“I’ll be right here. Promise.” She placed her hand over her heart. “You can do it!”
Small shoulders squared, Ashley stared straight ahead and began to pedal. Tara followed behind her, ready to assist if needed, but it wasn’t necessary. Ashley made it to the end of the patio and turned to come back toward the house all on her own. Pride swelled inside Tara and she couldn’t keep from cheering.
“Yes! You go girl!” Tara clapped and jumped up and down. “That’s it! Go a little faster, it’ll make it easier to keep your balance. There you go. Yes. Just like that. Watch out for the crack there. Be careful!”
She’d no sooner said the words than Ashley wobbled slightly, the bike’s front tire going crooked as it dipped into a rut in the concrete. Before Tara could grab the rear of the thing, it toppled over, sending Ashley crashing to the ground.
For a moment, the little girl looked as stunned as Tara felt, but then she sat up and noticed the scrape on her knee and the slight amount of blood welling on it and wailed. “You said you’d catch me but you didn’t!”
“Oh God, honey. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” Tara raced to her side and gathered her up in her arms, the fallen bike left behind, forgotten. “Shush. Shhh. It’ll be okay.”
She carried the little girl inside and set her down on the sofa in the living room, her heart aching.
“Why did you let me fall?” Ashley said, between hiccupping sobs. “You were supposed to be there.”
“I know, sweetie,” Tara said, wiping away Ashley’s tears, then cupping her cheeks. “And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. It’s my fault. I should’ve paid closer attention. I shouldn’t have taken off your training wheels so soon.”
Tara pulled the little girl back into her arms and let her cry it out, feeling awful. She’d pushed too hard, too fast, just like her own mother used to do to her. She’d put her own needs ahead of Ashley’s. She’d not made her a priority. God. What an idiot. She of all people should’ve known better.
Once Ashley quieted, she pulled back and gave Tara a teary look. “My knee hurts.”
“I know, honey. Sit here a minute, let me run to the bathroom and get the first aid kit. We’ll get you all patched up, then how about we work on a new social media campaign. Would you like that?”
Ashley gave her a shaky nod, then buried her face in the sofa cushions.
Feeling about two inches tall, Tara went and grabbed the first-aid kit and got Ashley’s knee cleaned
and bandaged, then went back out to put the bike away before returning to the house. It took some effort, but she managed to put aside her guilt and focus on Ashley and making her happy again.
“What theme should we focus on today?” Tara asked, getting out her camera equipment and setting it up near the windows for the best light. “More rainbows? Or something new? I saw the hydrangeas are blooming outside. Maybe we can cut some of those and do a flower motif?”
Ashley seemed to consider this, then said, “Both! Flowers and rainbows!”
Glad to see her excited again, Tara grinned. “Both it is. How about you work on the backgrounds again, and I’ll go collect some flowers for our shoot.”
“Sounds good!” Ashley ran back to her bedroom for her art supplies.
Tara went back out front and cut several bouquets of flowers from the bushes in front of the porch. The previous owners had done a great job with the landscaping, putting in these gorgeous hydrangea bushes in various shades of pink and blue and white. She took some of each color and returned inside to find Ashley had created more vivid backgrounds for them to use.
Together, they set up several different motifs for Tara to shoot and by the end of the afternoon, Tara had uploaded them all to her social media account. She and Ashley crashed back on the sofa to watch as the reactions poured in.
“Look!” Ashley pointed to the computer screen. “That’s a good number, right?”
Yep. It was. Tara’s pulse sped as the number of likes kept rising exponentially. Seemed people really loved their bright, upbeat content, and soon the new posts had gone viral. They got so wrapped up in watching the likes increase that they barely noticed when Clint walked in later.
“Hey,” he said, tossing his keys on the side table and bending down to kiss the top of Ashley’s head, then Tara’s lips. “How are my girls doing today?”
“Good, Daddy!” Ashley squealed, pointing at the laptop screen. “Look! We went viral again!”
“Wow.” Clint leaned in closer, sending Tara’s already racing heartbeat skyrocketing, darn him. He didn’t even have to try to make her acutely aware of him. “That’s fabulous.” He gave Tara a side glance and a wink. “I’m not surprised, though. I already knew you both were awesome.”
“Oh, Daddy.” Ashley giggled when he reached over and tickled her. “I rode my bike without the wheels today!”
“You did?” Clint scooped her up to carry her with him to the kitchen. “How’d that go?”
“Good. Until I fell.” She pointed at her knee. “I hurt myself and everything.”
Tara’s buoyant spirts sank once more. She winced and followed them into the kitchen. “Sorry. I tried to keep an eye on her, but it all happened so fast, the bike hit the ground before I could stop it.”