“It’s a filly.” “Oh, Nate, she’s beautiful.” He raised his head and saw the wonder on Jessie’s face — tears of joy glistening in her eyes, a silly, wobbly, precious grin that threatened to slip away — and his heart seemed to roll over in his chest. “Prettier than the sunrise, sweetheart.” Damn slip of the tongue. Old habits died hard. She stilled, her attention shifting from the foal to his face. A self-conscious laugh that sounded awfully close to a sob escaped her. Well, he guessed she was entitled to some emotion. After all, she’d stuck right with him, helped like a real trooper. Sort of like in the good old days when they’d worked side by side. He just hadn’t expected her to be quite so overwhelmed by the birth. Hale stuck his head between them to get a better look at the foal. “Man, that was totally awesome. Sara’s gonna be real pissed she missed this.” Yeah, Sara was going to be pissed all right. She’d missed the birth because her father had been too afraid to face the past head on.
