She returned to the gate to untack before putting the rug on Daybreak. ‘Thank you for the loveliest ride ever,’ she said solemnly to the pony. With one last stroke of Daybreak’s velvet muzzle, she turned her out to graze.

Laurel’s eyes stung again but Rea’s eyes were shining. She was smiling. In fact, she was beaming.

‘Gabe,’ Rea said in a rush. ‘Can I talk to the insurance company about buying Daybreak?’

After a stunned second while they gaped at Rea as if an alien had come down and possessed her body, everyone answered at once. Was Rea sure what having her own pony meant? Exercising several times a week. Vet and farrier bills …

Rea stuck out her chin. ‘Could I pay you rent and leave her here, Gabe?’

‘Well …’ Gabe rubbed his jaw. ‘You could, but that pony really needs a stable, Rea. And a stable means mucking out.’ But to this unpromising beginning he added, ‘I wouldn’t mind you having a stable put up in the paddock, if it was one with a stable mat rather than a concrete base. I’d be happy to share costs with you for feed and farrier and instead of paddock rent you could take over arranging that for both ponies.’

Rea whipped out her phone and began searching online for preowned stables, head close to Gabe’s. Over their bent backs, Daisy widened her eyes at Laurel. Is this OK? her look plainly said.

Laurel gave a tiny shrug. Beats me.

Equal parts excited and worried, Laurel watched Rea show Gabe a double stable. ‘Look, it’s under a grand. You could put Snobby in the other stable. There’s also a tiny tack room at the end. We’d have to find someone to fetch it and put it together, though.’

Gabe rasped his grey-stubbled chin. ‘Maybe the old boy would like something better than the field shelter,’ he acknowledged. ‘My nephew Ben might help us. He’s got a truck and all the tools.’ He raised his gaze to Rea. Softly, he said, ‘You’re happy to look after her, are you? Because I couldn’t take over for you.’ With a roguish twinkle he added, ‘I’m getting too old for shovelling shit.’

Rea, who’d looked downcast for an instant, giggled. She did stop and bite her lip, though.

Then Laurel heard herself say, ‘I’ll help, if you have a few bad days, Rea.’ She thought it was right to acknowledge that Rea might not always be able to look after Daybreak. It was a giant stride to go from months of not going further than the garden to coming down here each day to muck out and ride a pony and it wasn’t fair to rely on Daisy, who distrusted Daybreak’s ‘wooden feet’. At the same time, she felt that crushing Rea’s ambition would also crush whatever confidence she had been able to muster.