Love is Silent

Chapter 10

I was silent for a moment as I debated what I should say. Finally, I moved forward and took a seat across from him. “I was visiting Justice.”

            That obviously wasn’t what he’d been expecting me to say, because his eyes widened. “You were?”

            “Yeah. I’ve been going down there every night for almost a month now.”

            He opened his mouth and then shut it as he digested that. “Oh. Why didn’t you tell us?”

            I sighed and leaned my elbows on the table. “I was worried that if you knew I was going down to the stables every night you’d think I was all better or something.”

            “Oh,” he said again. “Why did you start going down there?”

            I lowered my eyes. “It’s hard to explain,” I said slowly. “I was in my room one night, and if felt like there was another presence with me. It… pulled me to the stables and then to Justice’s stall. It was almost as if Luke was telling me to look after his horse.”

            My dad was silent for a moment as he obviously tried to collect his thoughts. “Have you had that feeling again?” he finally asked.

            “No, but whenever I spend time with Justice, it feels like I’m closer to Luke.” I hesitated for a moment before continuing. “I haven’t taken a sleeping since the first night I went down to the barn. And I haven’t had any nightmares.”

            My dad sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “I wish you would talk to us, Dana.” He held up a hand before I could reply. “I know it can’t be easy for you, but we need to at least know what’s going on in your life. I’m not asking you to share your feelings with us or anything, but you need to inform us about things like that. Okay?”

            I nodded silently. This was the first time my dad had gotten upset about anything in a while, so I knew I should probably listen to him. “In that case, I should probably let you know that I’ve started riding Justice.”

            My dad’s jaw dropped and he stared at me for a full ten seconds before speaking. “You’re riding him?”

            “Yeah, but only walking. Although I did try trotting him a little tonight.”

            He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t suppose there is any point in me telling you it isn’t safe to ride alone, is there?”

            A tiny smile tugged at my lips. “No, not really. And I wasn’t alone tonight. Chase came down there with me.”

            “So he knew about your nighttime visits?”

            I had the grace to look sheepish. “Yeah.”

            He shook his head. “I don’t know whether to be grateful that you can confide in him, or jealous that you’ll talk to him.”