Stevie at least had the courtesy to look sheepish as she realized what she’d done.

“I’m not grumpy, Ma.”

Shannon turned around in her seat and directed the same question at Stevie.

Stevie quailed. “Um . . .”

“Morgan broke it off with Emilia,” said Angie.

Morgan threw her hands in the air.

“Hands on the wheel,” Shannon said, but she didn’t press.

Fucking great. Morgan felt like she had a very good idea about how the ride back to her mother’s house was going to go.

“Tell Lil I got her a pony,” said Stevie.

“Yes, I’m sure that’s exactly what she wants,” said Angie, but she began typing anyway. “I wonder if Brian was sleeping with someone else.”

“I hope not,” said Morgan. Lillian didn’t deserve that, and while she’d never found Brian particularly interesting, he was sweet, and she didn’t think he’d do that to Lillian. Then again, what did she know? And how was she going to tell her about Ivy now?

She’d deal with that another day. Today she would focus on getting Olive to her new home and comforting Lillian, not to mention dealing with her mother.

Olive pranced around her new pasture, stringhalt and all, with her ears pricked and her neck arched. She even threw a playful buck as she broke into a canter. Morgan was pleased to discover that her canter, at least, was unaffected by her damaged gait.

“She looks so happy,” said Angie.

“Yeah.” Morgan wasn’t looking at Olive, however; she watched her best friend’s face alight with joy.

“I’ll be back soon,” she told them as she hopped back into the truck to return the trailer and her mother to their rightful places—miles away.

Shannon wasted no time broaching the last subject on earth Morgan wanted to discuss with her.

“What happened with Emilia?”

“I’m not talking about this with you.”

“Is she leaving?”

“Probably. I don’t know, Ma.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I mean I don’t know. That’s usually what people mean when they say that.”

“Did you ask her to stay?”

“Ma.”

Shannon ignored Morgan’s shout and waited for her to answer her question.

“No, I didn’t, and it isn’t any of your business.”

To her horror, tears obscured her vision.

“Pull over.”

“I can drive.”

“It’s my trailer. Pull over.”

Morgan pulled to the side of the road, shaking from fury now, along with grief. She slammed her door as she crossed in front of the truck, only to get swept into her mother’s embrace.

“Just promise me you’re not running away from something good,” Shannon murmured as she held her through her sobs.

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen