Mag-log inCLOE POV I’d feel an ache in my belly at the thought of holding their baby in my arms, my baby. Our baby. At the thought of being a family of our very own. So one day I didn’t pop that contraceptive pill in the morning. I put it right back in the box, and I didn’t take one again. I kept an eye on my periods and plotted one of those fertility planners out on my phone, and kept quiet until I was ready to talk about it. Until my leg was up to it, to take them both, at just the right time. I slapped Soren’s hand aside as he tried to help me upstairs. “I can do it,” I said, and poked my tongue out. “I’m back on my feet now.” “Busted,” he said. “It was just an excuse to grab a feel, you know that.” “Sure it was.” Max was already in the en suite, already naked for bed, his cock already at half-mast as we stepped into the bedroom. He gave us a smile as he brushed his teeth, and my belly did a weird little flutter. I joined him in the bathroom, and so did Soren, washing up happily i
CLOE POV Life is so weird. So good and so bad all at once. Verity was right about the yard. It was mine. Signed, sealed, and delivered. “I was going to tell you,” Max said. “I would have bought it myself, but your father wouldn’t budge on it.” He paused. “I wanted to let him tell you, when you were ready to hear it. Ready to see him.” “But why? How did he?” I stared, and he met my eyes, just one short glance before he pulled the car onto the main road, and I knew. “How much did you tell him?” “Enough.” “I see.” I smiled. “Did you tell him about my cruddy music taste? About my silly rabbit slippers?” “Oh yes,” he said. “I told him a lot. I told him how you eat your eggs in the morning, how you’ll only watch horror if you can watch kids’ TV straight after, how you insist on leaping three stairs at a time when you’re in a rush in the morning.” “Not anymore.” “You will again. You’ve just got to believe it.” He reached out for my hand. “Oh, and I told him how you read the backs
CLOE POV I spoke to my boy, told him how much I’d missed him, how happy I was that he was safe. Told him I’d find him a new home, somewhere nice to recover at pasture, somewhere with other horses and people who could help me take good care of him. I told him I loved him, how much I’d always loved him, how proud I was that he’d tried so hard for me on the course. I blushed as I heard footsteps behind me, unable to turn in my seat far enough to see if it was Soren or Max coming back for me. “Hi, Cloe,” a voice said, and my skin prickled, my heart thumping. I held my breath as my sister stepped into my eyeline, ready for the big I am to come out and start gloating. But she didn’t. She didn’t do anything like that at all. Verity launched right into an explanation of Tino’s current medical state. She told me how they were treating him, what painkillers he was on, and what the plan was for his improvement. She leaned against his stable door as she spoke, and my furry boy nudged at
CLOE POV The words no rider wants to hear. A tibial plateau fracture. I mean, I’m no fool. I knew it was bad. I knew as soon as I landed, I even heard the crack. It sounded like a twig breaking, the most surreal sound. And then there’d be pain. So much pain. Fear, too. Fear for me, but mainly for Tino. My poor furry boy. I was delivered to some posh hospital, courtesy of my father, and for once I didn’t argue about taking something from him. I just wanted to walk again, wanted to ride again one day, and if he was my best shot, then I’d take it gladly. I was kept in for over a week. The first days were the worst days. Confined to my bed, in agony every time a muscle twitched, every time I shifted in half-sleep. They brought me a wheelchair after three days, but getting in and out of it was an ordeal, all for the reward of Soren, Max or Mum wheeling me up and down the corridor awhile. One day we made it outdoors, just to the hospital’s twee little garden, but I didn’t want to be
MAX POV “You saved him,” Cloe whispered as they lifted her into the ambulance. Her voice was muffled and fragile, her eyes so sad. Our beautiful girl looked so broken, so weak, all trussed up on a stretcher. I leaned over her. “No,” I said. “I just helped him up.” I gestured towards Ryan. “We both did.” “Good job, Max. Ryan,” Soren said, and Cloe’s hand was still clamped tight to his wrist. “I want to ride in the ambulance with her,” Zara said. “Can you follow us?” “There’s room for one other,” the paramedic said, and Soren looked at me. “Go,” I said. “I’ll meet you there.” Cloe tried to move, tried to lift her head to me, but Soren and Zara held her firm. “Don’t leave Tino!” she cried. “Please don’t leave him, Max! Don’t leave my boy!” “I won’t,” I promised, dipping my face to hers, and she relaxed, her eyes fluttering as they took her away. I watched the ambulance pull away, sirens blaring, and my heart dropped through the floor. “I’ll go with Tino,” I said to Ryan. “Whe
MAX POV That horrible moment when time stands still. When you see the inevitable, the horror unfolds right in front of you, but you are powerless to do shit about it. I couldn’t tell you the moment my breath caught in my throat, when that instinctual sense of dread enveloped me and chilled me to the bone. Their jump just didn’t look right, didn’t feel right, and had me pushing through to the barrier before they’d even fallen, helpless and petrified as our beautiful girl went tumbling. Tino’s legs went from under him, and he went forward, and God, they landed so hard, both of them, and there was a scream, a horrible scream as she took his weight, a horrible thump as they landed and slid. And then she was still. Our beautiful girl was still. Tino writhed on the floor, and there was blood. His eyes were wild and frantic, his instincts raging as the officials rushed over. And so did we. Soren and Zara, and Ryan, too. All four of us are piling over the rope. Cloe’s eyes fluttered a
WOOD POVI couldn’t hold it back, the laughter. It felt alien to laugh so freely, so openly. Her face was a picture, her eyes wide as she stared down at the furry intruder on her lap. “He’s not yours?! But he came in… he came when I called him…” I looked at the huge ginger cat w
GWEN POVWhat was the saying about always doing the same things and expecting something different? How had I thought that Nolan wouldn't lash out at me again? Granted, this time, he didn't call me names, but the idea that he thought I would be in cahoots with my stepmother to get money from him was
NOLAN POVMy ex wife used to look at me with the same loathing that Gwen did, but it hadn't bothered me. But Gwen’s hatred of me was difficult to swallow because I knew it was my fault. I was angry that she hadn't told me about the baby, that she hadn't planned to, but I understood the reasons and
NOLAN POV I rose from my desk and grabbed my coat. "And what about the stepmother? What did she want?" Mandy had an expression on her face that suggested she thought the stepmother was no good. I had a sinking feeling she'd given Gwen a similar expression. "We didn't get that far. She did say som







