstairs and into her room. I laid out some clothes, but she wanted to wear one of her princess dresses.
“You can bring it along, but you can’t wear it for what we’re going to do.”
“But why?”
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
Her puzzled expression brought a grin to my face, but I didn’t give anything away. I wanted her to see the horses first. She’d be so excited.
She dressed in the jeans, sweatshirt, and sneakers I handed her. Then I went and did the same. When we were ready, I texted Landry to let him know we were headed out the door, but that Easton had no idea where we were going.
He sent me the upward-pointing thumb. This was going to be so much fun for her. I made sure to bring a jacket, as he requested, and then I grabbed her bike helmet out of the garage. Off we went.
Her chatter filled my ears all the way. She informed me about the puppies she’d seen yesterday.
“Did you see any you liked?”
“I liked them all, but Geepa said we had to pick it special so it wouldn’t grow very big.”
“That’s right. He has to be small.”
“Like small enough to fit in a tiny cage?”
“No, honey, he can be bigger than that, but not as big as Boonior was.”
“How big was Boonior?”
“Bigger than you are.”
“Wow, he was a giant dog. Did he sleep in your bed?”
“No, he wasn’t allowed.”
“Why not, Mommy?”
“He was too big, goofball. There wouldn’t have been room for me. He had his own doggy bed.”
“Did he have a pillow?”
“Nah, I gave him a pillow once, but he ate it and pooped out the feathers.”
Her giggles filled the car. “He pooped feathers?”
“Yeah and he ate my ballet slippers too, plus lots of other things.”
“Will my puppy eat my shoes?”
“I hope not, or Geepa will have to buy you new ones.”
“Mommy, why do they eat shoes if they don’t taste good?”
“Who knows? Dogs just like to chew things up.”
We rounded the final curve before the long turn-off to the house.
“Are we almost there?” Easton asked.
“We are.”
“Josie at school peed her pants yesterday when the teacher made her sit down.”
“Why did the teacher make her sit down?”
“Because she was walking around the room when she wasn’t s’posed to.”
“Did she ask to go to the bathroom?”
“I don’t know. She got up and went to the door, but the teacher told her to sit at her desk. Then she said no, because she peed her pants.”
“Then what happened?”
“Ms. Michaelson took her away. She came back later.” Ms. Michaelson was the teacher’s assistant.
“Honey, if you ever have to go to the bathroom, just ask Ms. Michaelson or Mrs. Leonard if you can go.”
“Okay.”
We pulled in front of the mansion and Landry walked out.
“Mommy, who is that man?”
“That’s Tristian’s brother, so I guess he’s your new uncle.”
“I have an uncle?”
“You do now.”
I got out and waved before I pulled my daughter from her booster seat. Then we walked hand-in-hand up the steps.
“Hey, it’s great to see you again.” Landry hugged me.
“Landry, meet your new niece, Easton.”
Landry knelt down and said, “Hello there, young lady. I think you and I are going to be great friends.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see.” He winked and said, “How about we go this way to see what your surprise is.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, hang on.” I ran back to the car and grabbed her bike helmet and jacket. “All ready now.”
Landry held Easton’s hand as we walked to the stables, which were not too far from the main house. I